‘Fascist and tyrannical’: US vaccine mandates induce rightwing hysteria

When Joe Biden announced sweeping federal coronavirus vaccine requirements for 100 million Americans, the White House was braced for objections from Republican opponents.

But this being 2021, the rightwing backlash has gone way beyond mere political debate into the realm of incendiary language that, analysts fear, could translate into direct and violent action.

In South Carolina, Governor Henry McMaster vowed to fight “to the gates of hell to protect the liberty and livelihood of every South Carolinian”. Tate Reeves, the governor of Mississippi, tweeted: “The vaccine itself is life-saving, but this unconstitutional move is terrifying.” JD Vance, a conservative running for a Senate seat in Ohio, warned: “Only mass civil disobedience will save us from Joe Biden’s naked authoritarianism.”

And the rightwing media went further, casually tossing around terms such as “authoritarian”, “fascist”, “totalitarian” and “tyrannical” to characterize the US president’s mandate that all employers with more than 100 workers require their employees to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly.