It’s mid-August 2021, we’ve had free and accessible Covid vaccines for months and people are still dying and people are still filling up hospitals. Those people are overwhelmingly unvaccinated. Many of them are unvaccinated by choice, because their orange trash god hasn’t told them that vaccines are safe, effective and necessary. The Daily Beast had a story on Friday about the decision-making behind Donald Trump’s refusal to advocate for vaccines with his millions of white supremacist followers. Apparently, many Trump loyalists have even made special one-on-one pleas to Trump to tell his MAGA army to get vaxxed and he’s still refused:

Trump isn’t interested: When asked why Trump hadn’t done more on vaccines, Stephen Moore—who previously advised Trump on economic and coronavirus-related policy—said he didn’t have a “good answer for that.” Moore, a former top Trump surrogate, said that after he published an op-ed in The Hill late last month arguing that Trump should give a national primetime address with President Joe Biden urging his supporters and voters to get the shot, “especially because of the Delta variant,” Moore made sure to send the article to the former president.

They’re giving Trump a buffet of choices: Some have suggested teaming up with the Bidens, while others have told the former president that it would be an awful idea, both on pragmatic and political levels. Several have suggested Donald and Melania Trump star in public service announcements and others videos, such as those featuring highly visible conservative influencers. Others have pitched the former president on dedicating entire interviews and whole speeches to the topic, making appearances at related venues with doctors, prominent Republicans, or pro-vaccine evangelical leaders. Some have recommended that Trump welcome vaccination drives at his ongoing series of political rallies, while some have kept their proposals as simple as telling Trump that his office and political operation should blast out reminders to get people and their families vaccinated against COVID-19.

Why Trump refuses to advocate for vaccines: According to two of the sources who have spoken to Trump about this, he has occasionally referenced polling and other indicators—such as what he’s seen on TV—that show how the vaccines are unpopular with many of his supporters. This has left the impression with some of those close to Trump that he doesn’t want to push too hard on the subject, so as to not “piss off his base,” one of the two people said.

Trump won’t do “favors” for Biden: At other times in recent months, Trump has simply said he doesn’t feel he needs to do any “favors” for Biden, given how much Biden is “destroying” the country—and that if Biden wants to ask him to do something, the sitting president is welcome to ask, the sources recounted.

He’s trying to play both sides: Although Trump has told unvaccinated supporters to get their coronavirus shots during a handful of public appearances—campaign-style rallies, fundraisers, media interviews—he’s also qualified his endorsement of the vaccines by emphasizing that the “freedoms” not to get it are important, too. Trump even released a written statement last month sympathizing with anti-vaxxers because, according to Trump, “people are refusing to take the Vaccine because they don’t trust [Biden’s] Administration, they don’t trust the Election results, and they certainly don’t trust the Fake News, which is refusing to tell the Truth.”

[From The Daily Beast]

I don’t think that Trump appearing with Biden would help out anyone or anything. Like, I don’t want that, Democrats don’t want that, Republicans don’t want that. It would be a mess. If Trump is going to say something, he should do it on his own terms. I know it’s crazy and stupid for me to, like, internet-advise this white supremacist, but I want everyone to get vaccinated too. I’m pro-whatever works. I think what would work is Trump sitting down on Fox News and simply giving a full-throated endorsement of vaccines in his own way. Perhaps with the argument that his followers should do whatever they can to make sure they vote for him again, as much as that makes me gag. Who would have thought that the Death Cult Party would turn into the party which embraced their own cult members’ deaths. I mean…