‘Anti-Vaxxer’: Dems, Media Pounce on New Talking Point About Ron DeSantis as 2024 Speculation Heats Up
“A review of DeSantis’s public positions on the vaccines shows a full reversal that has unfolded gradually since 2021, seizing on the shots’ waning efficacy against new virus variants and portraying evolving scientific advice as deliberate deceit,” the Washington Post reported.
A week ago, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis triggered his critics on the left and in the MSM by calling for a Florida grand jury “to investigate crimes and wrongdoing committed against Floridians related to the COVID-19 vaccine.”
During a roundtable held on the “aggressive actions” the DeSantis administration wants to take against any alleged wrongdoings – actions which include establishing a public health integrity committee and taking a closer look “into sudden deaths of individuals that received the COVID-19 vaccine,” Florida’s Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo said it was imperative from ethical and medical standpoints that health care providers (and drug manufacturers) be crystal clear on the risks associated with vaccines, which Ladapo noted was not often the case with the coronavirus vaccine.
DeSantis’ positioning on this issue, coinciding with former President Donald Trump announcing his candidacy for president a month ago, now has the Usual Suspects proclaiming that he has deliberately moved “to the right of Trump” on vaccines ahead of a potential 2024 GOP presidential primary match-up, effectively making DeSantis, in the eyes of some in the media, an “anti-vaxxer.”
The Washington Post admitted as much:
A review of DeSantis’s public positions on the vaccines shows a full reversal that has unfolded gradually since 2021, seizing on the shots’ waning efficacy against new virus variants and portraying evolving scientific advice as deliberate deceit.
The hard-line position he’s now staking out is taking on additional significance: DeSantis is widely seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2024, with many Republicans wanting him to challenge Trump for the GOP nomination and some seeing vaccines as a potential wedge issue to outflank the former president to his right.
"A review of DeSantis’s public positions on the vaccines shows a full reversal that has unfolded gradually since 2021." @iarnsdorf: https://t.co/qweD9AqYVU
— Alec MacGillis (@AlecMacGillis) December 19, 2022
NBC News “disinformation reporter” Ben Collins, who was recently suspended from talking on air about Twitter CEO Elon Musk reportedly because some things he’d either said or tweeted about Musk were “not editorially appropriate,” played the “anti-vaxxer” card on DeSantis in a recent MSNBC segment:
Ben Collins is back on MSNBC after having only been suspended last week for his coverage of Elon Musk and he hasn't changed his tone, trashing Ron DeSantis as having gone "pretty much full anti-vaxxer" and not spending his time talking about January 6. pic.twitter.com/BPsVtEfrAY
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 19, 2022
Naturally, Democrats, including failed 2020 South Carolina Senate nominee and DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, pounced and seized on the talking point, with others again trotting out the “DeSantis is worse than Trump” card:
.@GovRonDeSantis did a complete 180 on his COVID vaccine stance to try and out-MAGA Trump from the right.
Shameless! https://t.co/0tfRFCefKh
— Jaime Harrison, DNC Chair (@harrisonjaime) December 19, 2022
In an election between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, I would unhesitatingly vote for Donald Trump because DeSantis would be a far, far worse president than Trump. https://t.co/nBUIMXskEt
— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) December 19, 2022
The big problem here is that DeSantis’ position on vaccines isn’t a flip-flop, and it’s more like an evolution, thanks to things he’s learned over time. That doesn’t make him an “anti-vaxxer.” It’s just that what he’s learned over the last three years has made him more skeptical of claims from public health officials and drug companies, both of which have minimized the side effects and risks associated with taking the coronavirus vaccines.
As Florida Voice writer Brendon Leslie noted, as usual, DeSantis’ critics are trying to have it both ways. Initially they accused him of not being pro-vaccine enough and bizarrely criticized him at other points for pushing for seniors – the most vulnerable of all – to be the first to get it. Now, these same people are accusing him of something that, in reality, has not happened:
The Governor made them available for seniors- he NEVER encouraged younger people to get them
That’s the demographic where you’re seeing vaccine injuries
— Brendon Leslie (@BrendonLeslie) December 20, 2022
Something else to remember here is that the Washington Post has been one of the leading proponents of purposeful suppression of alternative viewpoints as it relates to COVID, its origins. The vaccine itself, as Stanford University Professor of Medicine Jay Bhattacharya – whose Twitter account was deliberately blacklisted under the old regime – reminded folks in a tweet:
“Exploits”.
For three years, the @washingtonpost has carried the water for lockdowns, school closures, vax discrimination, censorship, and fear mongering that were pushed on the public by @nih, @cdc, and @HHSGov.
It’s far past time for a second opinion.
— Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) December 18, 2022
One more thing to remember here as well is that if the WaPo were truly interested in prominent public figures doing 180s on their stances on the coronavirus vaccine, then they would have held Kamala Harris and Joe Biden accountable for their repeated instances of deliberately undermining it in 2020 ahead of the election, with both of them saying in so many words that they wouldn’t trust a vaccine that was created under the Trump administration.
In September 2020, Biden even floated a “board of scientists” idea, stating that we needed scientists to review other scientists to determine if the vaccine was safe.
