Barely a day into his second term and US president Donald Trump is already facing blowback from one of his signature infrastructure programs — the USD$500 billion ‘Stargate’ AI initiative.
That’s because digital medical IDs and ‘custom’ mRNA vaccines are just two of the top priorities of the half-trillion venture, backed by some of Silicon Valley’s top executives.
On Tuesday, Oracle chairman Larry Ellison and OpenAI boss Sam Altman appeared alongside Trump to tout what they say is essentially an effort to cure cancer and other debilitating diseases.
Ellison highlighted the potential medical benefits of the investment, stating that AI could be used to detect cancers and customize mRNA vaccines to treat them within 48 hours.
Altman also praised the initiative, calling it "the most important project of this era" and saying the companies "wouldn't be able to do this" without Trump's help.
The president said the project will result in "over 100,000 American jobs almost immediately" and that data centres in Texas were already under construction.
That prompted MAGA Nation to go into a Twitter (“X”) fuelled tizzy on social media.
“Donald Trump will lose his base if he supports more mRNA vaccines. Mark my words,” wrote @sovereignbrah, a self-described Trump supporter.
“Get me off the planet. Second day in office and he's pushing a cancer vaccine? Are you kidding me? Make no mistake. This will cause more harm than good. Health doesn't come from a needle,” added another.
“No one will ever be able to convince me to take any kind of mRNA shot. I would rather die from the Black Death, than take an mRNA shot. Trump is pushing mRNA vaccines. Well, I guess there will be NO golden age. The dems aren't the only people lying to us,” said a pro-Trumper going by the name of JD Ebberly.
The distrust goes back to ‘Operation Warp Speed’ during Trump’s first term and the push to develop a pandemic-era COVID-19 jab. The result was the ubiquitous mRNA vaccines at the root of so much anti-vaxxer angst, which have been blamed for altering DNA and causing everything from infertility, illness and even death.
In December 2021, Trump was booed after admitting he’d received an mRNA booster at a speaking event alongside Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.
To complicate matters, Trump’s nominee for health secretary is RFK Jr., a noted vaccine skeptic.
According to right-wing political commentator Evan Kilgore, who Tweeted: "The 'mRNA cancer vaccines' discussed at Donald Trump's first press conference tonight were a BIG turn off for a lot of right-wingers. The Trump Administration must learn that his base largely DESPISES him for Operation Warp Speed and how heavily experimental vaccines were pushed."
