Practice English Speaking&Listening with: Biden’s Vaccine Mandates & The GOP’s Freak-Out | The Daily Show

For months now, the U.S. government

has been doing everything it could

to convince people to get vaccinated.

They made the vaccine free, but that didn't work.

So then they started trying to pay people to get it,

but that didn't get everyone, either.

So then they threatened to put Mike Richards back

as Jeopardy! host,

but that still didn't get the job done.

Because, you see, as of today,

only 63% of people 12 and older

are fully vaccinated,

and it seems like President Biden is done waiting.

Clearly frustrated by the pace

of COVID-19 vaccinations in this country,

President Biden tonight

is trading out the velvet glove for a hammer,

unveiling a broad and largely new COVID strategy

heavily grounded in vaccine mandates

meant to compel millions of American workers

to be vaccinated.

NEWSWOMAN: President Biden announced

sweeping coronavirus vaccine mandates Thursday

requiring all federal workers and government contractors

to be fully vaccinated.

He's also ordering all businesses

with more than 100 employees

to require shots or weekly testing

for their workers.

Companies that fail to comply

could face fines of $14,000 per violation.

My message to unvaccinated Americans is this.

What more is there to wait for?

What more do you need to see?

We've been patient,

but our patience is wearing thin.

And your refusal has cost all of us.

Damn! This guy's not playing games.

Getting a vaccine, it's a mandate.

You say what you want about Biden.

He's not messing around, man.

This is actually what America needs, you know?

America should say the new law is every president

has to be at least 90 years old and knocking on death's door.

Yeah, just making policies

like they're crossing shit off their bucket list.

"I don't care about reelection. I'm doing what I said."

And if you ask me, it's actually smart of Biden

to do this mandate through people's employers.

That's smart.

Yeah, it's not the government coming for you.

It's your employer. Because Americans

are already used to their employer

having a ton of power over their lives.

I mean, think about it.

Your employer can tell you what to wear,

what time you've got to be there,

when you can leave.

I mean, they can even put up a sign on the bathroom door

that says "do not use."

And then you just got to not poop.

That's power.

But still, a lot of people are wondering

if Biden is even allowed to do this.

And according to the Biden administration,

the answer is yes.

NEWSMAN: The White House believes

it's on solid legal footing,

insisting the federal government has the power

to protect workers from grave danger

under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

We have never used OSHA.

We have never used the power of the federal government

to mandate vaccines for this many people before.

That doesn't mean that it's legally weak.

It just means we've never seen OSHA, for instance,

that was established 50 years ago,

impose vaccine mandates to this extent.

And it's new,

but that doesn't mean it's illegal.

That's right. Biden is issuing this mandate

thanks to a law from 1970

that has never been used for something like this before.

And a lot of experts agree with him on this,

but I just love how there are so many laws out there

that you can find one

for basically anything you want to do, you know?

I feel like America's laws are like-like a mom's handbag.

Whatever you could possibly need,

it's somehow in there.

You know, you can have sex on the beds at a mattress store,

and if anyone objects, you can just be like,

"Uh, clearly, you've never heard

of the Taft-Hartley Act."

But while many health experts are-are happy

to see Biden doing whatever he can

to force people to get vaccinated,

many Republicans think Biden basically just took a dump

on the constitution.

And, uh, according to them,

they're not gonna stand there and smell it.

NEWSMAN: The Republican National Committee

is threatening to sue the administration

with at least 19 GOP governors

vowing to defy the rules.

What the Biden administration is doing

is government overreach, pure and simple.

This president is saying to them,

"Look, you can either get vaccinated or I,

"as one individual, is going to threaten your ability

to feed your family."

And that's just wrong.

You should not lose your job

just because Joe Biden is having this hissy fit.

NEWSMAN: The governor of South Carolina saying

he will fight them to the gates of hell.

Wow.

Fight them to the gates of hell.

I mean, normally, that statement is hyperbole.

But, with COVID, you might actually get the chance.

Yeah. COVID doesn't mess around.

So, these Republican governors say

that they're gonna sue because of the mandate.

And who knows? They might even win.

Because you've seen the Supreme Court now.

You know? Republicans run that shit.

These days, Republicans saying "I'll take you to court"

basically is the same as them saying

"Let's see what my dad has to say about this!

"Huh? What do you say, Dad Gorsuch?

What do you say?"

What's interesting to me about the mandate

is that part of the reason Biden wants it

is to help the economy.

You know? He wants people to get vaccinated

so that they can go back and work.

So you'd think the Republicans would agree with this.

I mean, they're the ones saying,

"People have to go back to work,

so we got to get rid of the unemployment benefits!"

And then Biden says, "Yeah. And, also,

they have to get the vaccines."

"What? No! No, no, no!

No, we only want to do it in a way that screws poor people."

Now, look, if these Republican governors had their way,

instead of the mandate, the government

would just keep trying to educate and convince people

to take the vaccine on their own.

What makes that difficult

and what everyone has to acknowledge

is that there's one reason to get a vaccine.

There's only one reason to get the vaccine

and that's to not get COVID and go to hospital.

But people who don't want the vaccine,

they have, like, 5,000 reasons

that they don't want to take it.

You know?

Some people say there's not enough research on it yet.

Some people are hesitant

because they're worried about the side effects.

Some people are hesitant because they think

they're healthy enough to handle it on their own.

Some people think there's a microchip in it

where people can track you.

"Wait, the vaccine is tracking you?"

"The vaccine is tracking us!"

"You mean like the iPhone that's always in your pocket?"

"Yeah! Just like the iPhone!"

"Crazy."

"I know! Crazy, right?

Wait, what?"

So, you see, that's why a mandate

might be the only way to get the vaccination numbers up.

But that doesn't mean that people

are gonna go along easily.

Any mandate,

no matter how much it seems like common sense to some people,

is gonna make other people

really mad.

And it's not just the vaccine.

This has happened before. You realize that, right?

There was a time in America

when a lot of people refused to wear seat belts.

And when the government finally stepped in and said

you have to wear a seat belt,

boy, did they get pissed off.

NEWSMAN: It is a new seat belt ordinance.

If the town council gets its way,

seat belts will be mandatory for everybody riding

in the front seat of a car through Richland.

I'll have to detour the town to get to Kalamazoo

if they pass a seat belt ordinance.

I don't use a seat belt.

I wouldn't wear my seat belt.

If I get caught, I get caught, I guess.

NEWSWOMAN: Florida Highway Patrol Lieutenant Chris Miller

hears it all when it comes to seat belts.

"I hear it's uncomfortable." Um...

"It wrinkles my clothes."

Um, "it's not cool."

Hmm.

Sound-sound familiar?

Yeah?

All the complaints about seat belts back then

are the same things you hear now about vaccines.

I mean, except for the wrinkling clothes.

That's a very rare side effect of the vaccines.

So, look, the backlash to these vaccine mandates

are really nothing unique.

Mandates, by their nature,

build resistance.

And if Biden's gonna be doing that,

I hope he's ready for what's gonna happen.

Right? Because mandates turn "I don't know"s

into "(bleep) you"s.

So even if you think mandates are necessary...

(inhales) all I'm saying is,

buckle up.