RFK Jr. repeats debunked vaccine claims in interview with Bill Maher
Source: Salon
Published April 27, 2024 11:30AM (EDT)
Presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made an appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday, pushing back on claims that he is anti-vaccine. Maher began the segment by pressing Kennedy on running mate Nicole Shanahan, who spoke out against the Moderna vaccine. Shes not gonna . . . I think those vaccines need to . . . We need to have, again, true double blind placebo control trials, Kennedy struggled to explain. Notably, the results of a phase III double-blind clinical trial of the Moderna vaccine were published in 2021.
Kennedy went on to discuss vaccine skepticism in the American public, possibly fueled by claims he made, saying, Theres 25% of Americans who believe that they know somebody who was killed by a COVID vaccine. Its true that a 2023 poll concluded that 34% of Americans believe COVID vaccines have contributed to deaths. Although, beyond their initial FDA clearance, multiple studies have shown that COVID vaccines are safe.
Kennedy then spouted a debunked claim that those who took the Pfizer vaccine in a clinical trial saw a 23% increase in death rate. Maher, who said he himself was an early skeptic, touted the effectiveness of the vaccine in response to Kennedys and, eventually, the two came to an agreement, with Maher arguing for mak[ing] it a case by case basis.
The pairs shared agita with vaccine mandates is in contrast with scientists, who hold that a large threshold of populations must be vaccinated for them to be maximally effective.
Read more: https://www.salon.com/2024/04/27/rfk-jr-repeats-debunked-vaccine-claims-in-interview-with-bill-maher/?in_brief=true
FarPoint
(12,472 posts)He already rang the bell on being anti-vax multiple times....it is his signature now.
bhikkhu
(10,725 posts)Whatever he said on Maher he'll go ahead and contradict next week, if he's in front of a crowd that wants to hear something different. I joke about it sometimes as a mind that lacks "idea permanence".
2naSalit
(86,880 posts)I expected it to go. I made a point of not watching, the anti-vaxers are dangerous yet maybe they will contributed to the abatement of overpopulation of humans at some point.
FarPoint
(12,472 posts)I never watch his show anymore either......Bill Maher...I don't think he has his heart into it...
flying_wahini
(6,679 posts)Normal folks wouldnt vote for him anyway.
live love laugh
(13,181 posts)BumRushDaShow
(129,796 posts)back in 2021 after getting a break-through bout of COVID despite being vaccinated, and went volcanic because he had to miss doing his show. That sent him down the rabbit hole.
TexasBushwhacker
(20,228 posts)The subject of COVID came up and it's an engineering consulting firm that does business worldwide, with lots of international travel. Fortunately we were in the same page. We were both vaccinated and we had both gotten mild cases. The vaccine keeps you out of the hospital and the morgue. It doesn't mean you won't get, especially with all the variants that keep coming up.
KT2000
(20,597 posts)Is that he is on a personal vendetta against Biden for trying to get anti-vaxxers off social media. He is framing his candidacy as a crusade for first amendment rights.
He did not speak about any agenda other than the vaccine issue.
Bill's take was "we've known each other a long time" and then a softball question.
Pathetic.
Voltaire2
(13,234 posts)It could be a new series. Each week Maher takes another shithead out for a drive and they discuss the woke mind virus, antivax nonsense, and other stuff.
jvill
(224 posts)hes getting stuck on his own debunked hobby horses too much. And hes got a lot of the old man Larry David thing going on, only for real.
beaglelover
(3,496 posts)Response to BumRushDaShow (Original post)
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