Sarah Sanders Urges Americans to Get Vaccinated, Credits Trump’s Operation Warp Speed

Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders talks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, on April 29, 2019. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in an op-ed published Sunday urged Americans to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and praised President Donald Trump’s Operation Warp Speed for the development of effective vaccines.

Sanders, an Arkansas Republican gubernatorial candidate and Trump’s spokesperson from 2017 to 2019, wrote in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that she was inoculated against COVID-19 several months ago with the “Trump vaccine.”

She also criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical advisor to the president, and the “because science says so” crowd of “arrogant, condescending politicians and bureaucrats” who she said spread “misinformation” throughout the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, and undermined the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed, which was created in May last year.

“When the Trump administration initiated Operation Warp Speed in May 2020, the president stated that a vaccine would become available by December of that year at the very latest,” Sanders said. “From the moment he made his announcement, the ‘expert’ class tried to undermine those statements with baseless fear-mongering.”

No one did more to undercut public confidence in the vaccine last year, during the onset of the pandemic, than President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Sanders wrote.

“Biden doubted that the vaccine would be ‘real,’ while Harris said in a nationally-televised debate that she would not take any vaccine the Trump administration had a hand in creating,” she continued.

“If President Biden, Vice President Harris, and others on the left truly care about increasing the vaccination rate and saving lives, they should admit they were wrong to cast doubt on Operation Warp Speed and give President Trump and his team the credit they are due for the development of a safe and effective vaccine in record time.”

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sanders said that based on the advice of her doctor, she determined that the benefits of getting vaccinated outweighed any potential risks.

“I was also reassured after President Trump and his family were vaccinated. If getting vaccinated was safe enough for them, I felt it was safe enough for me,” Sanders wrote.

“Some pundits and politicians have resorted to bribing, mocking, and even name-calling to coerce people into taking the vaccine. But the truth is that many Arkansans who have concerns are simply trying to make responsible decisions for themselves, their families, and their communities,” she added. “So to anyone still considering the merits of vaccination, I leave you with this encouragement: Pray about it, discuss it with your family and your doctor. Filter out the noise and fear-mongering and condescension, and make the best, most informed decision you can that helps your family, community, and our great state be its very best.”

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of July 25, 163 million Americans, or 49 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus.