Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) vowed that, if elected president, he would welcome back all servicemembers who were kicked out of the military under President Joe Biden for refusing to receive the mRNA vaccine for COVID-19.
“We’re going to recognize that this military has made mistakes in recent years,” DeSantis said in a video posted to Twitter on Tuesday. “One of the biggest mistakes they made was driving out perfectly capable servicemembers due to the COVID-19 vax mandate.”
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“That mandate was a mistake” and “was not based on scientific data,” according to DeSantis.
NEW: @RonDeSantis announces he will welcome back servicemembers who were kicked out of our military for refusing Biden’s mRNA shot mandate.
All will be given back pay. pic.twitter.com/LoRhDrg8E8
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) July 18, 2023
“Military personnel who meet standards were, probably, at close to zero risk of significant COVID to begin with,” he said. “Many of them had already had COVID and had natural immunity.”
The mRNA vaccine could not prevent infection or transmission, DeSantis said.
“So you have individuals that had already had it,” Florida’s governor said. “They didn’t want to take the shot, and then, they’re being forced to take something that they don’t want to take or perhaps, potentially, lose their career.”
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It “was an example of civilians and political people bowing to the hysteria in society at the time” and “trying to jam that down the throats of our military servicemembers,” according to the Iraq War veteran.
“We are going to acknowledge that the military made a mistake,” DeSantis said. “We are going to offer servicemembers who were separated their jobs back, including with back pay.”
