Analysis
Reporter
July 16, 2021
photo above: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
WN: Speaks for itself . . .
Watch too this brief video:
See too: The Disinformation Dozen by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which found that just 12 people were responsible for all anti-vaccine misinformation on social media, and a whopping 73% on Facebook.
excerpts:
“The fact of the matter is it looks like natural immunity is as strong if not stronger than vaccinated immunity. … There is a risk to the vaccine. Again, it’s very small, but there are some pretty serious side effects, including death. We are already over 5,200 deaths reported on the VAERS system. That’s a CDC, FDA’s early warning system.”
— Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), in an interview on “Hannity” on Fox News, July 14
Johnson has emerged as the leading vaccine skeptic in Congress this year.
For months, the senator has been peddling misinformation about coronavirus vaccines, undeterred by fact checkers, federal health agencies, medical experts and a growing body of scientific research.
We previously dug into two Johnson claims that resurfaced in this interview on Fox News, a network whose right-wing personalities consistently bash the Biden administration’s vaccination efforts.
…
Johnson repeated two unscientific claims in this Fox News interview, but his phrasing went further than before when he said coronavirus vaccines come with the risk of “some pretty serious side effects, including death.”
He keeps disregarding scientists’ published findings about vaccine immunity and the clear guidance from federal health agencies and doctors. He failed to heed experts’ admonitions about his wrongheaded use of the VAERS data. His advisers have been unable to rebut, over the course of two months, the CDC’s assertion that currently “available clinical information, including death certificates, autopsy, and medical records, has not established a causal link to COVID-19 vaccines.”
We don’t know what motivates this one-man campaign of misinformation on a vital public health issue, but it’s clear this is a deliberate effort and not just a few stray comments.
Please click on: Four Pinocchios for Ron Johnson