“I will say that I would not trust Donald Trump and it would have to be a credible source of information that talks about the efficacy and the reliability of whatever he’s talking about,” Harris told CNN’s Dana Bash around the same time.
Public polling at the time also showed that the media/Democrat campaign to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the vaccine before it was released was bearing fruit:
Media/left's attempts at undermining a possible pre-election Wuhan coronavirus vaccine are working, according to a recent CBS News poll: https://t.co/YwHhQ6Vhl6 pic.twitter.com/Ixp6tJ0nNt
— Sister Toldjah 🌻 (@sistertoldjah) September 10, 2020
Miraculously, all of that changed after Biden and Harris were declared the winners of the election.
To this date, not a single major media news outlet outside of Fox News has explored Biden’s and Harris’ willful election-year gameplaying on the vaccines, further proving the point that when it comes right down to it, the MSM doesn’t give a rat’s patootie about alleged “flip-flopping” on these matters unless they can try to pin it on a Republican.
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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Comments
His position is the same as European governments concerning the covid vaccine for healthy young people and the elderly.
There is very good reason possibly having to do with the scientific process for the positions both here and in Europe.
It does not even work for the elderly. I have two family friends near 90, both vaxxed, Both recently got Covid and one just passed away from it. IMO it is not a vaccine, as traditionally understood, but a gold mine for Big Pharma.
You’re right. They (FDA or CDC) changed the definition of a vaccine, so the drug lords could get immunity from lawsuits (not from the disease). The NIH made $125 billion in one year on one vaccine, so Big Pharma made about the same amount.
My 90 year old vaccinated and double boosted father got COVID last month and survived, but had major lung congestion and other problems for weeks afterwards. He’s still not the same as he was before the infection.
Pro-Vaccine, anti-Vaxxxer is vexing to the handmade tale.
Pro-Vaccine, anti-Vaxxxer (i.e. non-sterilizing, therapeutic treatment, maybe), is vexing to the handmade tale.
Anti-Vaxxer?? No no no… My pronouns are “Anti Experimental Untested Chemicals re-labelled ‘Vaccine” by the CDC”
Way to take a page from the liberal playbook. They use Republicans pounce all the time.
Remember the blockades at the Florida border? DeSantis is bought and paid for. What happens if Trump gets the nod?
Trump was compromised. Do we believe DeSantis will not be? I think DeSantis is in deep. I don’t expect much change with DeSantis and everything that happened the last 6 years will be forgotten.
DeSantis is the Globalist’s insurance policy.
Mark, are you lost? You sound like you are. Isn’t the CTH along with Sundance and all his worshippers there your usual hangout?
The piling on and the “let’s rip on DeSantis for the very thought of challenging Trump” that goes on over there is nonsense.
So anyone who does believe DeSantis is bought by the billionaires is suspect to you, despite the billions he has raked in from that class, something like 94% of his money?
And you don’t believe he will be owning them for this, I got that right?
You Want a cheerleading section on DeSantis, yeah I see it.
You don’t think they are smart enough to let DeSantis be MAGA lite you know to fool a lot of people and to pick issues, like Covid, which are President Trumps Achilles heel?
Just asking for a friend
Gonzo, with all due respect, please take your rhetoric elsewhere. I am a Florida resident and voted for Ron DeSantis twice. I also voted for Trump twice. Despite what you may think or are led to believe by kookie hysterical websites like the CTH, a majority of Trump supporters are getting tired of his antics and derogatory comments about political opponents in his own party.
Enough is enough with Donald Trump style of politics. Pro tip: Trump needs to clean up his act. If he does and wins the nomination I will vote for him.
But let me be clear, many like me objected to his ad hominem attack on DeSantis directly following the excellent work he did restoring power, roads, bridges and debris removal in SWFL, where I live.
After Ian hit us in a matter of days. Ron DeSantis took swift and decisive action. Trump never lifted a finger or opened his wallet to help.
As a Floridian, tell me why I should support a showman who is all hat and no cattle over an authentic man who protects our way of life, keeps our state free and gets things done that is helping people like me recover from a natural disaster?
Hey ghost rider, take your own advice. But I’m curious, who is the governor? Should President Trump have stepped over DeSantis while the crisis was going on? Would that have been prudent or lifesaving? I wonder what you would have said if he injected himself into the hurricane chaos.
Just wondering
And Presidents trump is all hat and no cattle, a very TEXAN thing to say, not Floridian I believe, or have you forgotten the very long list of accomplishments that he was able to do despite having to do practically. All himself as the Congress and senate were too busy undermining him. Remember Paul Ryan? McConnell,, Barr, Sessions, Pence, on and on
Here’s a “few accomplishments for the president with the cattle
As of January 2021
Trump Administration Accomplishments
Unprecedented Economic Boom
Before the China Virus invaded our shores, we built the world’s most prosperous economy.
America gained 7 million new jobs – more than three times government experts’ projections.
Middle-Class family income increased nearly $6,000 – more than five times the gains during the entire previous administration.
The unemployment rate reached 3.5 percent, the lowest in a half-century.
Achieved 40 months in a row with more job openings than job-hirings.
More Americans reported being employed than ever before – nearly 160 million.
Jobless claims hit a nearly 50-year low.
The number of people claiming unemployment insurance as a share of the population hit its lowest on record.
