Rob Schmidt—a host for the far-right disinformation outlet Newsmax—became the latest right wing media personality to promote hysteria over vaccines which have been proven to keep others from contracting the virus that's killed over 600 thousand Americans.
Schmidt said earlier this week:
"Obviously, I'm not a doctor but I've always thought about vaccines, and I always think about just nature, and the way everything works, and I feel like a vaccination in a weird way is just generally kind of going against nature. Like, I mean, if there is some disease out there—maybe there's just an ebb and flow to life where something's supposed to wipe out a certain amount of people, and that's just kind of the way evolution goes. Vaccines kind of stand in the way of that."
His comments were met with widespread outcry, along with a thorough debunking from an actual expert.
Now, Schmidt's own network is disavowing his comments and voiced rare support for President Joe Biden's initiative to get more Americans vaccinated.
Newsmax said in a statement to the Washington Post:
"Newsmax as a network strongly supports President Biden's efforts to widely distribute the COVID vaccine. It is important for the safety of all and especially those at high risk, such as the elderly."
People pointed out that the network's statement is in complete opposition to the diatribes it allows to air.
Meanwhile, Schmidt continues to face criticism.
Nevertheless, Newsmax is likely to continue letting its on-air personalities amplify disinformation.
