Watch: NBC's Todd Accuses GOP Sen. Marshall of 'Trying to Delay the End of This Pandemic'

NBC anchor Chuck Todd accused Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) of “trying to delay the end” of the COVID pandemic with opposition to vaccine mandates on this week’s broadcast of “Meet the Press.”

Todd said, “You brought up smoking. At our company here, if you’re a smoker, you have to pay more. If you don’t get vaccinated, should you have to pay for your own health care? More importantly, is it a bizarre incentive to the unvaccinated to give them unemployment benefits?”

Marshall said, “You know, wow, I just don’t know what to say except there’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. I think that problem will be best solved locally. So if a local employer wants to make those type of decisions, I get it. I’m just against any type of federal mandates of any type, especially an unconstitutional federal vaccine mandate. Think from a practical standpoint what that will do to the economy and inflation.”

Todd said, “I understand that. Look at the big picture of this pandemic. Everything you rattled off, you said, would be impacted by a mandate. Ask what we’re living through now. The only way to get past the supply chain problems, to get past COVID, get people vaccinated. The only way to get more workers to show up is to make it safer, to get more people vaccinated. Everything you describe here, all of our problems are because we’re still in the pandemic and because people haven’t gotten vaccinated. How does trying to delay the end of this pandemic better for the economy?”

Marshall said, “Chuck, let’s look at the background information. Ninety-two percent of Americans have some level of immunity to this virus, based on the CDC website. So let’s start there. Really, the messaging coming out of the white house has to acknowledge natural immunity and be honest with America mandates don’t work.”

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