Incomes rose in every single metro area in the United States for the first time in nearly 3 decades.
Delivered a future of greater promise and opportunity for citizens of all backgrounds.
Unemployment rates for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those without a high school diploma all reached record lows.
Unemployment for women hit its lowest rate in nearly 70 years.
Lifted nearly 7 million people off of food stamps.
Poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans reached record lows.
Income inequality fell for two straight years, and by the largest amount in over a decade.
The bottom 50 percent of American households saw a 40 percent increase in net worth.
Wages rose fastest for low-income and blue collar workers – a 16 percent pay increase.
African American homeownership increased from 41.7 percent to 46.4 percent.
Brought jobs, factories, and industries back to the USA.
Created more than 1.2 million manufacturing and construction jobs.
Put in place policies to bring back supply chains from overseas.
Small business optimism broke a 35-year old record in 2018.
Hit record stock market numbers and record 401ks.
The DOW closed above 20,000 for the first time in 2017 and topped 30,000 in 2020.
The S&P 500 and NASDAQ have repeatedly notched record highs.
Rebuilding and investing in rural America.
Signed an Executive Order on Modernizing the Regulatory Framework for Agricultural Biotechnology Products, which is bringing innovative new technologies to market in American farming and agriculture.
Strengthened America’s rural economy by investing over $1.3 billion through the Agriculture Department’s ReConnect Program to bring high-speed broadband infrastructure to rural America.
Achieved a record-setting economic comeback by rejecting blanket lockdowns.
An October 2020 Gallup survey found 56 percent of Americans said they were better off during a pandemic than four years prior.
During the third quarter of 2020, the economy grew at a rate of 33.1 percent – the most rapid GDP growth ever recorded.
Since coronavirus lockdowns ended, the economy has added back over 12 million jobs, more than half the jobs lost.
Jobs have been recovered 23 times faster than the previous administration’s recovery.
Unemployment fell to 6.7 percent in December, from a pandemic peak of 14.7 percent in April – beating expectations of well over 10 percent unemployment through the end of 2020.
Under the previous administration, it took 49 months for the unemployment rate to fall from 10 percent to under 7 percent compared to just 3 months for the Trump Administration.
Since April, the Hispanic unemployment rate has fallen by 9.6 percent, Asian-American unemployment by 8.6 percent, and Black American unemployment by 6.8 percent.
80 percent of small businesses are now open, up from just 53 percent in April.
Small business confidence hit a new high.
Homebuilder confidence reached an all-time high, and home sales hit their highest reading since December 2006.
Manufacturing optimism nearly doubled.
Household net worth rose $7.4 trillion in Q2 2020 to $112 trillion, an all-time high.
Home prices hit an all-time record high.
The United States rejected crippling lockdowns that crush the economy and inflict countless public health harms and instead safely reopened its economy.
Business confidence is higher in America than in any other G7 or European Union country.
Stabilized America’s financial markets with the establishment of a number of Treasury Department supported facilities at the Federal Reserve.
Tax Relief for the Middle Class
Passed $3.2 trillion in historic tax relief and reformed the tax code.
Signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – the largest tax reform package in history.
More than 6 million American workers received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to the tax cuts.
A typical family of four earning $75,000 received an income tax cut of more than $2,000 – slashing their tax bill in half.
Doubled the standard deduction – making the first $24,000 earned by a married couple completely tax-free.
Doubled the child tax credit.
Virtually eliminated the unfair Estate Tax, or Death Tax.
Cut the business tax rate from 35 percent – the highest in the developed world – all the way down to 21 percent.
Small businesses can now deduct 20 percent of their business income.
Businesses can now deduct 100 percent of the cost of their capital investments in the year the investment is made.
Since the passage of tax cuts, the share of total wealth held by the bottom half of households has increased, while the share held by the top 1 percent has decreased.
Over 400 companies have announced bonuses, wage increases, new hires, or new investments in the United States.
Over $1.5 trillion was repatriated into the United States from overseas.
Lower investment cost and higher capital returns led to faster growth in the middle class, real wages, and international competitiveness.
Jobs and investments are pouring into Opportunity Zones.
Created nearly 9,000 Opportunity Zones where capital gains on long-term investments are taxed at zero.
Opportunity Zone designations have increased property values within them by 1.1 percent, creating an estimated $11 billion in wealth for the nearly half of Opportunity Zone residents who own their own home.
Opportunity Zones have attracted $75 billion in funds and driven $52 billion of new investment in economically distressed communities, creating at least 500,000 new jobs.
Approximately 1 million Americans will be lifted from poverty as a result of these new investments.
Private equity investments into businesses in Opportunity Zones were nearly 30 percent higher than investments into businesses in similar areas that were not designated Opportunity Zones.
Massive Deregulation
Ended the regulatory assault on American Businesses and Workers.
Instead of 2-for-1, we eliminated 8 old regulations for every 1 new regulation adopted.
Provided the average American household an extra $3,100 every year.
Reduced the direct cost of regulatory compliance by $50 billion, and will reduce costs by an additional $50 billion in FY 2020 alone.
Removed nearly 25,000 pages from the Federal Register – more than any other president. The previous administration added over 16,000 pages.
