Rick Wilson: GOP's rapid pivot to pushing vaccines 'smells strongly of new polling'

[catbyte]

Rick Wilson: GOP's rapid pivot to pushing vaccines 'smells strongly of new polling' showing dangers to party

Brad Reed
July 21, 2021

Several high-profile Republicans this week have started actively pushing for more Americans to get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.

The push comes as cases are once again surging in the United States and are resulting in an increase in hospitalizations among unvaccinated Americans.

Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) took the lead by encouraging Americans to get vaccinated, and he's since been followed up by conservative Republicans including Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), neither of whom can be accused of being a squishy moderate.

Additionally, Fox News hosts ranging from Steve Doocy to Sean Hannity directly implored their viewers to get vaccinated, even though Fox host Tucker Carlson has continued pushing misinformation about the vaccines.

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Link to tweet

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https://www.rawstory.com/anti-vaccination-republican/

[applegrove]

1. People seeing vaccinated GOP politicians and talking heads lying about

the health of the people more specifically. Sometimes the hypocrisy actually sinks in the minds of the lemmings.

[Clash City Rocker]

2. DeSantis too

https://politicalwire.com/2021/07/21/desantis-pleads-with-floridians-to-get-vaccinated/

[monkeyman1]

10. ronny would jump on a sinking boat to save his own sorry ass ! damn money grubber !

[kentuck]

3. Yep!

Especially if there is another surge.

They would be blamed. Even they could see the writing on the wall.

[JI7]

4. Remember the numbers coming out last year was how minorities

and areas that lean democratic were being hit the hardest with covid. And that's when they started demanding everything open up and pushing conspiracies and turning this whole shit into some freedom bs.


But the numbers coming out now show that it's areas that voted Trump which have the lower vaccination numbers.

[underpants]

7. I think that blended into what dashboard believers heard

I use dashboard believers for all consumers of right wing media

California and New York get hit hard. “Democrat” areas —— hey I’m not in a Dem area!
“Cities” hit hard —- that translates as black people to dashboard believers


You’ve probably seen the article from the Doctor in Alabama. She’s heard a lot that people didn’t think they could get it. Hoax. Politicized. Blood type. All those too.

[IronLionZion]

14. It's a China virus. I'm not in China, I'm not Chinese!

[Lovie777]

5. OK ....

My family had a recent discussion about this. GOP leaders must have know this would happen, ya think.

[Quixote1818]

6. So the Jim Jones strategy isn't polling well anymore? nt

[monkeyman1]

11. it is on the republican party & killing off the anti -vax clown's. no repuck's left !

[yonder]

8. I'd trust Rick Wilson's sense of smell here.

[vapor2]

9. It has everything to do with polling

does anyone think they have had a change of heart ?

[monkeyman1]

13. FUCK NO ! RNCHAS NOWHERE TO GO BUT DOWN ! JEEZE THEY ARE STUPID !

[hay rick]

22. Does anyone think they have a heart to change?

My wife and I had this conversation this morning. McConnell, Schale, and Hannity in chorus didn't suddenly discover science and compassion.

[SWBTATTReg]

12. I agree. All of a sudden, desantis, others have changed their tunes almost 100%...something had

changed. Perhaps when they saw just who was being impacted by the lack of vaccinations, etc., mostly hitting their rural, republican voters perhaps?

[monkeyman1]

15. ol' "DEATHSENTENCE " WILL BE LUCKY TO GET OUT OF THIS WITH FOOD STAMP'S !

[GulfCoast66]

16. They are trying to catch the horse that has left the barn.

Finally got to spend time with my mother after 18 months. And my extended family at a reunion. Almost all are republicans. All are vaccinated.

Even among them there is real anger at the folks who refuse to vaccinate. They live in a very red rural area. They all know people who are not vaccinated and recently got Covid. Some have died.

And they aren’t blaming it on Biden.

[Catherine Vincent]

17. Nothing from Hot Wheels yet

[Volaris]

18. They ain't gonna close shit.

Companies will start requiring vaccines in order to return to work before they close again.

Nobody market-side wants another shutdown. Only way it will happen is if schools start to close, and parents then need to stay home with kids and theres nobody to physically be at work.

[TheDemsshouldhireme]

19. The man knows how the game is played

Big fan of Rick Wilson that last few years.

[Ford_Prefect]

20. I don't doubt Wilson's assessment. However I have to ask when it was the GOP followed polls

reflecting voter preferences? I know they often commission push-polling but reacting to public opinion is not normally in their line.

[catbyte]

28. They're seeing their base dropping dead?

And I've seen where republicans are getting really pissed off at the anti-vaxers so it's probably a combination. All I know is this sure as hell isn't out of concern for the well-being of their constituents.

[Ford_Prefect]

31. Agreed that nothing they do is to benefit their voting constituents.

If they are feeling a draft as it were it is more likely they have noticed that they could be blamed for a bad outcome. They most assuredly do not take responsibility for ANY mistake in judgement. That some of them now hew to the bandwagon of public health advice is only done as protective coloring to divert later blame.

If they took this as seriously as they should do, if only for their own future as a party with voters who can answer a ballot, they would be barking about lack of service to their constituents and threatening to pass protective or proactive legislation. You would see them on many platforms and many talk shows advocating for the injections and for social distancing and other behavior and attitudes conducive to public health.

Whatever they may individually assess the situation to be, as a party the GOP are wedded to the Q madness, and the ideology of Q is not conducive to trusting public institutions. You may as well tell a sheep how to avoid immanent flooding. It may wish desperately to do so by flying but it has not the ability. It likewise hasn't the temperament to learn a different more practical answer like how to open the gate. The only way to save it is to lead it, an ability the current GOP has no talent for nor inclination to use.

[Ilsa]

21. By 2022, they'll claim Democrats were

trying to wreck vaccine distribution.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

23. Saying, "Tucker Carlson has continued pushing misinformation about the vaccines" is wrong.

Like The Big Lie, what Carlson is pushing is disinformation.

There is a distinction:

Misinformation is false information that one spreads because they believe it to be true. Disinformation is false information that one spreads even though they know it to be false — they are trying to deceive people.

In other words, misinformation = stupid. Disinformation = evil.

[Rhiannon12866]

24. Twitter replies:

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[joetheman]

25. And maybe some law suits?? nt

[IronLionZion]

26. And liability risks for their businesses

Republicans love businesses and don't love being sued.

They were encouraging their base to be pawns in their misguided effort to undermine Biden's presidency but now see how it's hurting profits if their red states have excess hospitalizations and deaths while blue states live well and prosper.

[NBachers]

27. Dead republicans

[Vinca]

29. That's probably correct. I had been thinking it finally dawned on them they're killing

off their own voters/watchers, but polling is probably more likely.

[Marius25]

30. The big question is...

Do all the idiot Anti-vaxxers suddenly start believing the vaccine is safe and necessary after months and months of being told by their heroes that you shouldn't get it?

[colsohlibgal]

32. Startling

I am pretty sure it’s mostly fear of lawsuits because it has been a curious turnaround.

[area51]

33. Been reading various speculation on Twitter,

this is one of the theories, another is potential lawsuits against those spreading misinformation, another is that the Delta variant may be deadly enough to tip the balance and keep the nazi party from winning elections even with gerrymandering & cheating, and another is that the wealthy donors saw the stock market taking a dive and put out warnings to the various lie-peddlers.

[Danascot]

34. Did Fox lawyers finally realize the were in violation

of the law (see link) and could get sued for causing the deaths of thousands?

Link to tweet

?s=19