Iodine is Latest COVID "Cure" as Radio Hosts Keep Dying
The David Pakman Show - September 17, 2021
This installment of The David Pakman Show newsletter is free for everyone. I send these emails daily. If you would also like to receive it, join the newsletter today.
Note: This is totally separate from website Membership and does no0t affect your website Membership in any way.
Anti-Vaxxers Are Gargling with Iodine to Prevent COVID
Anti-vaxxers are onto their next miracle cure for treating COVID-19 and that’s gargling with iodine. Last year, their big recommendation was to take hydroxychloroquine because Donald Trump told them to. More recently, livestock dewormer ivermectin has been the drug of choice. But now anti-vaxxers seem to be moving on to the next exciting thing and that’s snorting or gargling iodine. Povidone iodine is a treatment typically used for cuts and scratches, but it’s usefulness for those issues is questionable as well. The makers of Betadine, as povidone iodine is known commercially, released a statement reading, “Betadine Antiseptic Sore Throat Gargle is only for the temporary relief of occasional sore throat. Betadine Antiseptic products have not been demonstrated to be effective for the treatment or prevention of COVID- 19 or any other viruses.” There is nothing wrong with questioning and studying whether or not any of these medicines — hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, and iodine, can work to fight COVID. The problem comes in is when quacks on social media promote them as a miracle cure without any confirmation from the broader medical community. Susceptible people could come across these posts and refuse the vaccine and other mitigation efforts, all because they believe they have the secret cure for the virus and that they’ll be okay if they get it.
7+ Anti-Vax Radio Hosts Dead of COVID
At least seven anti-vaccine, anti-mask, and/or COVID-skeptical right-wing radio hosts have now died of COVID-19. The list now includes Bob Enyart, Dick Farrel, Phil Valentine, Marc Bernier, Robert David Steele, Caleb Wallace, and Pressley Stutts. All of them, to varying degrees, shared misinformation about the virus and the vaccines to their followers. Many of them had death bed conversations like Dick Farrel who said about the vaccine, “I wish I had gotten it!” Phil Valentine’s brother said that while dying of the virus, Phil regretted that “he wasn’t a more vocal advocate of the vaccination.” Many, if not all, of these deaths could have been prevented with simple precautions and that’s in part what made them so tragic. It’s easy for some to gloat over these deaths but that cannot be the reaction of people who want to end this pandemic and do good in the world. To make matters worse, countless of these right-wing talker’s listeners heeded the advice not to socially distance, wear masks, and get vaccinated and statistically some of those people perished from COVID as well. If there is any silver lining in a story like this, it’s that maybe these deaths will encourage people who were previously COVID deniers and vaccine skeptics to start taking the virus seriously and go get themselves immunized.
From yesterday’s show:
Nicki Minaj Debunked by Disgusted Trinidadian Official
The Nicki Minaj swollen testicle story continues and has taken yet another crazy turn. Earlier this week, the rapper and pop singer posted a message to Twitter saying, “my cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you’re comfortable with ur decision, not bullied.” Minaj unleashed a firestorm with her comments, both from people supporting her vaccine-skeptical message but also from people questioning the validity of the story especially because swollen testicles is not a known side effect of the COVID vaccine. In the latest update to the story, Trinidad and Tobago’s health minister, Terrence Deyalsingh, had to release a statement on the controversy. He said, “unfortunately, we wasted so much time yesterday running down this false claim. It is, as far as we know, at this point in time — there has been no such reported either side effect or adverse event. And what was sad about this, is that it wasted our time yesterday . . . because we take all these claims seriously.” As easy as it may sound to ignore Minaj’s tweet altogether, it’s probably best for public health officials to comment on it because she has such a large presence and influence online.
From yesterday’s show:
Republican Future: Call It "Rigged" BEFORE the Election
Now that we have a larger sample size, we can clearly identify the electoral strategy for Republicans going forward, which is to call elections rigged before they have even taken place. Donald Trump first tried this when he expected to lose to Hillary Clinton in 2016. Even though he ended up winning the race, Trump still claimed he would have won the popular vote if not for “millions of people voting illegally.” Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in 2020 was followed by a temper tantrum that took the form of dozens of lawsuits and bogus accusations, culminating in the Capitol insurrection on January 6th. And then more recently, we have the gubernatorial recall election in California where Democrat Gavin Newsom was able to defeat the Republican effort to kick him out of office by a margin of two to one. Larry Elder, the GOP candidate in the best position to replace Newsom, hinted election fraud was taking place before the votes were even cast. MSNBC reporter Jacob Soboroff asked him, “whether or not you win or lose, will you accept the results of the election tomorrow?” Elder responded with a non-answer, saying, “I think we all ought to be looking at election integrity, no matter whether you’re a Democrat, an independent, or a Republican. . .” Trump called this election “probably rigged” weeks before the race with zero evidence. The GOP assesses that if they can’t win on ideas, they can at least make their supporters feel better by saying it’s not their fault why they keep losing.
More on the show:
--Caller's professor is spreading anti-vaccine propaganda
--Caller wonders about the idea of endless economic growth
--Caller asks why members of Congress would vote to raise their own taxes
--Caller confronts David about why he's not a socialist
--Caller finds it worrisome that fans are chanting "F*** Joe Biden" at sporting events
--Caller is a Florida mom considering taking her kid out of public school over lack of COVID protocols
--Caller wonders what the end game is of people refusing the vaccine
--Caller talks about needing a negative COVID test to come to the United States
--David responds to viewer emails
--On the Bonus Show: The infamous Friday Bonus Show with Producer Pat hosting
--Become a Supporter: http://www.davidpakman.com/membership