Established the Governors’ Initiative on Regulatory Innovation to reduce outdated regulations at the state, local, and tribal levels.
Signed an executive order to make it easier for businesses to offer retirement plans.
Signed two executive orders to increase transparency in Federal agencies and protect Americans and their small businesses from administrative abuse.
Modernized the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the first time in over 40 years.
Reduced approval times for major infrastructure projects from 10 or more years down to 2 years or less.
Helped community banks by signing legislation that rolled back costly provisions of Dodd-Frank.
Established the White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing to bring down housing costs.
Removed regulations that threatened the development of a strong and stable internet.
Eased and simplified restrictions on rocket launches, helping to spur commercial investment in space projects.
Published a whole-of-government strategy focused on ensuring American leadership in automated vehicle technology.
Streamlined energy efficiency regulations for American families and businesses, including preserving affordable lightbulbs, enhancing the utility of showerheads, and enabling greater time savings with dishwashers.
Removed unnecessary regulations that restrict the seafood industry and impede job creation.
Modernized the Department of Agriculture’s biotechnology regulations to put America in the lead to develop new technologies.
Took action to suspend regulations that would have slowed our response to COVID-19, including lifting restrictions on manufacturers to more quickly produce ventilators.
Successfully rolled back burdensome regulatory overreach.
Rescinded the previous administration’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, which would have abolished zoning for single-family housing to build low-income, federally subsidized apartments.
Issued a final rule on the Fair Housing Act’s disparate impact standard.
Eliminated the Waters of the United States Rule and replaced it with the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, providing relief and certainty for farmers and property owners.
Repealed the previous administration’s costly fuel economy regulations by finalizing the Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles rule, which will make cars more affordable, and lower the price of new vehicles by an estimated $2,200.
Americans now have more money in their pockets.
Deregulation had an especially beneficial impact on low-income Americans who pay a much higher share of their incomes for overregulation.
Cut red tape in the healthcare industry, providing Americans with more affordable healthcare and saving Americans nearly 10 percent on prescription drugs.
Deregulatory efforts yielded savings to the medical community an estimated $6.6 billion – with a reduction of 42 million hours of regulatory compliance work through 2021.
Removed government barriers to personal freedom and consumer choice in healthcare.
Once fully in effect, 20 major deregulatory actions undertaken by the Trump Administration are expected to save American consumers and businesses over $220 billion per year.
Signed 16 pieces of deregulatory legislation that will result in a $40 billion increase in annual real incomes.
Fair and Reciprocal Trade
Secured historic trade deals to defend American workers.
Immediately withdrew from the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Ended the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and replaced it with the brand new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
The USMCA contains powerful new protections for American manufacturers, auto-makers, farmers, dairy producers, and workers.
The USMCA is expected to generate over $68 billion in economic activity and potentially create over 550,000 new jobs over ten years.
Signed an executive order making it government policy to Buy American and Hire American, and took action to stop the outsourcing of jobs overseas.
Negotiated with Japan to slash tariffs and open its market to $7 billion in American agricultural products and ended its ban on potatoes and lamb.
Over 90 percent of American agricultural exports to Japan now receive preferential treatment, and most are duty-free.
Negotiated another deal with Japan to boost $40 billion worth of digital trade.
Renegotiated the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, doubling the cap on imports of American vehicles and extending the American light truck tariff.
Reached a written, fully-enforceable Phase One trade agreement with China on confronting pirated and counterfeit goods, and the protection of American ideas, trade secrets, patents, and trademarks.
China agreed to purchase an additional $200 billion worth of United States exports and opened market access for over 4,000 American facilities to exports while all tariffs remained in effect.
Achieved a mutual agreement with the European Union (EU) that addresses unfair trade practices and increases duty-free exports by 180 percent to $420 million.
Secured a pledge from the EU to eliminate tariffs on American lobster – the first United States-European Union negotiated tariff reduction in over 20 years.
Scored a historic victory by overhauling the Universal Postal Union, whose outdated policies were undermining American workers and interests.
Engaged extensively with trade partners like the EU and Japan to advance reforms to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Issued a first-ever comprehensive report on the WTO Appellate Body’s failures to comply with WTO rules and interpret WTO agreements as written.
Blocked nominees to the WTO’s Appellate Body until WTO Members recognize and address longstanding issues with Appellate Body activism.
Submitted 5 papers to the WTO Committee on Agriculture to improve Members’ understanding of how trade policies are implemented, highlight areas for improved transparency, and encourage members to maintain up-to-date notifications on market access and domestic support.
Took strong actions to confront unfair trade practices and put America First.
Imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions worth of Chinese goods to protect American jobs and stop China’s abuses under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.
Directed an all-of-government effort to halt and punish efforts by the Communist Party of China to steal and profit from American innovations and intellectual property.
Imposed tariffs on foreign aluminum and foreign steel to protect our vital industries and support our national security.
Approved tariffs on $1.8 billion in imports of washing machines and $8.5 billion in imports of solar panels.
Blocked illegal timber imports from Peru.
Took action against France for its digital services tax that unfairly targets American technology companies.
Launched investigations into digital services taxes that have been proposed or adopted by 10 other countries.
Historic support for American farmers.
