No, Gen. David Berger didn’t push back against COVID-19 vaccine mandate for Marines

The Biden administration announced on Aug. 9 that the Pentagon will require active-duty troops to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. 

But some people are sharing what looks like a news story reporting that there’s some pushback among military leaders. 

"There will be no mandatory vaccines for my Marines," reads a quote in the story posted on Facebook that’s attributed to Gen. David H. Berger, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps. 

The story refers to Berger "rebuking" Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, calling him "a coward and a traitor, manipulated by people pushing bad policy on the men and women who provide security to our nation. Neither you nor your puppet president has authority to enforce such a policy."

This story originated on a website that has previously published false claims that PolitiFact has fact-checked, and that now features a disclaimer saying "this website contains humor, parody and satire." 

Featured Fact-check

Instagram posts

stated on April 2, 2024 in an Instagram post

“The National Guard in the HISTORY of its life, gets called in AFTER a disaster, not BEFORE something happens.”

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

There is nothing to support the claims in the post. And Berger has endorsed having Marines get vaccinated. 

In December, he posted a photo of himself receiving a vaccine. 

"It was great to see many frontline medical workers getting their shot as well," he tweeted. As the vaccine becomes available, I encourage all Marines and their families to get the shot to slow the spread of the virus." 

We rate this post Pants on Fire!