Washington State Governor Jay Inslee made some remarks earlier this month about how unvaccinated Washingtonians had a "time bomb in their backpack," an image often associated with terrorists. A report said that the Democratic governor "likened people who have chosen not to take the experimental COVID-19 vaccines to domestic terrorists," a word which has been used to describe anti-mask and vaccine mandate individuals.
"Thirty four percent...of Washingtonians today are walking around with a time bomb in their backpack, because they're not vaccinated," Gov. Inslee said earlier this month, as reported by the Kitsap Sun. He then argued that while the state saw a decline in new COVID cases, it was "not a certainty, particularly with this new variant."
WND reported that Seattle-based KTTH Radio host Jason Rantz, a conservative, highlighted how "ridiculous" Gov. Inslee's remark was, pointing out that even the governor's own administration acknowledged that there are individuals who cannot receive a vaccine for medical reasons or have "deeply held religious convictions."
The report argued that a lot of people who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID have "simply done a cost-benefit analysis, pointing to the minuscule risk of death in healthy people along with the known and future unknown adverse events" from the COVID vaccines which were "rushed to the market in one-fifth to one-tenth the usual time."
Rantz argued, "So if you're immunocompromised to the point where your doctor says you shouldn't get the vaccine, Inslee believes you should be scorned?" He added, "If you're a devout Muslim - a religious group that is more hesitant on the vaccine than the general population - and you don't want to get the vaccine, you're a bomb-wielding terrorist? Didn't Congresswoman Lauren Boebert get in trouble for comments like that?"
Rantz contacted Gov. Inslee's office, which confirmed that his remarks were unscripted. But when asked if the Democrat leader regretted saying his "time bomb" comment, the office did not respond. Rantz added that the "terrorist comparison" was not the "most concerning moment" of Gov. Inslee's press conference.
The 70 year old Washington state governor also shared a comment from Jens Spahn, the minister of health in Germany who recently imposed strict nationwide lockdowns in the midst of yet another COVID wave, which struck a chord with him. Gov. Inslee shared the remark saying, "You're either going to have had COVID, you're going to have a vaccination, or you're going to be dead."
In November, Gov. Inslee announced that he will not add to the Biden administration's sweeping COVID vaccine mandate for workers at large organizations, which recently has been met with legal roadblocks. According to the Seattle Times, the governor was initially interested in additional state orders to make the Biden administration's COVID vaccine mandates stricter, such as removing the testing option which would force workers to get vaccinated and opening the requirement to businesses with less than 100 employers.
Groups including the Association of Washington Business have denounced the possibility of implementing stricter regulations due to concerns over disrupting the labor force or placing undue costs to businesses. Washington state has seen a steady decline in new COVID cases over the past weeks.
