Why was Trump booed in Alabama?
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(CNN) -
In the middle of Donald Trump's speech in Alabama on Saturday night, something remarkable happened.
When Trump told the crowd that he would "recommend" they get the COVID-19 vaccine, people started booing.
Look here.
Absolutely incredible.
This is Frankenstein's monster come true in the year 2021. Trump has created a group of followers that even he cannot control anymore.
OPINION |
Trump's conduct needs to be investigated at the federal level
Consider how we got there on Saturday night.
Trump spent his entire presidency telling his followers that everything and everyone was false except for him.
He literally said it in a 2018 speech.
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"Stay with us," he said then.
"Do not believe the garbage you see of these people, the fake news (...). What you are seeing and what you are reading is not what is happening."
The message was simple: doubt everything.
From the small facts to the big, including that the 2020 election was won by President Joe Biden fairly.
Could Trump's lies define the legacy of his presidency?
The elites always lied to you, they always sought to earn money or fame or power at your expense, according to Trump, the only way to defend yourself was to reject everything they told you to do or believe.
But look, the problem with nurturing and nurturing all those lies, the Big Lie (about elections) and all the rest, is that non-belief takes on a life of its own. People who are told that everything the government and the media say is a lie do not have the ability, or the inclination, to differentiate. If the government and the media lied about the 2020 elections (side note: they didn't) then what would they not lie about?
It is that mindset that leads people to boo vaccines that are more than 90% effective in preventing serious disease and death from a pandemic that has already killed more than 628,000 Americans.
And to do so in a state that is the fourth in the country in global cases of covid-19 per 100,000 people, and the fifth in deaths per 100,000 people, according to
The New York Times.
What's worse is that Trump has zero inclination to try to control the creature he has built.
Check out exactly what he said about vaccines, both before and after being booed:
"I totally believe in their freedoms, I do. But you have to do what you have to do, but I recommend, get the shots. I did. It's good. Get the shots, but they have ... [BOO] ... No, it's okay. It's okay. They have their freedoms. But I happened to get vaccinated. If it doesn't work, they'll be the first to know, okay. I'll call Alabama and say, 'Hey, you know what?'
But it's working. But you have your freedoms. You have to maintain, you have to maintain that. You have to maintain that. "
So, this is what happens:
Trump Says He Recommends Taking The Vaccine
They boo him
He says "they have their freedoms" while downplaying his own personal decision to get vaccinated ("it turns out I got vaccinated")
He raises a question about whether the vaccine will work and then again says that people "have to keep" their freedoms.
What this shows is that Trump has no inclination to try to control the monster he built, whether he can or not.
He wants to hear cheers and applause, not boos.
So instead of telling your people a harsh truth they need to hear: vaccination is the only way out of the hell of the last 18 months, you minimize your own decision to get vaccinated and make sure people know you're on the side. of your ... freedoms.
Saturday night was the logical end of what Trump has worked to create.
The monster that Trump built no longer pays attention to him all the time.
It has grown beyond your ability to control it.
Donald trump