Former president Donald Trump nixed a plan to receive his first dose of Covid-19 vaccine alongside three of his four living predecessors in the months following his recovery from the coronavirus, according to a new book by a pair of ex-White House employees.
Mr Trump and former first lady Melania Trump both received doses of the vaccine in January 2021, just before their time in the White House came to a close.
At the time, the question of whether Mr Trump would allow himself to be seen being injected with the mRNA-based vaccine was a topic of frequent discussion between reporters and what remained of the White House’s press operation.
According to the Daily Mail, ex-Trump aides Brian and Teresa Morganstern discuss the behind-the-scenes talks regarding a potential bipartisan joint vaccination photo opportunity in their new book, Vignettes and Vino.
Mr Morganstern recounted how Mr Trump’s communications staff began “brainstorming potential scenarios” for Mr Trump to get his shot in public as a result of all the press interest in whether he would get the shot — or not.
“One of the ideas was to have the president invite the former presidents to the White House —or to some other site — to have all of them receive the vaccine together in a show of unity,” said Mr Morganstern, who served as a deputy press secretary and deputy communications director to Mr Trump at the time.
The ex-president’s advisers believed that showing Mr Trump getting a Covid-19 shot could boost public confidence in the vaccines, so Mr Morganstern and another Trump aide attempted to convince Mr Trump of the utility of appearing alongside former presidents Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama.
Mr Morganstern wrote that Mr Trump’s response was to contort his face in a way “that conveyed, shall we say, a healthy scepticism”.
“He said: ‘I'll get the shot. Do they want me to get the shot? I'll get the shot,” the ex-Trump spokesperson wrote, adding later that the ex-president declined to do so alongside his predecessors.
“Regarding an event with the former presidents, he said: ‘Nah, I'm a different kind of a guy, ya know?’”
