Congressman Don Young made an appearance at the combined Republican conventions for District 27 and 28 on Saturday, held at the Curtis Menard Center in Wasilla, during which he admitted he has a vaccine mandate in his own office.
After he left, his most well-known opponent, Nick Begich, read the actual policy out loud to the room, and then read the termination letter that described the firing of one of Young’s employees because she would not get the Covid vaccine.
The crowd had gathered on Saturday to elect officers and delegates in advance of the April Republican State Convention in Fairbanks.
Young arrived late, and when he spoke, the Republicans had already heard from Begich, who had a number of supporters in the crowd, many of whom had already posted their public endorsements of him. Begich has built tremendous support from the red fortress of Alaska — the Mat-Su. The Young campaign said in response to this story that he arrived on time.
Congressman Young said this year and next will be one of the most important for Alaska and that he still delivers. He said he wanted to dispel rumors that he is not running.
“I’m running hard,” he said. “Because I think it is important to the state. We’ve done the job for the state and I”ll continue to since I’ve been your congressman. My job is to hear you, listen to you, and try to solve your problems. And I’ve been good at that. I’m still good at that.”
Then, speaking apparently of Republican Begich, who was Young’s campaign co-chair for the last election, he said, “Now I don’t blame anybody for trying to run for this seat … I hope they stay positive, if they don’t that’s another story.”
Listen to Congressman Young at this Facebook link.
After Young spoke, members of the audience asked him if he supports vaccine mandates.
Young said, “I don’t think they should be mandated period. I do believe in the vaccine.” He said he grew up with vaccinations but “I don’t believe you should be required to do it. I think that’s wrong, I think it’s overreaching by the federal government … That’s your decision.”
Someone asked if he has an office vaccine mandate and if one of his employees had been fired for refusing the vaccine. He answered, “I do have a vaccine [mandate] for my staff, because there are a lot of people that come into the office. I have lost one employee, uh, she voluntarily left, but I have a vaccine [mandate] for the office.” He also said he would be a “no” vote on any vaccine mandate from the federal government.
Then Begich was given some extra time, because earlier he had been held to a strict time limit.
Begich brought out a copy of the Don Young official vaccine mandate and he read the termination letter of the woman who was fired from Young’s office for not taking the Covid vaccine. The crowd was stunned.
“Staff, as you’re aware the congressman implemented an office-wide vaccination policy that was announced yesterday,” Begich read from the letter. “‘Blank,’ (we’ll not mention her name,) has opted not to comply with our vaccination policy and this ends her employment with us effective immediately,” read Begich the memo from Young’s chief of staff in July of 2021.
Begich let that soak in, and then said: “Fired, less than 24 hours after having been given an opportunity to get a vaccine Now we heard the congressman stand up here in front of everyone in this room and say, ‘hey, I’m opposed to vaccine mandates.’ But he had a vaccine mandate and does have a vaccine mandate in his own office. That’s a stone-cold fact and he didn’t deny it — finally.”
