President Joe Biden’s praise for his predecessor’s efforts in rolling out a COVID-19 vaccine “surprised” former President Donald Trump.
“Thanks to the prior administration and our scientific community, America was one of the first countries to get the vaccine,” Biden said from the White House in an update on the U.S. coronavirus strategy.
“Thanks to my administration and the hard work of Americans, we led a rollout that made America among the world leaders in getting shots in arms.”
Trump said the comments caught him off guard, though he was certainly appreciative.
“I’m very appreciative of that — I was surprised to hear it,” he said. “I think it was a terrific thing, and I think it makes a lot of people happy. I think he did something very good. You know, it has to be a process of healing in this country, and that will help a lot. When we came up with these incredible vaccines—three of them—and therapeutics, we did a tremendous job, and we should never disparage them. We should be really happy about it because we’ve all saved millions and millions of lives all over the world.”
