Donald Trump claimed 'everybody wanted the vaccine' when he was president

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Donald Trump claimed 'everybody wanted the vaccine' when he was president
President Donald Trump discusses the potential impact of Hurricane Michael during a meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and FEMA Administrator Brock Long in the Oval Office of the White House on October 10, 2018 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee/Getty Images
  • Former President Trump says that low vaccine uptake is due to Biden.
  • He told Fox News' Sean Hannity show that "everybody wanted the vaccine" under his government.
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One in three Americans over the age of 18 remain unvaccinated, and Donald Trump says that's because of Biden.

In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, the former president said that "everybody wanted the vaccine" under his government.

But now, he argues, Biden is the reason for the low vaccine take-up, despite Republicans (compared to Democrats and Independents) being the most likely to say they will never get the vaccine, according to Kaiser Family Foundation polling data.

Biden has repeatedly encouraged wider vaccine take-up.

Speaking to Sean Hannity on his talk show on 7 October, former President Trump said that, when he was in office: "There was nobody saying 'oh, gee, I don't want to take it.' Now they say that. And that's because they don't trust the Biden administration. I can think of no other reason.

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"When I was there, everybody wanted it, and we were doing great. Well, the military did a fantastic job."

Trump has previously said that he is pro-vaccine and has had the shot himself, but his supporters have also booed when noting this fact, as Insider's Joshua Zitser reported in August.

While in office, Trump asked if drinking or injecting bleach would clear COVID-19 and said the coronavirus "wasn't a big deal" in March 2020.

A study by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) found that most COVID-19 misinformation online, including anti-vaccine messaging, came from just 12 accounts.

The CDC continues to say that the vaccines are safe for use.

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