Discussions about Trump involved in the place never gained traction, given his estrangement from the Presidents Club at the end of his tenure and the bitter way he left Washington on inauguration day, people familiar with the matter said.
It was a conversation that January day between former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama that formed the basis of the vaccination campaign, which debuted Thursday. Because Trump made the decision not to join his predecessors at that historic moment, a person close to the project said, he was not asked to be involved in the public service announcement.
Trump showed little interest in joining his predecessors to promote the vaccine, and the team that organized the PSA did not consider it likely that the 45th president would participate, leaving little room for his inclusion.
“He has not signaled that he wants to be involved in moments like this,” an assistant to a former president told CNN.
Lots of reasons
There does not seem to be a single reason for Trump’s exclusion, one person involved in the production said, but rather the feeling that his participation was never a realistic possibility.
An Ad Council spokesman, who produced the spot, said it was “something that started with the former presidents while President Trump was still in office” when asked why Trump was not there.
Trump spokesmen did not respond to questions about why he was not involved.
While in office, Trump officials discussed how and when he might get a coronavirus vaccine, including the prospect of doing it on camera. Still, Trump himself didn’t seem very eager to get the vaccine, one person familiar with the situation said, even though he praised its development and wanted to take credit for it.
A former Trump administration official said the former president was also very sensitive to his image after being hospitalized with Covid and did not appear amenable to photo surgery that could show his health and fitness again.
There was also discussion at the time when Ivanka Trump publicly received the shot, an idea that didn’t materialize either. Instead, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence were the top Trump administration officials to get the photo.
In the spots, the former presidents describe what they missed during the pandemic and why they want to get vaccinated. Clinton says he wants to “get back to work” and “get around.” Obama says he misses visiting his mother-in-law and says he “wants to hug her and see her on her birthday.” And Bush says he is “really looking forward to going to opening day at Texas Rangers Stadium with the stadium full.”
Former president Jimmy Carter does not speak on camera, but the 96-year-old Democrat says on the spot that he is being vaccinated “because we want this pandemic to end as soon as possible.”
The ad ends with all four former presidents urging Americans to get the vaccine, while showing footage of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, Barack and Michelle Obama, George and Laura Bush, and Bill and Hillary Clinton all getting their vaccine .
‘Incredible job’
Trump was asked nearly a year ago to consult with former presidents on how to deal with the pandemic, a once-common practice for presidents dealing with large-scale crises.
“I think we’re doing a fantastic job. So I don’t want to disturb them, bother them,” he said during a task force briefing on the White House coronavirus. “I don’t think I’ll learn much and, you know, I think you could say there’s probably a natural tendency not to call.”
Those portraits have been returned to their original location under Biden, who has expressed a desire to cultivate a more functional relationship with his predecessors. He said at a CNN town hall earlier this year that he had spoken to all living former presidents except one – presumably Trump, although he hadn’t given him a name.
“They all answered the phone and called me with one exception,” he told Anderson Cooper.
That kind of consultation was mostly absent during Trump’s tenure, who rarely, if ever, spoke to the men in office before him. The one time the group all got together, for former President George HW Bush’s funeral at Washington’s National Cathedral, was a somewhat icy reception.
Trump further broke the precedent by boycotting Biden’s inauguration and opting to leave Washington instead on the morning of January 20 with a ceremony at Joint Base Andrews.
He did leave a note for Biden, which the president described as “very generous,” but otherwise he was fiercely critical of his successor in statements circulated from his Florida headquarters.
CNN’s Dan Merica contributed to this report.