Former US President Donald Trump was met with jeering Sunday when he revealed he had received a COVID-19 booster shot, a video shows.
The remarks were made by Trump at a closed-door press event on Sunday in Dallas, Texas, on a tour with former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly and were shared on social media by O'Reilly's No Spin News.
NEW: During their show in Dallas, President Trump reveals to @BillOReilly he got the vaccine booster shot. pic.twitter.com/fhkOQEeeEQ
— No Spin News (@NoSpinNews) December 20, 2021
At the event, O'Reilly revealed that both he and Trump are vaccinated against COVID-19 and confirmed that the former president had received the booster shot.
Boos began to ring out from the audience.
"Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't," Trump was heard saying, adding "that's all right, it's a very tiny group over there."
Trump had received the COVID-19 vaccine during his presidency, though he rarely brings it up. During his administration, he had often taken credit for advancing COVID-19 vaccine development.
However, he also said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in September that he would likely not get the booster shot.
Further, anti-vaxxer sentiments and vaccine skepticism are rife among some parts of the Republican Party, as is opposition to vaccine mandates.
However, Trump had also told his Dallas audience that they shouldn't dismiss vaccines and should instead take credit for them, adding that the pandemic would have been far worse if the vaccines were not made, though he did say that Americans shouldn't be forced to take them.
'You’re playing right into their hands when you doubt the vaccine, President Trump says. pic.twitter.com/xJc7JTL0cR
— No Spin News (@NoSpinNews) December 20, 2021
"Look, we did something that was historic, we saved tens of millions of lives worldwide. We, together, all of us, not me," the former president said in a longer video tweeted by No Spin News. "You are playing right into their hands when you sort of like, 'oh, the vaccine.' If you don't want to take it, you shouldn't be forced to take it. No mandates. But take credit, because we saved tens of millions of lives. Take credit. Don't let them take that away from you."
Trump has encouraged people in the past to get vaccinated against COVID-19. However, when he tried doing this in August with a crowd in Alabama, he was met with boos, CNN reported at the time.
Many prominent Republicans have voiced opposition to the vaccine and vaccine mandates in the past. This includes politicians like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has compared it to the policies of Nazi Germany during the Holocaust on multiple occasions, and political commentator Candace Owens, who claims to be unvaccinated.