Mr Trump made the remarks when discussing the response to Covid-19 in the final year of his administration and how more people died during President Joe Biden’s administration than during his administration. “We’ve done so much in terms of healing, and a word I’m not allowed to mention, but I’m still proud of that word,” he told supporters in Anchorage. “We did this in nine months and it was supposed to take five to 12 years, nobody else could do it, but I don’t mention it in front of my people. But someday we’re all going to have to sit down and talk a little bit, but you know what, we did a hell of a job.” At the start of the pandemic, Mr Trump launched Operation Warp Speed to create a vaccine to immunize people against the virus that causes Covid-19. But many of Trump’s biggest supporters have criticized the vaccine. When he spoke in Alabama last year, he said “I recommend you get the shots, I did it, it’s good,” which got pushback. Likewise, when he toured with former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly last year, an audience booed him when he said he got a booster shot. Trump visited Alaska to campaign for Kelly Tshibaka, whom he endorsed to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who voted to impeach Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. “You will fire your RINO senator. She’s worse than a RINO,” he said, calling her a Republican in name only. Trump also campaigned for former governor and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who is running for an open House seat. Ms. Palin is currently running in a close race with Republican Nick Begich, grandson of former Democratic congressman Nick Begich Sr. Ms Palin is one of many Republicans who have opposed the Covid-19 vaccine. When she tested positive for the virus, she announced her opposition. “I’m going to have to put a shot over my dead body,” he said in Phoenix in 2021. “I’m not going to do that. I won’t do it and they better not touch my children either.”
