He said what they don't want to hear

As Omicron became the leading form of the coronavirus in the US - accounting for 73% of all new Covid cases recorded in that country over the last one week - the original variant found himself in a strange situation. Donald Trump, appearing in a TV interview before a live audience, replied to whether he had taken a booster vaccine shot in the affirmative. A voluble section of the crowd comprising of his supporters booed the former president for his reply. Trump is no anti-vaxxer. In fact, he reminded the crowd that it was under his presidential watch that vaccines were developed, adding that vaccine-wariness plays into the hands of those ungodly Democrats and liberals.

Trump's support base, however, is largely anti-vaccination. So, when their hero espoused booster shots, it was like Gandhians hearing the Mahatma call for war. For many of his bhakts, Trump's 'Make America Jab Again' line sounds like a bummer, the same way a fan who cried out 'Judas!' felt upon hearing Bob Dylan 'turn electric' from being a 'folk singer'. Trump is out of power. But what could happen when staunch supporters of a leader hear their hero speak something they find unpleasant, even abhorrent? The mind boggles, but only that much. Since the whole point for incumbent leaders is to tell the people only what they want to hear.