Successfully negotiated more than 50 agreements with countries around the world to increase foreign market access and boost exports of American agriculture products, supporting more than 1 million American jobs.
Authorized $28 billion in aid for farmers who have been subjected to unfair trade practices – fully funded by the tariffs paid by China.
China lifted its ban on poultry, opened its market to beef, and agreed to purchase at least $80 billion of American agricultural products in the next two years.
The European Union agreed to increase beef imports by 180 percent and opened up its market to more imports of soybeans.
South Korea lifted its ban on American poultry and eggs, and agreed to provide market access for record exports of American rice.
Argentina lifted its ban on American pork.
Brazil agreed to increase wheat imports by $180 million a year and raised its quotas for purchases of United States ethanol.
Guatemala and Tunisia opened up their markets to American eggs.
Won tariff exemptions in Ecuador for wheat and soybeans.
Suspended $817 million in trade preferences for Thailand under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program due to its failure to adequately provide reasonable market access for American pork products.
The amount of food stamps redeemed at farmers markets increased from $1.4 million in May 2020 to $1.75 million in September 2020 – a 50 percent increase over last year.
Rapidly deployed the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, which provided $30 billion in support to farmers and ranchers facing decreased prices and market disruption when COVID-19 impacted the food supply chain.
Authorized more than $6 billion for the Farmers to Families Food Box program, which delivered over 128 million boxes of locally sourced, produce, meat, and dairy products to charity and faith-based organizations nationwide.
Delegated authorities via the Defense Production Act to protect breaks in the American food supply chain as a result of COVID-19.
American Energy Independence
Unleashed America’s oil and natural gas potential.
For the first time in nearly 70 years, the United States has become a net energy exporter.
The United States is now the number one producer of oil and natural gas in the world.
Natural gas production reached a record-high of 34.9 quads in 2019, following record high production in 2018 and in 2017.
The United States has been a net natural gas exporter for three consecutive years and has an export capacity of nearly 10 billion cubic feet per day.
Withdrew from the unfair, one-sided Paris Climate Agreement.
Canceled the previous administration’s Clean Power Plan, and replaced it with the new Affordable Clean Energy rule.
Approved the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.
Opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska to oil and gas leasing.
Repealed the last administration’s Federal Coal Leasing Moratorium, which prohibited coal leasing on Federal lands.
Reformed permitting rules to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and speed approval for mines.
Fixed the New Source Review permitting program, which punished companies for upgrading or repairing coal power plants.
Fixed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) steam electric and coal ash rules.
The average American family saved $2,500 a year in lower electric bills and lower prices at the gas pump.
Signed legislation repealing the harmful Stream Protection Rule.
Reduced the time to approve drilling permits on public lands by half, increasing permit applications to drill on public lands by 300 percent.
Expedited approval of the NuStar’s New Burgos pipeline to export American gasoline to Mexico.
Streamlined Liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal permitting and allowed long-term LNG export authorizations to be extended through 2050.
The United States is now among the top three LNG exporters in the world.
Increased LNG exports five-fold since January 2017, reaching an all-time high in January 2020.
LNG exports are expected to reduce the American trade deficit by over $10 billion.
Granted more than 20 new long-term approvals for LNG exports to non-free trade agreement countries.
The development of natural gas and LNG infrastructure in the United States is providing tens of thousands of jobs, and has led to the investment of tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure.
There are now 6 LNG export facilities operating in the United States, with 2 additional export projects under construction.
The amount of nuclear energy production in 2019 was the highest on record, through a combination of increased capacity from power plant upgrades and shorter refueling and maintenance cycles.
Prevented Russian energy coercion across Europe through various lines of effort, including the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy Cooperation, civil nuclear deals with Romania and Poland, and opposition to Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Issued the Presidential Permit for the A2A railroad between Canada and Alaska, providing energy resources to emerging markets.
Increased access to our country’s abundant natural resources in order to achieve energy independence.
Renewable energy production and consumption both reached record highs in 2019.
Enacted policies that helped double the amount of electricity generated by solar and helped increase the amount of wind generation by 32 percent from 2016 through 2019.
Accelerated construction of energy infrastructure to ensure American energy producers can deliver their products to the market.
Cut red tape holding back the construction of new energy infrastructure.
Authorized ethanol producers to sell E15 year-round and allowed higher-ethanol gasoline to be distributed from existing pumps at filling stations.
Ensured greater transparency and certainty in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program.
Negotiated leasing capacity in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Australia, providing American taxpayers a return on this infrastructure investment.
Signed an executive order directing Federal agencies to work together to diminish the capability of foreign adversaries to target our critical electric infrastructure.
Reformed Section 401 of the Clean Water Act regulation to allow for the curation of interstate infrastructure.
Resolved the OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) oil crisis during COVID-19 by getting OPEC, Russia, and others to cut nearly 10 million barrels of production a day, stabilizing world oil prices.
Directed the Department of Energy to use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to mitigate market volatility caused by COVID-19.
Investing in America’s Workers and Families
Affordable and high-quality Child Care for American workers and their families.
Doubled the Child Tax Credit from $1,000 to $2,000 per child and expanded the eligibility for receiving the credit.
Nearly 40 million families benefitted from the child tax credit (CTC), receiving an average benefit of $2,200 – totaling credits of approximately $88 billion.
