Notably, former President Donald Trump released a video addressing "every COVID tyrant who wants to take away our freedom."

"Hear these words: We will not comply. So don't even think about it," he said. "We will not shut down our schools. We will not accept your lockdowns. We will not abide by your mask mandates and we will not tolerate your vaccine mandates."

"Amen, Mr. President. WE WILL NOT COMPLY!" wrote Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake on X, or Twitter. While the former president had no authority to issue lockdowns, officials under his administration came up with national guidelines in early 2020—when the virus first arrived on U.S. soil—in a bid to deal with COVID-19. Later in 2020, President Trump declared that he opposes lockdowns and mandates, saying that "lockdowns are killing countries all over the world" and called on "Democrat governors" to "open up" their states.