Sen. Blunt warns of damaging impact vaccine mandates will have

carleyshaffer1December 8, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. – DECEMBER 07: Ranking Member Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) speaks during an oversight hearing with the Senate Rules and Administration in the Russell Senate Office Building on December 07, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 11:59 AM PT – Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Republican Sen. Roy Blunt (Mo.) cautions the harmful impact Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate could have on U.S. employers.

“I think the Biden administration probably is, and definitely should be, rethinking this,” said Blunt.

Sen. Blunt spoke out on the national vaccine mandate and its affects on employers. The Republican made his opinion known during the Republican Leadership Conference on Tuesday.

Although he supports vaccines, Blunt said he believes the mandate would cripple several industries throughout the country.

“What they’re going to find out is that people who work at grocery stores that have more than 100 employees, will lose a lot of those employees. There are grocery stores that have less than 100 employees or there are other places that you can work and make as much as you make at the grocery store,” explained Blunt. “So, grocery store owners are saying we can barely keep the stocks shelved and the back room running right now, what happens if those people leave?”

The Biden administration’s vaccine mandate will have a harmful impact on U.S. employers, adding to the labor force and supply chain challenges that are already roiling the economy. pic.twitter.com/xRwyYZ5NNF

— Senator Roy Blunt (@RoyBlunt) December 7, 2021

Additionally, he stressed if the courts allow the current vaccine mandates to stay in effect, it’ll devastate health care facilities.

“Almost every rural hospital in Missouri that I’ve talked to, points out that they may not even be able to get 100 percent of their professionals vaccinated. They certainly don’t think they can get 100 percent of the people that keep the hospital open, the floors mopped, the cafeteria running and the system running,” said the Republican.

He invoked the late author, C.S. Lewis to describe the tyranny of the move.

“That the most insidious form of authoritarianism is when the government tells you you have to do something because it’s for your own good,” he said. “If this is for people’s own good, this is something they can figure out for themselves.”

Although the vaccine mandate is currently stalled in court, the Biden administration has continued to push the directive.