LANSING, Mich. — A campaign funded through Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's health department to convince unvaccinated Michiganians to change their minds promoted statements from Donald Trump and other Republican politicians, according to an internal report released Monday.
The Small Business Association of Michigan, which was chosen to lead the $6 million effort, developed the strategy after obtaining survey data that showed unvaccinated residents trusted the former president more than public health officials and epidemiologists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the report.
"Research showed that while there were several non-political reasons for vaccine hesitancy, it also showed that former President Trump was a trusted source of information for a subset of our target audience," the report from the Small Business Association of Michigan said. "The lead-off creative was the Trump/conservative messaging launched on social media ahead of the development of more custom content with local voices."
Last week, The Detroit News revealed the arrangement between the state health department and the Small Business Association of Michigan to encourage more rural and conservative residents to get vaccinated.
With 60% of its total population with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, Michigan currently ranks 34th among the 50 states for vaccine coverage, according to data from the CDC.
Public polling has revealed hesitancy and opposition toward the vaccine among GOP voters. A survey commissioned by the Detroit Regional Chamber in late August and early September found about 70% of those unwilling to receive the vaccine in Michigan identified as Republicans.
The Small Business Association worked as a subcontractor through Brogan & Partners, a Ferndale-based advertising firm that has an existing agreement with the state Department of Health and Human Services to promote vaccinations. The state health department "tasked" the association with reaching conservative and rural residents, according to the report.
The association's president is Republican former Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, one of eight co-chairs of Whitmer's Protect Michigan Commission, a panel that's advising public information efforts on the vaccine.
From late July through September, the business advocacy organization aired TV ads, sponsored digital ads, funded billboards and sent out mailers to try to spur more Republicans to get vaccinated.
On Monday, the Department of Health and Human Services released an 83-page report from the Small Business Association on the campaign. The document showed the association used images and statements from prominent Republicans, like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton.
"And absolutely it makes sense for many Americans to get vaccinated," Fox News host Sean Hannity is quoted saying in one of the mailers. "I believe in the science, I believe in the science of vaccination."
A piece that focused on Trump said the former president "led America's vaccine effort."
"We have our freedoms and we have to live by that and I agree with that also. But it is a great vaccine. It is a safe vaccine and it is something that works," Trump was quoted saying in the mailer.
The mail pieces were "sent to a vetted list of conservative rural voters (among the most vaccine hesitant populations)" and were "designed to look like a mailing that a GOP primary voter would receive, lending legitimacy to the piece," the new report from the Small Business Association said.
The report included what appeared to be unscientific survey data from the firm TargetPoint. The firm questioned residents in "target" Michigan counties in July. Among unvaccinated participants, 45% said they trusted Trump to provide "good information and to look out for the best interests of our communities."
Only family doctors (56%) and pharmacists (46%) had higher trust marks among the unvaccinated, according to the survey. Public health officials (29%), national health experts (26%), local TV news anchors (17%) and local religious leaders (31%) ranked much lower among the unvaccinated, according to the survey.
The Small Business Association of Michigan also sponsored a survey at the end of the initiative. In a summary of the results, the organization said, "Conservative political messaging appears to have lost ground as some politicians have backtracked and others have gone quiet, contrasting with an earlier push among conservative voices for vaccinations in the summer."
President Joe Biden's push to require workers to get vaccinated didn't help, according to the association. Biden first announced the policy in September. It covers businesses with 100 or more employees. Under it, the businesses must implement and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, unless they adopt a policy requiring employees to choose to either be vaccinated or undergo regular COVID-19 testing and wear a mask, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Among unvaccinated respondents, 5% said they were more likely to get the vaccine based on vaccine mandates, and 50% said they were less likely, according to the Small Business Association report.
