Rep. Gaetz Grills Witness Over “White Batch” Vaccine Tweet During House Judiciary Committee Hearing

On 12/1/2021, Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz engaged in a heated exchange with witness Jacqui Patterson during a House Judiciary Committee hearing, confronting her over a December 2020 tweet in which she outlined her “COVID-19 vaccination plan” as going “to the whitest neighborhood I can find to make sure my dose comes from a white batch.” The exchange also featured a clash between Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. David Cicilline over the committee’s failure to bring Attorney General Merrick Garland back for questioning.

The Setup: “Is There a Different Chemical Composition?”

Gaetz began with what appeared to be an innocent question to set a trap. “Is there a different chemical composition for vaccines in white neighborhoods as opposed to non-white neighborhoods?” he asked. Patterson, citing her master’s in public health, responded that she did not “have any basis to even begin to evaluate that question” because she did not have “access to the data samples or anything like that.”

Gaetz pressed further: “Is there something called a ‘white batch’ of vaccines as opposed to a batch of vaccines that would be intended for non-white people?” Patterson replied, “Not that I’ve heard of."

"Go to the Whitest Neighborhood”

Gaetz then revealed the tweet. “I found a tweet of yours from December 3, just a year ago today, 2020, where you tweeted, ‘My COVID-19 vaccination plan: go to the whitest neighborhood I can find to make sure my dose comes from a white batch.’ How should we think about that tweet?”

Patterson described it as “humor that was intended, albeit kind of dark humor in terms of the reality of the Tuskegee experiments and so forth in our community.” She said there was “a whole strain of commentary that we had following from that about how it was a shame that we even have to think in these types of terms.”

Gaetz was not satisfied. He noted that in a follow-up response to a commenter on the same tweet, Patterson had written, “I was barely joking because it’s real.” Gaetz pressed: “Are white batches real?”

“As I said before, the reference was putting in context this larger conversation about the differential access to affordable and quality healthcare in our communities,” Patterson replied. “It shouldn’t be taken literally."

"Do You Think That’s Dangerous?”

Gaetz then connected the exchange to Patterson’s own testimony about public health credibility. “You gave testimony today about your concern over the monopolistic sharing of information, about the criticality of the input of public interest groups, about how we have to stop the politicization of agency decisions,” Gaetz said. “Do you think it damages public health and do you think it damages the credibility of public interest groups like yours when you put out that your personal vaccination plan is to go to the whitest neighborhood so that you can ensure that your dose comes from the whitest batch?”

“Absolutely not,” Patterson replied.

Gaetz continued: “Do you think that being facetious about race-based vaccination issues is dangerous? Because we have seen data that there are communities of color that are more skeptical of vaccines. And do you think that facetious comments like this are helpful?”

Patterson responded that the comments were “important to raise a dialogue about why it is that people are more skeptical.” Gaetz cut in, noting he had only moments left. “You’re interrupting me,” Patterson protested. “I’m interrupting you because I don’t have a few seconds left,” Gaetz replied.

No Regrets

When asked directly if she regretted the tweet, Patterson refused. “No, because it’s causing consternation with you,” she said. “It caused an interesting and important dialogue that is not one that I’m the only one having, that a number of people are having.”

Gaetz responded: “I think that sometimes that dialogue can metastasize into disinformation and can actually harm the people that you say you’re here to help.”

Patterson pushed back: “It actually acknowledges the reality of what we all think.” Gaetz closed with: “But there’s no reality of a white batch.”

Jordan and Cicilline Clash Over Garland

The hearing also featured a clash between Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. David Cicilline. Jordan argued that Attorney General Garland should be brought back before the committee to answer questions about the FBI’s counterterrorism division and its treatment of parents at school board meetings. “I hope our next hearing, whenever that is, Mr. Garland is in here answering a lot of questions we have,” Jordan said. “The fact that he hasn’t been brought back is wrong and everyone knows it.”

Key Takeaways

Rep. Gaetz confronted witness Jacqui Patterson over a December 2020 tweet advising people to “go to the whitest neighborhood” to get a vaccine from “a white batch.”
Patterson initially described the tweet as “dark humor” referencing the Tuskegee experiments, then acknowledged she was “barely joking because it’s real.”
When pressed on whether “white batches” actually exist, Patterson said the tweet “shouldn’t be taken literally” and was about differential access to healthcare.
Patterson refused to regret the tweet, saying it caused “an interesting and important dialogue.”
Gaetz argued the tweet could “metastasize into disinformation” and harm communities of color skeptical of vaccines.

Transcript Highlights

The following is transcribed from the video audio (unverified — AI-generated from audio).

My COVID-19 vaccination plan: go to the whitest neighborhood I can find to make sure my dose comes from a white batch. How should we think about that tweet?
Humor that was intended, albeit kind of dark humor in terms of the reality of the Tuskegee experiments and so forth in our community.
I was barely joking because it’s real. Yes, yes, the situation is real. Are white batches real?
Do you think it damages public health and do you think it damages the credibility of public interest groups like yours when you put out that your personal vaccination plan is to go to the whitest neighborhood?
If I wanted to follow your vaccination plan and I wanted one from the white batch too, where would I go? Again, you’re being facetious and I’ve already responded to the question.
Do you regret this tweet? No, because it’s causing consternation with you. It caused an interesting and important dialogue.
I think that sometimes that dialogue can metastasize into disinformation and can actually harm the people that you say you’re here to help.
But there’s no reality of a white batch.

Full transcript: 1430 words transcribed via Whisper AI.