Jason Aldean is fuming over California Gov. Gavin Newsom's COVID-19 vaccine mandate that requires students across the state to get the shot before they can attend school.
Taking to Instagram on Sunday, the country music star denounced the mandate in a post that urged people to start "standing up" and "speaking out" against it.
"So let me get this straight! It is no longer our decisions as parents (or free Americans) to make decisions about our kids, Gavin Newsom makes those decisions for us now??" Aldean captioned a screenshot of a headline highlighting the vaccine. "You gotta be kidding me! People in California should be outraged and people everywhere else better start standing up and speaking out NOW. This is not how America and being free works."
Newsom recently announced the mandate, which will take effect for grades seven through 12 following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of the vaccine for children ages 12 and older, according to the Los Angeles Times. Once the vaccine is approved for children younger than 12, students in kindergarten through sixth grade would be phased in.
"There’s still a struggle to get to where we need to be," Newsom remarked about the effort to contain the pandemic. "And that means we need to do more, and we need to do better."
Aldean's criticism of Newsom comes days after he said on Instagram that he refused to apologize for "my beliefs or my love for my family and country. This is the greatest country in the world and I want to keep it that way."
The comments were made after his wife, Brittany Aldean, was slammed for dressing their children in anti-Biden merchandise. This is not the first time that Brittany has declared her political views. In November 2020, she voiced her support for former President Donald Trump during the presidential election after coming under fire by current President Joe Biden’s supporters. Brittany shared a video of herself standing next to an American flag, wearing a sweater with Trump's name on it.
"STILL MY PRESIDENT," she captioned the clip, as reported by Fox News. She also posted a note addressing the backlash that arose from posts shared days earlier, as the results for the election were trickling in.
"I WILL CONTINUE TO SPEAK. FOR THE PEOPLE THAT MESSAGE ME AND AREN’T ABLE (FOR FEAR OF LOSING BUSINESS OR FRIENDS) IT IS DISGUSTING TO ME THAT 'FREEDOM OF SPEECH' APPLIES TO EVERYONE BUT REPUBLICANS," she wrote.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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