A push by business leaders and the Biden administration to normalize so-called “vaccine passports” has alarmed many Americans, but pushback is brewing.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continued to win the hearts of conservatives last week when he took a firm stand against the draconian proposal with an executive order, and now the governor of Mississippi is joining him in taking a stand, Just The News reported.
“I don’t think it’s necessary, and I don’t think it’s a good thing to do in America,” Gov. Tate Reeves said.
Governor opposes vaccine passports
Although the campaign for “vaccine passports” is in its early stages, many Americans fear they would lead to a loss of freedoms and privacy in a system of de facto forced vaccination requiring people to get the coronavirus vaccine to have a normal life.
DeSantis echoed the concerns of many Americans about the creation of “two classes of citizens based on vaccination” in his order last week, which bans businesses and state and local governments from demanding proof of vaccination.
“It’s completely unacceptable for either the government or the private sector to impose upon you the requirement that you show proof of vaccine to just simply participate in normal society,” the governor said. DeSantis has given arguably the strongest response of any Republican leader on this issue. It’s not clear if governor Tate plans to issue an executive order.
Biden backs draconian vaccine passports
Some Republicans, like Missouri Gov. Mike Parsons, say they’re fine with vaccine passports as long as it’s private companies enforcing them. It remains to be seen how well such arguments will stand up, as the Biden administration works closely with private industry to develop “guidelines” and make the passports a reality.
Big airlines (which have also, incidentally, opposed voter ID laws in states like Georgia at Biden’s behest) are clamoring for them, and while the White House says no one will be forced to get a vaccine passport, not everyone is feeling reassured after a year of arbitrary lockdowns.
Dr. Anthony Fauci has said he “does not believe” the federal government would try to mandate vaccine passports, but “it might be on the local level though” and that employers could make vaccination necessary. The Biden administration has acknowledged that standardizing passports in private industry could be “perceived as a Federal mandate.”
Opposition grows
This all comes as a media campaign is clearly underway to portray the passports as an innocuous invention that only Republican “conspiracy theorists” have a problem with, even though the White House is pushing for them in plain sight and some left-leaning groups are also raising objections.
Media outlets like The Washington Post have compared the passports to vaccination for global travel, but many suspect something far more intrusive is being considered: not vaccines for a trip overseas so much as a trip to the local grocery store.
The American Civil Liberties Union said there’s “a lot that can go wrong” and that “we don’t want to turn into a checkpoint society that outlasts the danger of COVID,” echoing Republicans in Pennsylvania who are pushing a ban. “These passports may start with COVID-19, but where will they end?” said Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R).
The post DeSantis, other GOP governors oppose vaccine passports first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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