Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul pushed yet another Covid-19 conspiracy theory during an appearance on Fox News, absurdly claiming that Democrats are "plucking" sick children from the U.S.-Mexico border and planting them around the country as part of a larger plan to "seed" the highly contagious Delta variant—and create other deadly variants—across the United States.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Paul said:
"They're taking kids from down at the border who may have it, and they're plucking them up and putting them all over the United States, as if they're wishing to seed the country with a new variant. It's an awful thing to do."
You can hear Paul's comments in the video below.
There is no evidence to support Paul's allegations. He was resoundingly criticized.
And as others noted, the unvaccinated are doing a good job of spreading the virus themselves. They certainly don't need the help of pregnant women or migrant children.
Paul is no stranger to conspiracy theories. He's been called out multiple times over the last year for sharing Covid-19 misinformation, perhaps most notably by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading expert on infectious diseases.
Paul has even gone as far as to claim that Americans should not presume experts know best when it comes to handling the coronavirus pandemic.
Paul's conspiracy theory brings to mind remarks Texas Republican Representative Louie Gohmert made in June.
At the time, Gohmert alleged that foreign women are having babies in the United States in the hope of breeding the next generation of terrorists.
Speaking on the floor of the House, Gohmert said:
"It appeared they would have young women who became pregnant [and] would get them into the United States to have a baby. They wouldn't even have to pay anything for the baby."
"And then they would return back where they could be raised and coddled as future terrorists. And then one day, 20, 30 years down the road, they can be sent in to help destroy our way of life."
There is no evidence to support that theory either. But since when has a lack of any credible evidence stopped politicians like Paul and Gohmert before?
The fact is that the pandemic has continued largely because an unvaccinated contingent is spreading Covid-19 and its variants nationwide. The jury is out on whether Paul will one day accept it.
