As the nation was celebrating Labor Day on Monday, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) thought he’d let the entire internet know that his knowledge of American history is considerably less fulsome than the average high school student, firing off a tweet criticizing vaccine mandates despite a massive increase in COVID-19 cases in many states, especially those where the vaccination rate remains low.
Vaccine mandates are un-American.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) September 6, 2021
But as HuffPost notes, the notion that it’s “un-American” to mandate vaccines goes against what history teaches us about other times when vaccines have indeed been mandated:
“As PoliticFact previously noted, Gen. George Washington ordered his troops to be inoculated against smallpox in 1777 via a precursor to vaccination called variolation.
“Healthline reported last month that school vaccine mandates have existed in the United States since the 1850s when the first one was enacted in Massachusetts to stop the spread of smallpox.
“And Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University, told NPR last week that the Supreme Court upheld vaccine mandates more than a century ago.”
Social media then took over, giving the Ohio Republican an online history lesson, with many citing past vaccine mandates while others noted that inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is about as un-American as it gets:
This is simply not true. Vaccines for smallpox, later childhood vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, Hib (vaccines discovered in USA), preserved our nation. I’m aghast at the absence of intellectual curiosity or even passing interest in American 🇺🇸 history from our US Congress https://t.co/JyUmldvQCn
— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) September 7, 2021
Every US soldier is required to be vaccinated against chicken pox, hep A, hep B, measles, mumps, rubella, rabies, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, rabies, typhoid, pneumococcal pneumonia, and the flu. Is that really un-American? https://t.co/irWMNXhPrm
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) September 7, 2021
Ohio State University has a vaccination mandate for all students. Did you voice your opinions on vaccine mandates when you worked there, or is this a new thing for you? https://t.co/3C7vLRAxjo
— Jax Persists (@LadyJayPersists) September 7, 2021
January 6th was un-American.@Jim_Jordan https://t.co/ZSQ5AdmTkD
— Queen of Typos (@KellieADennis74) September 6, 2021
You know what’s un-American, gym?
Insurrection is un-American.Enabling a madman hellbent on punishing his critics for disagreeing with him is un-American.
Saying nothing when young men are abused by a team doctor when you could have stopped it.
THAT is un-American.And yet…
— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) September 7, 2021
Not interested in what the party of tyrants and traitors think is “un-American”, Jimbo.
— Alexandra Erin (@AlexandraErin) September 7, 2021
Sit down, Jim. You know nothing about history or common sense.
Featured Image Via NBC News