Signed the largest-ever increase in Child Care and Development Block Grants – expanding access to quality, affordable child care for more than 800,000 low-income families.
Secured an additional $3.5 billion in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to help families and first responders with child care needs.
Created the first-ever paid family leave tax credit for employees earning $72,000 or less.
Signed into law 12-weeks of paid parental leave for Federal workers.
Signed into law a provision that enables new parents to withdraw up to $5,000 from their retirement accounts without penalty when they give birth to or adopt a child.
Advanced apprenticeship career pathways to good-paying jobs.
Expanded apprenticeships to more than 850,000 and established the new Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship programs in new and emerging fields.
Established the National Council for the American Worker and the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board.
Over 460 companies have signed the Pledge to America’s Workers, committing to provide more than 16 million job and training opportunities.
Signed an executive order that directs the Federal government to replace outdated degree-based hiring with skills-based hiring.
Advanced women’s economic empowerment.
Included women’s empowerment for the first time in the President’s 2017 National Security Strategy.
Signed into law key pieces of legislation, including the Women, Peace, and Security Act and the Women Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act.
Launched the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative – the first-ever whole-of-government approach to women’s economic empowerment that has reached 24 million women worldwide.
Established an innovative new W-GDP Fund at USAID.
Launched the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) with 13 other nations.
Announced a $50 million donation on behalf of the United States to We-Fi providing more capital to women-owned businesses around the world.
Released the first-ever Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security, which focused on increasing women’s participation to prevent and resolve conflicts.
Launched the W-GDP 2x Global Women’s Initiative with the Development Finance Corporation, which has mobilized more than $3 billion in private sector investments over three years.
Ensured American leadership in technology and innovation.
First administration to name artificial intelligence, quantum information science, and 5G communications as national research and development priorities.
Launched the American Broadband Initiative to promote the rapid deployment of broadband internet across rural America.
Made 100 megahertz of crucial mid-band spectrum available for commercial operations, a key factor to driving widespread 5G access across rural America.
Launched the American AI Initiative to ensure American leadership in artificial intelligence (AI), and established the National AI Initiative Office at the White House.
Established the first-ever principles for Federal agency adoption of AI to improve services for the American people.
Signed the National Quantum Initiative Act establishing the National Quantum Coordination Office at the White House to drive breakthroughs in quantum information science.
Signed the Secure 5G and Beyond Act to ensure America leads the world in 5G.
Launched a groundbreaking program to test safe and innovative commercial drone operations nationwide.
Issued new rulemaking to accelerate the return of American civil supersonic aviation.
Committed to doubling investments in AI and quantum information science (QIS) research and development.
Announced the establishment of $1 billion AI and quantum research institutes across America.
Established the largest dual-use 5G test sites in the world to advance 5G commercial and military innovation.
Signed landmark Prague Principles with America’s allies to advance the deployment of secure 5G telecommunications networks.
Signed first-ever bilateral AI cooperation agreement with the United Kingdom.
Built collation among allies to ban Chinese Telecom Company Huawei from their 5G infrastructure.
Preserved American jobs for American workers and rejected the importation of cheap foreign labor.
Pressured the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to reverse their decision to lay off over 200 American workers and replace them with cheaper foreign workers.
Removed the TVA Chairman of the Board and a TVA Board Member.
So as a child I knew use to say, suck my
Big toe….
Checkmate
With all do respect, I don’t really believe you mean that in the least.
Adults actually discuss disagreements, I see you have taken the globalists playbook.
GonzoTx: you make a great argument for limiting number of characters in this comment section.
DeSantis is more MAGA than Trump is. You claim that he’s “bought,” and yet his actions in Florida have been consistently conservative. He’s gone after the left time and time again, but somehow that’s not good enough for you.
Your claim is stupid. But that’s not me saying that, it’s a friend. I’m just passing it along.
Your comment below was copied word for word from here, without attribution.
https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/trump-administration-accomplishments/
That’s called PLAGIARISM. And can you find less biased source source for Trump’s accomplishment than “trumpwhitehouse?”
New screen name, Gonz?
No Grizzly but amazing how you have changed. , there are still sane people who follow the money and know the payback is coming
Oh, and it’s coming….
Marksmith
The pro DeSantis crowd here is rabid, take it as a badge of courage to be insulted, I do, the down votes are hilarious
Did you just imply someone else was “rabid?” Sorry, not all of us are willing to toss a conservative under the bus just because he MIGHT pose a primary challenge to Trump. And that’s the reason why you’re attacking DeSantis, despite your claims… because he’s a threat.
https://pjmedia.com/columns/kevindowneyjr/2022/12/19/why-you-need-to-stop-worrying-and-love-trump-again-n1654859
The only thing comprising President Trump
Is the thousands of legal
Attlee that have been thrust upon. Him and the knifes shoved in his back, including his VP, who was in charge of the vaccine role out.
Trump
Very much wanted to believe that his warp speed brought a scientific breakthrough for the American people, he was lied to by his so called Covid committee Fauchi, Pence, Birch, Pharma, ksorry can’t remember how to spell the bytchs name.
His fault at this time, is to own up to being lied to , come out swinging with the names and dates,
He’s got nothing to lose, it wasn’t his fault, he was trying to save his citizens from what ended up a very bad virus for the elderly.
