Trump sends New York Times reporter handwritten note saying he's 'very proud' of COVID vaccines
After former President Donald Trump disclosed to a booing crowd Sunday that he had received a COVID-19 booster shot, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman "asked a Trump spokeswoman why he switched his message on the vaccine/booster" — Trump suggested in September that he would not get boosted — and Trump himself wrote back, saying he is "very proud to have produced the three vaccines so quickly," Haberman tweeted Monday evening. On request, she posted an image of the handwritten note.
The Trump administration facilitated the rapid rollout of the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines through a financial infusion and purchase guarantee program called Operation Warp Speed, though the mRNA technology used in the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines had been decades in development. Trump did not announce that he had quietly gotten vaccinated in his last days in office until at least weeks after he left the White House.
Trump supporters are among the largest group of unvaccinated Americans, and on the occasions Trump encourages them to get inoculated, his fans aren't generally receptive to the idea. Watch one Trump voter tell The Daily Show's Jordan Klepper she won't get vaccinated in part because she feels the vaccines were developed too quickly — or, as Klepper prompts her, at "warp speed."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Today's political cartoons - December 22, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - the long and short of it, trigger finger, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 hilariously spirited cartoons about the spirit of Christmas
Cartoons Artists take on excuses, pardons, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Inside the house of Assad
The Explainer Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez, ruled Syria for more than half a century but how did one family achieve and maintain power?
By The Week UK Published
-
Marty Makary: the medical contrarian who will lead the FDA
In the Spotlight What Johns Hopkins surgeon and commentator Marty Makary will bring to the FDA
By David Faris Published
-
California declares bird flu emergency
Speed Read The emergency came hours after the nation's first person with severe bird flu infection was hospitalized
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Bird flu one mutuation from human threat, study finds
Speed Read A Scripps Research Institute study found one genetic tweak of the virus could enable its spread among people
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Dark chocolate tied to lower diabetes risk
Speed Read The findings were based on the diets of about 192,000 US adults over 34 years
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Mar-a-Lago face: the hottest Maga plastic surgery trend
Under the Radar Trump supporters driven by 'desire to please the President-elect' but phenomenon now 'crossing party line'
By The Week UK Published
-
ACA opens 2025 enrollment, enters 2024 race
Speed Read Mike Johnson promises big changes to the Affordable Care Act if Trump wins the election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
McDonald's sued over E. coli linked to burger
Speed Read The outbreak has sickened at least 49 people in 10 states and left one dead
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Israel, UN agree to Gaza pauses for polio vaccinations
Speed Read Gaza's first case of polio in 25 years was confirmed last week in a 10-month-old boy who is now partially paralyzed
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published