LIBERTARIAN NOMINEE FLIP-FLOPS ON MANDATORY VACCINATIONS …
This website endorsed former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson‘s 2012 presidential bid. Earlier this month, though, we noted that a repeat endorsement for the Libertarian party nominee was out of the question in 2016.
How come?
Well, we cited Johnson’ support for abortion-on-demand, crony capitalist trade deals and new energy taxes as compelling reasons to oppose his candidacy.
This week he gave us another reason …
In an interview with Vermont Public Radio this week, Johnson has flip-flopped on the issue of mandatory vaccinations for
“I’ve come to find out that without mandatory vaccines, the vaccines that would in fact be issued would not be effective,” Johnson said. “So … it’s dependent that you have mandatory vaccines so that every child is immune. Otherwise, not all children will be immune even though they receive a vaccine.”
Johnson went on to say that he viewed the issue as “local” – unless of course the local decision was against vaccination.
“If it ends up to be a federal issue, I would come down on the side of science and I would probably require that vaccine,” he said.
Wow … and this is the big “L” Libertarian party presidential nominee?
The vaccination issue has dogged politicians of all parties for years. In fact it has previously landed S.C. governor Nikki Haley in trouble.
Our view? We are not “anti-vaxxers.” But government compelling vaccinations runs contrary to any credible conception of “liberty.” And to hear the “Libertarian” presidential nominee voice his support for such a policy is disappointing – especially given his prior positioning on this issue.
UPDATE: Well, well … Johnson is suddenly all over the map on this all of a sudden. According to Reason.com, he now says he is against mandatory vaccinations unless there “a zombie apocalypse taking over the United States, and there is a vaccine for that.”