Fox News: Trump's reinstatement of troops booted over COVID vaccine hailed as win for freedom: 'Great day for patriots'

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Trump's reinstatement of troops booted over COVID vaccine hailed as win for freedom: 'Great day for patriots'

Retired Army bomb disposal expert Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., praised news that President Donald Trump will reinstate service members expelled for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

                   
                       

Retired U.S. Army bomb disposal expert You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login praised President Donald Trump's plan to reinstate service members booted for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine with the brush of a pen, signaling an end to the saga that saw thousands expelled during the pandemic. 

"[It's a] great day for patriots, a great day for our service members, my brothers and sisters in arms," the Florida Republican congressman told You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login co-host Steve Doocy.

"Let's not forget... it wasn't just the military. It was other government agencies as well, where they were essentially washing conservatives that were raising their hand, saying, 'I don't want to take this vaccine.'

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"They were washing them out of government, washing them out of West Point and Naval Academy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine academies, washing them out from being on the next promotion boards for first sergeants, sergeants, majors or officers, and they were creating a system where the ones that were going to be giving promotion to the next classes of individuals were all going to be those that didn't say, 'No, I'm not a conservative, and you know, I'm okay with everything that you're doing right now.' That's what was taking place."

A White House fact sheet detailing the executive order says only 43 of the more than 8,000 service members discharged by the Biden administration and then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin returned to service after the vaccine mandate was repealed in 2023.

The same fact sheet says reinstated troops – both active duty and reserve – will be restored to their You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login and will receive back pay and benefits under Trump's order.

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Mast introduced legislation in 2023 to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to reinstate individuals upon their request who refused to receive the vaccination.

"It's going to be beautiful [to] have these individuals returning, putting on that uniform, that sense of pride for their family, that they stood up for their causes, what they believed in, and they were rewarded for it. They're returning back to the military," Mast added.

Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy, who also appeared on "Fox & Friends" Monday, lauded Trump for "doing the right thing" by reinstating the troops.

"There were a lot of younger people who said, 'This is a government vaccine, at least government-funded,' and they don't completely trust the government, and on principle, they said, 'We don't want to take the vaccine. Dr. Fauci... he made them [take the vaccine]. He tried to establish complete control over everybody. Why did he do that? In my opinion, he was scared," he said. 

"I think we're going to find out [Dr. Fauci] was funding gain of function research in a Chinese lab, and the virus may have gotten out from the lab. Dr. Fauci saw that, and he said, 'Oh my God, I could get blamed for all this, so I'm going to have to establish complete control, so nobody has questions and nobody looks under the seat cushions.' I thought he went too far in terms of mandating the vaccine for everybody."

Signing the executive order will fulfill a promise inauguration attendees heard during Trump's address from the Capitol rotunda last Monday.

Newly-confirmed You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login backed the plan during his confirmation hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month.

Fox News' Alex Nitzberg and Peter Doocy contributed to this report.

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