WaPo's Max Boot ripped for tweeting Saudi Arabia 'more progressive' than the US for vaccine mandate

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Media top headlines July 28

In media news today, NBC News' Chuck Todd dismisses the notion of liberal bias as a GOP talking point, a New York Times reporter deletes a tweet urging Trump supporters to be called 'enemies of the state,' and NBC's coverage of the Tokyo Olympics continues to lose significant viewership

Washington Post opinion columnist Max Boot was ripped for a now-deleted tweet in which he lamented that Saudi Arabia is being "more progressive" than the United States because of their plans to impose new COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

"People in Saudi Arabia will need to show proof on a mobile app that they have received at least one vaccine dose to enter public and private institutions beginning Sunday, including schools, shops, malls, markets, restaurants, cafes, concert venues and public transportation. From Aug. 9, Saudi citizens will need two doses to travel abroad," the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

The country's decision comes as coronavirus cases are on the rise again with the spread of the Delta variant. The COVID-19 vaccines, which have proven to be highly effective against the virus, have shown varying levels of impact against the new variant, studies show. The Pfizer vaccine was shown to be 88% effective against the new threat, while the Johnson & Johnson jab was shown to be slightly less impactful with a 67% effective rate.

"Words I never thought I'd write: Saudi Arabia is being more progressive than America," Boot tweeted on Wednesday. "Saudis will need to show proof of vaxx to enter schools, shops, malls, restaurants, concerts, public transport."

"This tweet has everything," tweeted the Washington Examiner's Jerry Dunleavy.

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Considering Saudi Arabia's history of repressing rights, critics wondered whether instead of "progressive" Boot meant to type "authoritarian."

"So progressivism IS authoritarianism," tweeted "Relatable" podcast host Allie Beth Stuckey. "So glad we've cleared that up!"

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"By this definition, hasn't Saudi long been more ‘progressive?’" asked Washington Examiner columnist Tim Carney.

As more than one critic noted, Saudi Arabia does not deserve the term "progressive" as they have long treated women like "second class citizens." It wasn't until 2018 that the Gulf country permitted women to drive; a year after that women finally were allowed to obtain their own passports, and to travel without a male guardian, typically a father, husband or another male relative.

Boot deleted the tweet following the swift backlash and replaced it with a thread explaining why. 

"I deleted that tweet because it led to too much silly trolling along the lines of 'Aha! So progressivism is authoritarian,'" he wrote, adding that the word "progressive" is perhaps too "vague."

"Obviously this was in no way an endorsement of a brutal regime," he continued. "I was merely pointing out that the Saudis are being smart about vaccination--and we aren't. That's in large part because many on the right (and on Twitter!) think they should have a right to spread disease."

Boot then appeared to lecture his critics, tweeting, "We need to be grown up enough to acknowledge that even governments we may detest get some things right." 

"Requiring vaccinations to shop, fly, etc. isn't authoritarianism--any more than requiring motorcycle helmets or banning smoking indoors," he maintained. "Those are smart public health edicts. Those who oppose them aren't protecting freedom. They're endangering public health."

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While Boot wrote that he "never" thought he'd call Saudi Arabia more progressive than the U.S., some of his critics informed him that they were not at all surprised that he had made the comparison.