Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) announced Tuesday that he recently tested positive for COVID-19 and expressed gratitude to former President Trump for his work in helping develop a vaccine.
“I recently tested positive for COVID. I’ve been vaccinated and my symptoms are not severe,” Liu said. I have written On social platform X.
“I want to thank Donald Trump for his strong belief in the COVID vaccine and for launching Operation Warp Speed,” he added.
The Trump Administration launched Operation Warp Speed in May 2021 to help pharmaceutical companies use relatively new technology to produce two highly effective and safe COVID-19 vaccines in less than a year. Estimation Vaccines prevented 14.4 million deaths over the course of one year.
Throughout the campaign, Trump has navigated a complex web of COVID-19 vaccines, crediting himself with their rapid development while criticizing their use and frequently criticizing his 2024 presidential primary rivals for being too pro-vaccine.
President Trump said he would “not give a penny to any school that imposes vaccine mandates or mask mandates,” acknowledging some of the concerns of the anti-vaccination movement but focusing on the mandates rather than the vaccine itself.
COVID-19 infection levels have been rising across the country recently, with a number of public servants also announcing positive diagnoses.
In July alone, President Biden, Sen. Doug Emhoff and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) all tested positive for COVID-19.
