MSNBC’s Joshua Johnson Cites Revolutionary War to Push for Vaccinations — ‘Maybe Consider Doing What George Washington Did’

Saturday, Joshua Johnson, host of MSNBC’s “The Week,” delivered a monologue urging viewers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Johnson argued the United States’ founding fathers would have gotten the vaccine because they inoculated soldiers during the Revolutionary War to ward off smallpox.

“George Washington knew firsthand how awful smallpox was,” Johnson said. “He caught it as a teenager during a trip to Barbados. It knocked him down for weeks — rashes, backaches, chills, painful sores — nearly a month of sickness. According to the CDC, smallpox once killed about 30% of its victims. Survivors were usually left with scars, including young George Washington. Decades later, General Washington wrote to the president of the Continental Congress, John Hancock. He passed along concerns that the British were releasing smallpox-infected people into the population — flatout biological warfare. Then, on February 5, 1777, George Washington ordered all troops to be inoculated against smallpox. It had to be done strategically so there would still be enough soldiers to fight while their comrades healed up. And it had to be done in secret so the British would not catch on. But that allowed the Continental Army to fight on until three and a half years after that order; the British surrendered at Yorktown. This fall marks 240 years since the Revolutionary War ended. Perhaps it could mark the end of another war if we fight it with everything we’ve got. See? America’s fight for freedom only began with rebellion. It ended with wisdom.”

“Look, if you are choosing not to get vaccinated, that’s your choice,” he added. “Just know that our young country depended on more than firing bullets. It depended on taking shots. The kind of shots that save lives. Sick of the mandates? Tired of the restrictions? You want your freedom back? Maybe consider doing what George Washington did; lead us out of this pandemic. And just like Washington, you can do it privately, quietly. Wouldn’t want the British to find out. It’s easier now than ever to get vaccinated.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent

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