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Trump Brutally Schools Candace Owens on Vaccines
Donald Trump is known for his history of spreading COVID falsehoods, like when he claimed that the Spanish flu took place in 1917 and ended the First World War. However, Trump recently did an interview with Candace Owens and decided to actually tell the truth for a change. Owens said, “more people have died under COVID this year by the way, under Joe Biden than under you and more people took the vaccine this year, so people are questioning how —” Trump cut her off at this point and told the truth which is that, “oh no, the vaccine worked but some people aren’t taking it. The ones who get very sick and go to the hospital are the ones that don’t take their vaccine.” At this point, Owens chose to change the subject as quickly as she could and brought up masking requirements for children. Later on, Candace posted a clip to social media where she says that Trump simply isn’t educated or tech-savvy enough to be aware of the “problems” with the vaccine.
Fauci Visibly Shocked by How Stupid Trump Supporters Are
Dr. Anthony Fauci is perplexed by Donald Trump supporters’ staunch commitment to the anti-vax narrative. He went on ABC’s “This Week” and was asked about Trump getting booed by a crowd after saying he got the COVID-19 booster shot. The host, Jonathan Karl, also brought up how Trump pushed back against Candace Owens’ anti-vax agenda in their recent interview. Fauci said, “I was a bit dismayed when former President Trump came out and made that statement and his followers booed him, which I was stunned by that, I mean, given the fact of how popular he is with that group, that they would boo him which tells me how recalcitrant they are about being told what they should do. And I think that his continuing to say that people should get vaccinated and articulating that to them, in my mind is a good thing and I hope he keeps it up.” Some of the people who hear Trump say this will change their minds and go get vaccinated, which is a great thing. Others will look elsewhere for a leader in 2024 which will split the Republican vote, and that can also be a good thing. From a progressive standpoint, the divide between Trump and his base could end up being a win-win.
From over the weekend:
Omicron Less Severe in South Africa, US Maybe Not So Lucky
The Omicron variant is taking over the United States and the rest of the world with all accounts showing that this is the most contagious version of COVID yet. Some estimate that the US could soon seen a million new Omicron cases every day and that has led many to worry about a potential surge in deaths. Yet there has been promising data out of South Africa showing that while the country did see a lot of cases last month as COVID cases were surging, they never materialized into high death numbers. An important variable to consider is that many people who got infected with Omicron were getting a second COVID infection, and these cases are generally less severe. South Africa, despite having a lower vaccination rate than the US, has a higher level of “natural immunity” due to previous waves of the virus infecting so much of the population. In America, about 20% of the population, or 66 million people, has not been exposed to COVID or the vaccine, and it’s these people who could risk catching a potentially serious case Omicron.
From over the weekend:
Bernie Is Bringing the Fight to Joe Manchin
Bernie Sanders is bringing the fight to Joe Manchin for killing the current version of the Build Back Better Act. Sanders went on CNN and told Jake Tapper that he would be willing to pay for a poll in Manchin’s home state of West Virginia to see what people think about the various provisions in the legislation. Bernie said, “you ask the people of West Virginia whether or not they want to lower the cost of prescription drugs. You ask them whether they want to expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing, and eyeglasses. You ask whether they want to continue the $300 payment to help working parents in these very difficult times bring up their kids with dignity.” Sanders is right that when going provision by provision, the bill polls well even in conservative Trump-supporting West Virginia. This is exactly the type of pressure that Democrats need to put on Manchin in order to get him to vote yes on the bill and actually deliver for his constituents.
More on the show:
--The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is absolutely everywhere with an estimate 1 million daily confirmed cases, and presumably many more presumptive cases that never get tested
--Right-wingers are absolutely titillated by a man speaking to Joe Biden on Christmas and telling him "let's go Brandon," later claiming it was a joke
--Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones turns on Donald Trump over his recent pro-vaccine statements, calling him "ignorant" and "evil"
--Restaurant owner John Parney, who ignored Michigan's COVID shutdown laws, has died of COVID, but this one is a little bit different
--A pointless Donald Trump interview on Newsmax conducted by Mike Huckabee takes a strange turn
--Voicemail caller Troy York attempts to spread the completely baseless propaganda that former NFL player Demaryius Thomas died from the COVID vaccine, which is not true
--On the Bonus Show: David shares stories from his California vacation, and much more...
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