Dr. Anthony Fauci: Donald Trump’s Supporters ‘Would Listen’ If He Urged Them to Get Vaccinated

Alex Wong/Getty; Doug MIlls/The New York Times/Pool/Getty Dr. Anthony Fauci (left) and President Donald Trump

Dr. Anthony Fauci is calling on Donald Trump to urge his supporters to get vaccinated for COVID-19.

Fauci, 80, told Fox News Sunday that if Trump, 74, spoke out and told his supporters to go get a vaccine, that "it would really be a game changer" in the country's recovery.

COVID-19 has killed 534,476 people in the U.S. and infected 29.4 million, according to a New York Times tracker.

A PBS poll released last week showed that 49% of Republican men say they don't intend to get the vaccine.

Fauci said he's "very surprised" by that poll.

"I don't understand where that's coming from. This is not a political issue," the physician said. "I just don't get it."

Evan Vucci/AP/Shutterstock President Donald Trump looks on as Dr. Anthony Fauci addresses the media during a coronavirus task force briefing on April 10, 2020

Every other living former president has spoken out about the importance of getting vaccinated for COVID-19.

Last week, former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton joined former First Ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton in a public service announcement promoting vaccinations.

Trump and former First Lady Melania Trump did not participate in the PSA. The Trumps did, however, privately get vaccinated in January at the White House and made no public mention of it.

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Fauci told Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace that if Trump publicly urged his supporters to get vaccinated as well, it "would make all the difference in the world."

"He's a very widely popular person among Republicans," Fauci said. "If he came out and said, 'Go and get vaccinated, it's really important for your health, the health of your family and the health of your country,' it seems absolutely inevitable that the vast majority of people who are his close followers would listen to him."

"It would be very helpful to the effort for that to happen," added Fauci, the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

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About 69.8 million people in the U.S. have received one or more doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to The Washington Post.

Fauci said even more Americans would seek out a vaccine if Trump encouraged them to do so.

"He's such a strongly popular person," Fauci said. "I cannot imagine that if he comes out that they would not get vaccinated."

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