White House press secretary Jen Psaki ripped former White House doctor and current Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) Tuesday after he accused Democrats of overhyping the Omicron variant of COVID-19 to gain an edge in next year’s midterm elections.
“I think that the best thing we can do is not respond to conspiracy theories that are pushing — being pushed out there, including by medical doctors, that risk people’s lives, create confusion and are done for political gain,” Psaki told reporters on Air Force One.
Jackson, 54, was the White House physician from 2013 to 2018, serving both President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump. He memorably claimed at a 2018 press briefing that Trump’s genes are so good that he “might live to be 200” if he had a better diet.
Since January, Jackson has represented a northern Texas House district that includes the state’s panhandle. He linked the Omicron variant to the midterms in a series of tweets over the past week.
“Here comes the MEV – the Midterm Election Variant! They NEED a reason to push unsolicited nationwide mail-in ballots. Democrats will do anything to CHEAT during an election – but we’re not going to let them!” Jackson tweeted Saturday.
In two subsequent tweets, Jackson made clear the theory wasn’t an off-the-cuff remark.
“From everything we’ve seen, the Omicron variant doesn’t seem like it will be a huge deal for us. There’s NO reason to panic, but [Dr. Anthony] Fauci & Democrats are framing this like it’s the end of the world. They want to upend our election process, and this is their excuse!” Jackson wrote Monday.
In another Monday tweet, Jackson wrote, “Weird that ‘Mr. Science’ Dr. Fauci & Democrats have been SILENT about COVID flooding across our border. Don’t they want to ‘stop the spread’ like they claim? There’s no science behind this, just more excuses to expand lockdowns, mandates, and mail-in ballots. It’s about CONTROL!”
Experts believe that the Omicron variant, first discovered by South African scientists, may be more contagious than prior versions of COVID-19 because of a high number of mutations.
President Biden has banned travel to the US by non-Americans from eight southern African countries and has urged the public not to “panic” but to take precautions like wearing masks indoors. He also cited the Omicron variant to push people to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19 — including receiving booster shots.
The 2022 midterm elections could be a drubbing for Biden’s party. An ABC News/Washington Post poll released earlier this month found Republicans had a 10 percentage-point lead on the generic House ballot, the largest GOP advantage detected by the organizations since 1981.