You all know I love President Trump, but he has got to acknowledge what they did to him , us and the world to gather all the powers they have today and refuse to let it go.
Senator Ron Johnson had an excellent 3 hour public symposium on the virus and the cover up.
Probably where DeSantis and his handlers got the idea. It’s clearly a shot across President Trumps bow, even if it does some good, it’s political.
I agree. When it comes to picking staff, Trump is totally incompetent. Just what some people demand in a “leader”.
First of all he never ran from office and had to depend on the RNC , Paul Ryan, Priebus, McConnell, etc, for the most part. They are the ones that put the idiots on 98% of the positions
Obviously President Trump is a great leader, just look at his businesses and the multiple thousands at his rally’s and 76 million that voted for him . The most in the history of this nation, until those bags were rolled out from under the tables at 3 am
When a toilet overflowed
And the fact that the citizens of the US aren’t rioting is the shame of it all
Benjamin was right, we couldn’t keep the republic and we certainly are a nation of pu$$ies…
Yup. Trump is like totally responsible for every good thing that happened during his administration, whether he knew about it or not, and, like, totally out of the loop on every decision or personnel selection he (personally) made that ended up in the toilet. You’ve been singing the song for two years and it still doesn’t wash. His only claim to fame outside of his skill at declaring bankruptcy was his TV show where he pretended to be a personnel expert.
Excuses. Nothing but excuses. Trump consistently made terrible judgements in picking staff. There’s no sign he’s learned his lesson.
Gonzo,
Trump clearing the air on Federal Covid policies is good idea. He probably was lied to. Supposedly he is a bit of a germophobe, not at Howard Hughes level, but that was almost certainly used to manipulate him to adopt the Federal Civic policies. He made bad decisions on Covid and is vulnerable on this front.
In any event Trump did stake out an expansive position for Covid mitigation including ineffective masks and arbitrary social distancing. Neither of those required a great deal of scientific understanding to realize they were absolutely bogus from the beginning.
Trump did call for support of lockdown well after ‘two weeks to flatten the curve’ had passed. On the same day DeSantis opened up Florida Trump chose to attack Sweden for refusing to lockdown. That’s a very clear difference between the men in their policy choices and attitudes. One chose to enable the Fauchi fascists and the hypochondriac totalitarian Covid Karens while the other vigorously opposed them. Very clear difference in real time.
President Trump was feed BS everyday by the entire Covid team and Pence, the “leader” made sure that alternative opinions never reached the President.
He even brags about it in his book and the book by the bytch with the scarf so I give him a pass for the most part early in the China virus.
I do believe as time went by and more became public he had an obligation to fire the committee or at least sideline them. I know he didn’t want the treatment to be worse than the curse , which he publicly stated.
By then Fauci had become God to the media. But I do think Trump needed to sideline him, non stop TV appearances and all.
President Trump let the decision to close down to the states, which Florida did do for a few months. It’s at that time new info was public. I give DeSantis and Kemp credit but Nome actually NEVER shut down anything , but she doesn’t get DeSantis publicity for it, just like Ohio gov DeWine, got a higher percentage of votes that DeSantis 62%
And I believe Nome was also 62%
DeSantis was only 59%, Abbott was 54.8 and Rubio in Florida was almost exactly as DeSantis, so I’m kind of tired of hearing of the great win. Ot was a good solid win, but other Republican Govs had same or more. And Abbott, who is a RINO and not a favorite of mine had to run against Mr Hollywood, media love child beto, now 3 time loser. DeSantis ran against a previous governor that can’t decide if he’s republican, democrat, independent or just a loser. Really no comparison.
DeSantis would not have won his first run if not for President Trumps support, amd he knows it AND President Trump actually stopped several trucks loaded with forged ballots for Mr Gollem, the drug addict bisexual prostitute paying democrat… just imagine.
Great way to thank your mentor Mr DeSantis, but hundreds of millions, well we all
Have our price they say….
Yes, I want President Trump to
Come out and address the clot shot, I want him to take responsibility for not replacing the communist and traitors on his committee , but he’s also NOT a scientist and he didn’t make the freaking thing and tried to listen to the “leading scientists “
In the end all they wanted to do is kick him
Out, kill
As
Many people as they can, and we see numerous young peole dying each day, still births are up by insane percentage and women and men are becoming sterile., cancer is rising, extremely aggressive and often in the youth
It’s a wonderful world
Mission accomplished
gonzo,
Your points about other issues may well be true but aren’t part of this discussion. We are discussing Covid and the differences in policy implementation between Trump and DeSantis. As you admit there is a good deal of difference between the two over lockdown and whether to use their executive authority to enable or oppose the Fauchi Fascists and Covid Karens.
No serious person would blame Trump for the vaccine creation or it’s issues. His job was to get govt out of the way to get something produced quickly and he did it. I certainly don’t. IMO, he got swindled by his advisors on masks and lockdown early on.
He eventually brought in Dr Atlas but Trump failed to follow the advice of the Barrington Declaration and adjust Federal priorities and implement more realistic means of dealing with Covid.
DeSantis is saying the obvious-the vaxxes don’t prevent transmission and there is no reason why kids and anyone else should lose their job over refusing to be vaxxed if one has natural immunities
Who is the ‘party of science’ again exactly?
DeSantis adjusted his policies to the reality on the ground. As it became evident that the ‘vaccines’ were nothing of the sort, he adapted.
Here’s a pro tip for the proggies in the room: when you have to employ your shills in the media to LITERALLY REDEFINE THE WORD VACCINE then maybe you should STFU and sit this one out.
As a Floridian, I see the bigger issue is the totality of DeSantis’s record as governor and not just his Covid stance. Plus his willingness to challenge the media and call them out on their bull shit does not sit well with them. The bigger question is how much attacks by the media against DeSantis over vaccines, lockdowns, masks, etc. are actually a negative towards him as a candidate for president?
Maybe look into his voting record as a congressman, he got his governorship by begging President Trump to endorse him
And after a year, he fired, sorry, changed his advisors, all Jeb bush, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan buddies and the money started pouring in….
He is who he is amd they had his number his little one plane act to Martha’s Vineyard, did we see act 2… nope
It’s all bread and circus with him amd true ly I’m sad, in the beginning I thought he was the real deal.
But as always, follow the money….
Love the down votes
Afraid to look into DeSantis past amd his money handlers
Proves you all haven’t learned a thing
Keep voting me down, I love it
No, you don’t. You’re clearly irritated by them.
Is that why you keep mentioning them? You have yet to make an actual argument against DeSantis. Going to get started on that any time soon, plagiarist?
Won’t work because DeSantis is right
“…seizing on the shots’ waning efficacy against new virus variants and portraying evolving scientific advice as deliberate deceit,”
Geebus D Draper selling Cars as Sex, that’s a lot of emotional marketing going on there. I forget; is Bezos’ Newsletter a glossy, now? Vanity Fair? Atlantic? I know, it’s Vogue — Ann Wintour has taken on a side-hustle.
In an example of Brandolini’s Law, taking that crap apart was way more than should be a comment post. Literally every word of that headline reads in assumptions, characterizations and accusations; sometimes several.
Skipping the Fisking, the bottom line goes: Why go after that guy, when we ought to be talking about the topic: how bad is it? what works? what else works?
Go after the guy because the panic is the point. It’s hard to stampede cattle paying attention to what happened, what we know, and what to do about it. The livestock become a problem should they figure out they have agency, insight, and their own interests. Can’t let that happen.
He’s not “back”. He was never suspended. He was merely told not to make any reports about Musk, because he’s not neutral on that subject. He was never restricted on any other subject,
With all the lies and obfuscation we’ve been subjected to over the past 2+ years regarding “covid” and the clot shot, the surprise is not that there are “anti vaxxers,” but rather that there aren’t *more* of them.
No, that’s the demographic for which they had no choice but to admit there were injuries. Twenty-somethings don’t get blood clots and myocarditis. A 70 year old develops such conditions after getting an mRNA shot? That wasn’t a vaccine injury, that was an undiagnosed pre-existing condition. Trust us.
I read both sides from the desantis and trump teams.
Those that are giving up on trump do not realize that this paints themselves as cowards and losers. There are still not enough folks willing to fight for our country.
I wish a 3rd party strong enough to overcome both parties will emerge. But sadly, it will not.
My predictions?
1. The democrats are already terrified of desantis. Just as much as they are of trump.
2. The democrats will paint desantis as MAGA domestic terrorist.
3. Mitch is also terrified of MAGA and does not want desantis nor trump. After all, he is now promoting mitt romney.
4. I see more and more persecutions of Republicans and even if they declare themselves as non-MAGA, they will be accused as MAGA domestic terrorists. Red speech anyone?
5. We are all talk with no action. I am waiting for more strong leaders to emerge, not backed by globalism, to emerge. I think desantis is backed by corrupt globalism. I think he, lacking money, can be bought so I don’t trust him.
6. The democrats are seeing more opportunities to win 2024. They will determine the winners and lovers.
7. We will see more normalization of naziism in this country, especially after the fawning of zelensky in wdc yesterday.
Republican Desantis haters + Trumpopheliacs= Democrat president 2024.
If the Arizona vote for governor stands, it won’t make any difference who the Republican candidate is. He can’t win without it.
DeSantis “changed” in response to our changing knowledge of the vaccines’ lack of safety and efficacy, as opposed to changing just due to political whims. Millions of Americans went through the same evolution. Seems that Trump in contrast is unwilling/unable to let go his belief that the vax rollout was some great triumph, whereas in fact he was “had” by the public “health” establishment pushing a vax only, and later, expensive drug only, policy, resulting in some of the world’s worst covid response.
The rollout of a ‘vaccine’ in less than a year by getting the govt out of the way was a major accomplishment for Trump. That the agencies didn’t require maintaining the integrity of the control groups for a another 9-12 months was on the at nodes and the pharmaceutical companies.
IMO, he has more vulnerability on the simpler things; allowing the executive branch of the Federal government to push for wholly ineffective masks and social distancing. Compounding that error was not ordering the DoJ to intervene in States and Localities who were actively violating civil rights; freedom of assembly, worship, expression, freedom to contract, freedom to run their business, go to work, send their kids to school.