Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has accused Donald Trump of spreading “bull s***” after the former president said he got coronavirus vaccines approved for the public in just nine months.
Jones, who has spoken out repeatedly in support of Trump, falsely labeled COVID-19 vaccines “a biological weapon” in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Trump was responding to remarks that President Biden made on Thursday at his State of the Union address, when he said: “The pandemic no longer controls our lives. The vaccines that saved us from COVID are now being used to help heat cancer, turning setback into comeback.”
Responding on his Truth Social website, Trump look credit for the vaccines’ rapid approval, commenting: “YOU’RE WELCOME, JOE, NINE MONTH APPROVAL TIME VS. 12 YEARS THAT IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN YOU!”
Trump’s post sparked an angry response from a number of commentators who have promoted discredited conspiracy theories about the coronavirus vaccines.
Conservative podcaster Tracy Beanz screenshotted Trump’s Truth Social post, adding: “The amount of anger I have over this can’t be quantified in words.”
This was reposted in turn by Jones, who commented on X: “I love Trump but this is bull s***! The so called vaccine is a biological weapon! Good news is people are awake and not even 45 [Trump was the 45th president] can sell it.”
Other X accounts agreed with Jones, as one self-styled ‘America First’ campaigner wrote: “This is how Trump will lose voters. Whoever is advising Trump should tell him to distance himself from praising ‘vaccines’ that have killed hundreds of thousands people.”
Marie Isabella, an X user with 11,700 followers, posted: “I can’t believe he is continuing to double down on the vaccine. It’s also unbelievable that they continue to call it a ‘vaccine,’ and that they’re still pushing boosters, despite more studies indicating serious problems with the vax.”
Referring to Trump, a third user commented: “I think he doesn’t still understand how completely Fauci and his acolytes took advantage of him regarding the vaccine. Trump was fooled into thinking he was doing something great. His ego won’t let him see how wrong he was.”
There is no evidence to support the claim that COVID-19 vaccines have “killed hundreds of thousands of people,” whereas the virus itself has killed more than 1.1 million Americans, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Joe Buglewicz/Joe Raedle/GETTY
On its website, the CDC describes the vaccines as “safe and effective,” adding that “during the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of millions of people in the United States received COVID-19 vaccines under the most intense safety monitoring in U.S. history.”
In May 2020, the Trump administration announced the launch of Operation Warp Speed, with the aim of accelerating the development of vaccines for COVID-19.
The federal Food and Drug Administration approved the first COVID-19 vaccine for use in the U.S., which was produced by Pfizer, in August 2021.
In December 2021, Trump was booed by part of a crowd that had come to see him in Houston, Texas, after saying he had received a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot, as well as the original jab.
Speaking at a rally in Rock Hill, South Carolina, last month, Trump said: “I will not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate or a mask mandate.” Karoline Leavitt, a Trump campaign spokesperson, later told Newsweek the former president was “talking about COVID vaccines in addition to masks in the same breath.”
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.