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Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, repeatedly cites the failed campaign to immunize Americans against the AIDS virus as an example of the pitfalls of health care mandates.
Except that the vaccine against AIDS does not exist. And there certainly hasn’t been a failed campaign to mandate him.
He made the most recent comments on an episode of right-wing commentator Erick Erickson’s podcast, noting that because of his knowledge of the non-existent AIDS vaccine, he believes education is a more effective tool than warrants.
“That’s basically how the AIDS vaccine worked. People wouldn’t take it early because it was mandatory, they started educating people and now it’s doing a lot of good there,” Kemp said. to Erickson. “Same scenario, different year we’re dealing with right now.”
A fact-check by Atlanta TV channel 11 Alive called Kemp’s claims “false” – and noted that the governor had made similar comments about AIDS vaccines at least twice over the past year. the last year.
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When contacted for comment by the station, Kemp’s office said it intended to mention the human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccine. But even that statement raises eyebrows – the HPV vaccine is also mandatory in a number of states to attend public schools (among other vaccinations), a campaign that has been widely effective in getting school-aged children vaccinated, reported 11 Alive.
The governor has been a vocal opponent of recent public health efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19. Kemp has repeatedly stated that he will never approve mask or vaccine warrants during his tenure, drawing criticism from public health experts.
In fact, the state’s public health commissioner Dr Kathleen Toomey even asked her lawyer to draft an official letter last year stating that she believed the governor’s plans to reopen the entertainment venues. live was a bad idea, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That ultimately didn’t stop Kemp from doing it.
“It’s one thing to say that you follow science; it’s another to turn science into what you want it to be, ”said Amber Schmidtke, a public health researcher who has taught at Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Ga., paper . “A lot of people were injured and a lot of people died when they didn’t need them.”
Kemp acknowledged the difficulty of his decisions during a press conference during the hubbub, saying, “We have had to make some very difficult choices during extraordinary times, and there is no manual for that.”
“One year back, every day is a reminder of the things we’ve been through, the tough decisions we’ve made.”
He also backed former President Donald Trump – but sparked very public anger from the former Commander-in-Chief when he resisted Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
Since then, however, Kemp has pushed through election laws that not only restrict access to the ballot for many Georgians, but also allow state officials to organize hostile takeovers of local election councils, which raises concerns about Republicans’ efforts to overthrow future elections.
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