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. 

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate