Trump Defends Traditional Vaccines as Florida Pushes to End Mandates
- Rahaman Hadisur
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Hadisur Rahman, JadeTimes Staff
H. Rahman is a Jadetimes news reporter covering the USA
President Donald Trump offered one of his strongest endorsements of vaccines on Friday, distancing himself from Florida’s controversial plan to eliminate all vaccine mandates, including for schoolchildren.
Speaking to reporters on Sept. 5, Trump emphasized the importance of long-established vaccines, calling them “not controversial” and urging Americans to continue taking them. His comments came in response to questions about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ move to phase out vaccine requirements, a policy that has stirred national debate.
“I think we have to be very careful,” Trump said. “Look, you have some vaccines that are so amazing. The polio vaccine, for example, is amazing. A lot of people think the COVID vaccine is amazing too.”
Trump stressed that while there are disagreements surrounding newer vaccines, others have been proven to save lives without dispute. “You have vaccines that work. They just pure and simple work. They’re not controversial at all. And I think those vaccines should be used, otherwise some people are going to catch it and they endanger other people,” he said.
The president’s remarks come as his Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., faces mounting criticism over his leadership and long-standing skepticism of vaccines. Kennedy was grilled by senators during a tense Sept. 4 hearing over his actions as the nation’s top health official.
Kennedy has drawn scrutiny for firing all 17 members of a federal vaccine safety advisory committee in June, replacing them with his own appointees. In August, the Food and Drug Administration issued tighter guidelines on COVID-19 vaccines, recommending them only for seniors and people with underlying health conditions.
Tensions within the administration escalated further when Trump dismissed CDC Director Susan Monarez on Aug. 27 following her policy clash with Kennedy. During the Senate hearing, Kennedy refused to acknowledge the widely accepted toll of more than one million American deaths from COVID-19, saying, “I don’t know how many died. I don’t think anybody knows because there was so much data chaos coming out of the CDC.”
Trump has so far stood by Kennedy despite the backlash, but his latest comments reflect an effort to reassure Americans about the importance of long-established vaccines at a time of growing uncertainty in federal health policy.
