President Biden’s draconian speech on Thursday provoked a swift backlash from at least 15 governors, all of whom vowed to fight the administration’s newly announced mandates.
Biden’s six-point plan to combat COVID includes vaccine mandates for federal workers and many private sector employees and will affect as many as 100 million Americans. Biden called upon governors to mandate vaccines for all school teachers and staff, and urged entertainment venues to require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test from attendees. His plan also calls for states, pharmacies, and medical professionals to prepare to administer booster shots. He also announced an increase in fines for travelers who refuse to mask and expanded access to at-home and rapid testing. His plan also includes expansion of the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs.
Biden’s remarks toward the unvaccinated during his speech was full of the type of vitriolic hatred one would expect him to reserve for the Taliban.
“Many of us are frustrated with the nearly 80 million Americans who are still not vaccinated, even though the vaccine is safe, effective, and free,” he opined, glossing over the hundreds of thousands of vaccine-related injuries and deaths reported by the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.
His speech will only serve to deepen the divide in this country as he and his fellow Democrats continue to pit vaccinated and mask-wearing Americans against the unvaccinated and unmasked.
Reaction from numerous governors was immediate, with vows to fight the unconstitutional mandates, the Daily Wire reported. The governors took particular issue with Biden’s orders for the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to force all employers with 100 or more employees “to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work.” The Daily Wire cited the immediate reactions from a dozen governors:
- Tate Reeves, Mississippi: “The President has no authority to require that Americans inject themselves because of their employment at a private business. The vaccine itself is life-saving, but this unconstitutional move is terrifying. This is still America, and we still believe in freedom from tyrants.”
- Brian Kemp, Georgia: “I will pursue every legal option available to the state of Georgia to stop this blatantly unlawful overreach by the Biden administration.”
- Kristi Noem, South Dakota: “My legal team is standing by ready to file our lawsuit the minute @joebiden files his unconstitutional rule. This gross example of federal intrusion will not stand.”
- Henry McMaster, South Carolina: “The American Dream has turned into a nightmare under President Biden and the radical Democrats. They have declared war against capitalism, thumbed their noses at the Constitution, and empowered our enemies abroad. Rest assured, we will fight them to the gates of hell to protect the liberty and livelihood of every South Carolinian.”
- Doug Ducey, Arizona: “This is exactly the kind of big government overreach we have tried so hard to prevent in Arizona — now the Biden-Harris administration is hammering down on private businesses and individual freedoms in an unprecedented and dangerous way. This will never stand up in court. This dictatorial approach is wrong, un-American and will do far more harm than good. How many workers will be displaced? How many kids kept out of classrooms? How many businesses fined? The vaccine is and should be a choice. We must and will push back.”
- Asa Hutchinson, Arkansas: “I fully support continued efforts to increase vaccination rates across our nation, but the federal government mandates on private businesses are not the right answer. I have been consistent in the freedom of businesses to require their employees to be vaccinated, and I have opposed the government from saying businesses cannot exercise that freedom. The same principle should protect private sector from government overreach that requires them to vaccinate all employees.”
- Kim Reynolds, Iowa: “President Biden is taking dangerous and unprecedented steps to insert the federal government even further into our lives while dismissing the ability of Iowans and Americans to make healthcare decisions for themselves. Biden’s plan will only worsen our workforce shortage and further limit our economic recovery. As I’ve said all along, I believe and trust in Iowans to make the best health decisions for themselves and their families. It’s time for President Biden to do the same. Enough.”
- Greg Gianforte, Montana: “President Biden’s vaccination mandate is unlawful and un-American. We are committed to protecting Montanans’ freedoms and liberties against this gross federal overreach.”
- Kevin Stitt, Oklahoma: “It is not the government’s role to dictate to private businesses what to do. Once again President Biden is demonstrating his complete disregard for individual freedoms and states’ rights. As long as I am governor, there will be no government vaccine mandates in Oklahoma. My administration will continue to defend Oklahoma values and fight back against the Biden administration’s federal overreach.”
- Kay Ivey, Alabama: “Once again, President Biden has missed the mark. His outrageous, overreaching mandates will no doubt be challenged in the courts. Placing more burdens on both employers and employees during a pandemic with the rising inflation rates and lingering labor shortages is totally unacceptable. Alabamians have stepped up by rolling up their sleeves to get the covid-19 vaccine, increasing our doses administered significantly in recent weeks. We have done so without mandates from Washington D.C. or Montgomery. I’ve made it abundantly clear: I support the science and encourage folks taking the vaccine. However, I am absolutely against a government mandate on the vaccine, which is why I signed the vaccine passport ban into law here in Alabama. This is not the role of the government. I continue encouraging any Alabamian who can, to get the covid-19 vaccine. We have a safe and effective tool at our fingertips, so, let’s roll up our sleeves and get this thing beat.”
- Greg Abbott, Texas: “Biden’s vaccine mandate is an assault on private businesses. I issued an Executive Order protecting Texans’ right to choose whether they get the COVID vaccine & added it to the special session agenda. Texas is already working to halt this power grab.”
- Mike Parsons, Missouri: “The Biden Administration’s recent announcement seeking to dictate personal freedom and private business decisions is an insult to our American principles of individual liberty and free enterprise. This heavy-handed action by the federal government is unwelcome in our state and has potentially dangerous consequences for working families. Vaccination protects us from serious illness, but the decision to get vaccinated is a private health care decision that should remain as such. My administration will always fight back against federal power grabs and government overreach that threatens to limit our freedoms.”
Likewise, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy suggested Biden’s speech was evidence it was time to remove him from office via the 25th Amendment.
Dunleavy tweeted that the president’s actions are “ridiculous and unenforceable,” adding, “If there was ever a case for the 25th Amendment.”
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee called out Biden’s “This is not about freedom” statement he made as he unveiled the vaccine mandates.
Lee tweeted, “’This is not about freedom’ is a phrase that should never come out of a U.S. President’s mouth.”
Though Biden failed to mention certain governors by name, his speech took aim at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Biden said,
My plan also takes on elected officials and states that are undermining you and these lifesaving actions. Right now, local school officials are trying to keep children safe in a pandemic while their governor picks a fight with them and even threatens their salaries or their jobs. Talk about bullying in schools. If they’ll not help — if these governors won’t help us beat the pandemic, I’ll use my power as President to get them out of the way.
The Department of Education has already begun to take legal action against states undermining protection that local school officials have ordered. Any teacher or school official whose pay is withheld for doing the right thing, we will have that pay restored by the federal government 100 percent. I promise you I will have your back.
And though these governors have not yet addressed this part of Biden’s speech in particular, Governor DeSantis said he would continue to “fight” any effort by the federal government to mandate vaccines or tests on private businesses and individuals.
“How could we get to the point in the country where you would want to have someone lose their job because of their choice about the vaccine or not? I mean, look, some folks have reasons to do — maybe they’re making the wrong decision — but to put them out of work and not let them earn a living because of this, I just think that that’s fundamentally wrong,” DeSantis said, later adding: “I do not believe that people should lose their jobs over this issue, and we will fight that. If they try to do that through a rule like the Department of Labor, I don’t think they have the legal authority to do that, but we obviously would want to support protections for people who are just trying to earn a living.”
As noted above, Governor Abbott also responded to Biden’s speech by calling the mandates a “power grab,” and promising a fight to stop them.
