April 15, 2021

Not Even Ivanka Can Save the Nearly Half of Republicans Refusing to Get Vaccinated

If one of MAGA’s most beloved bit players can’t convince them…

Resistance to a coronavirus vaccine remains high on the political right, with yet another poll showing that nearly half of Republicans say they don’t plan to get a jab. And not even the return of one of MAGA-world’s most beloved bit players can convince them otherwise. 

On Wednesday, after months of self-imposed silence, former first daughter Ivanka Trump emerged on Twitter to post a photo of herself receiving the vaccine and encourage others to follow suit. The tweet comes amid Ivanka’s long record of questioning the science of lockdown measures and ignoring federal guidelines to avoid nonessential out-of-state travel. But of course, that’s not what the right took issue with.

“So so disappointed in you!” one Twitter user responded, adding sad emoji faces. “How could you.” It was part of a flood of tweets expressing apparent betrayal. Others poured in with conspiracy theories questioning both the photo’s timing and its authenticity. “Does anyone really believe that she JUST got the shot? #OldPhoto,” read one tweet. 

“Bill Gates is tracking you now,” another, falsely, claimed.

The angry responses laid bare the acute threat that vaccine resistance poses to achieving herd immunity, particularly as the country races to get as many people vaccinated as possible against the spread of various coronavirus strains. Perhaps dad’s years of support for the anti-vaccination movement, in addition to his mismanagement of the science around this whole pandemic thing, have some consequences. 

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