Vaccines have been a crucial factor in slowing the spread of the pandemic that's killed over 600 thousand Americans in only a year and a half.
These vaccines are proven to be safe and effective, but far-right media from Fox News to Newsmax have repeatedly peddled lies about the vaccine, in what can only be described as an apparent effort to discourage their viewers from potentially saving their own lives.
Rob Schmitt—a host for the popular right-wing disinformation outlet Newsmax—is the latest conservative media personality to speak out against vaccines, even going so far as to claim they're "against nature."
Watch below.
Schmidt said:
"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."
Virtually the only accurate statement in Schmidt's diatribe was, "I'm not a doctor," as actual doctor, Professor Peter Hotez, pointed out in a fact check of the absurd claims.
I think among the most unethical things I've seen on television, and that includes Fox targeting me
— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) July 12, 2021
Schmidt later backtracked with the all-too-familiar Republican argument that he was just asking questions and introducing the "other side" while amplifying baseless claims and false information.
People praised Dr. Hotez for the fact check.
Meanwhile, Schmidt was excoriated across the internet.
According to career epidemiologist Dr. Anthony Fauci, whom Repubicans have smeared as a deep state operative, more than 99 percent of virus deaths last month were unvaccinated people.
@WhiteHouse/X
