Trump’s explosive vape ban sees MAGA voters & liberals fume in rare moment of unity

In a move guaranteed to anger both his opponents and his libertarian supporters, President Donald Trump announced plans to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes. The MAGA crowd responded: come and take it.

Appearing in the Oval Office on Wednesday, flanked by First Lady Melania and a pair of HHS and FDA officials, Trump described vaping as a problem, and said “we’re going to have to do something about it.” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar later revealed that a plan to “clear flavored e-cigarettes from the market” would be forthcoming.

A handful of Democrat-governed states have already moved to ban e-cigarettes and Trump seemingly came under pressure from Melania, saying “she’s got a son. She feels very strongly about it.” 

Hundreds of vaping-related illnesses have been reported across the country since the start of the summer, with six deaths recorded. However, the exact cause of these illnesses remains unknown. Adulterated vape liquid remains the most likely cause, and a knee-jerk reaction to the controversy seems a more likely explanation for Trump’s anti-vape stance than Melania catching their son Barron puffing on a Juul in the White House bathroom.

Before the thick, flavorsome clouds of controversy had settled, vapers, libertarians and Trump’s opponents of all stripes took to Twitter to vent at the announcement. The libertarians raged at Trump’s “nanny state” machinations, with some adopting the “come and take it” slogan of the gun-rights crowd to suit their beloved vapes.

Liberals raged at the sight of the president seemingly taking action over six deaths, while doing little to crack down on the sale of guns even after a string of mass shootings recently. Conversely, gun enthusiasts argued that Trump’s willingness to ban vape devices would be used as an example by Democrats looking to push tougher gun laws.

Others called the proposed ban a pointless restriction of freedom, especially when regular cigarettes continue to kill nearly half-a-million Americans every year.

With his base fuming, it remains to be seen whether Trump will read the smoke signals and reverse course, or whether Vape pens will go the way of the Kinder egg and disappear from the shelves of US stores.

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