McConnell: ‘It Never Occurred to Me We’d Have Difficulty Getting People to Take the Vaccine’

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told Larry Kudlow on Wednesday that he did not anticipate the high level of Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in the United States.

“The one thing we know works is the vaccines,” said McConnell, and noted that he’s a polio survivor. “Honestly, it never occurred to me we’d have difficulty getting people to take the vaccine.”

McConnell has been perhaps the most outspoken Republican member of Congress when it comes to encouraging Americans to get vaccinated. Earlier this month he said, “This is not complicated.”

“So clearly we’ve got a job to do to try to convince reluctant Americans of all types who seem to be holding back unconvinced that this is the right thing to do. There’s one statistic that proves it: 97% of the people in the hospital right now with Covid are unvaccinated. Total conclusive case for vaccination.”