Sen. Marsha Blackburn Calls on U.S. to ‘Ban Vaccine Mandates’

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Monday called on the U.S. to “ban vaccine mandates,” days after President Joe Biden outlined his intention to require certain members of the private sector to be vaccinated for the Chinese coronavirus.

“Ban vaccine mandates,” Blackburn said, later adding that vaccine mandates “have no place in the U.S.”:

Her remarks follow President Biden’s divisive coronavirus speech last week, in which he scolded unvaccinated Americans while announcing sweeping mandates applying to federal workers, federal contractors, certain healthcare employees, some members of the private sector.

“Tonight, I’m announcing that the Department of Labor is developing an emergency rule to require all employers with 100 or more employees, that together employ over 80 million workers, to ensure their workforces are fully vaccinated or show a negative test at least once a week,” he said, triggering mass backlash. Republicans across the nation hit back, including Blackburn, who concluded that Biden is “sounding more like a dictator every day.”

Since his announcement, some, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), have kicked opposition into high gear. On Monday, the Sunshine State governor held a press conference flanked by fellow Republicans and first responders, all vowing to stand up against intrusive and unconstitutional vaccine mandates at both the federal and local levels.

Further, DeSantis mocked the inconsistency of Biden’s sweeping mandate, as it does not apply to the legislative or judicial branch employees.

“So they’re issuing this mandate for private sector employees but also for all federal employees, but they’re exempting the post office. They’re exempting members of Congress and members of Congress’s staff? So how does that work? Can someone explain the science to me?” he asked, concluding that it is “all political.”