As Missouri struggles with a worst-in-the-nation resurgence of the coronavirus, centered on unvaccinated citizens in heavily Republican areas of the state, Republican Gov. Mike Parson is once again doing his part to make the situation worse. Parson—whose infamous “dang mask” derision of pandemic safety protocols last year seemed like the height of irresponsibility—has outdone himself by implying last week that the Biden administration is threatening to “compel vaccination” of Missouri citizens. This is a potentially deadly lie that Parson should retract immediately.
Parson’s statement is part of what looks like a concerted effort on the right to willfully misrepresent comments President Joe Biden made last Tuesday in his effort to convince Americans to get vaccinated, saying that “we need to go to community by community, neighborhood by neighborhood, and oftentimes, door to door—literally knocking on doors—to get help to the remaining people protected from the virus.” In context, it was clear that he was talking about an information campaign, nothing more. Nonetheless, right-wingers have seized on the “knocking on doors” reference to imply Biden wants federal stormtroopers to force vaccinations on unsuspecting citizens.
Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., even invoked Nazi Germany—a deeply offensive comparison, but nothing less than would be expected from two of the most unhinged fanatics in Congress.
Parson essentially threw in his lot with those zealots. “I have directed our health department to let the federal government know that sending government employees or agents door-to-door to compel vaccination would NOT be an effective OR a welcome strategy in Missouri!” he tweeted.
Compel? Has Parson paid any attention at all to Biden’s policy on this? The administration has steadfastly refused to mandate or track vaccinations—or to even recommend that private businesses do so, drawing criticism from medical advocates who say a more forceful approach is needed. The administration’s entire vaccination effort has been properly predicated on fact-driven persuasion.
With his misleading tweet, Parson has made that persuasion more difficult. As the delta variant ravages the very portions of Missouri where conservative voices like his hold sway, he has given aid and comfort to the enemy in a war for his state’s health. As of midweek last week, the rate of new cases in Missouri was tied with that of Arkansas, and greater than in any other state. How does Parson imagine that sowing anti-vaccine, anti-government paranoia will bring those numbers down?
Parson’s comparatively mild public statements encouraging vaccination aren’t nearly enough. It isn’t a coincidence that the coronavirus resurgence, both in Missouri and nationally, is centered in politically conservative regions where vaccination rates are low. Parson’s bully pulpit allows him to be part of the solution or part of the problem. How long will he continue to choose the latter?