Facing a backlash, Dr. Mehmet Oz now claims he “misspoke” on Fox News when he advocated re-opening schools, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, because 2-3% of students dying “might be a trade-off some folks would consider.” But Oz did not clarify what meant. And let’s not forget that host Sean Hannity seemed fine with Oz’s comments. Updated.

On Tuesday’s Hannity show (where Oz was falsely introduced as a member of Fox’s “Medical A-Team”), Oz infamously said this:

OZ: We need our mojo back. Let’s start with things that are really critical to the nation where we think we might be able to open without getting into a lot of trouble. I tell you, schools are a very appetizing opportunity. I just saw a nice piece in The Lancet arguing that the opening of schools may only cost us 2 or 3 percent in terms of total mortality and you know – any life is a life lost but to get every child back into a school where they’re safely being educated, being fed and making the most out of their lives, with a theoretical risk on the back side, might be a trade-off some folks would consider.

Oz went on to talk about re-opening business and industry and he made a lengthy complaint about the lack of adequate coronavirus testing.

It wasn’t until the testing remarks that Hannity had something to say. He interrupted to blame China for the lack of testing agents in the U.S. In other words, Hannity didn’t mind when Oz seemed to advocate the loss of 2-3% of the nation’s students but any suggestion that his beloved Donald Trump might be falling down on the job was unbearable. Yet Hannity is supposedly so pro-life he upended the deaths-with-peace-and-dignity of 55 hospice patients in order to prevent the husband of Terri Schiavo, in a persistent vegetative state, from removing her feeding tube.

To his credit, Oz disputed the suggestion that the lack of testing is all China’s fault.

After the clip of Oz’s remarks about killing off American students went viral, Oz released a video on Twitter yesterday saying, “I misspoke.” Yet he only seemed to regret confusing and upsetting people, not his willingness to kill off school kids. Here’s his non-clarification:

OZ: I’ve realized my comments on risks around opening schools have confused and upset people, which was never my intention. I misspoke. As a heart surgeon, I spent my career fighting to save lives in the operating room by minimizing risks.

At the same time, I’m being asked constantly how will we be able to get people back to their normal lives. To do that, one of the important steps will be figuring out how do we get our children safely back to school. We know that for many kids, school is a place of security, nutrition and learning that is missing right now. These are issues we are all wrestling with. And I will continue looking for solutions that beat this virus.

How about, “No child should be in danger of dying from any cause when in school?”

You can watch this example of the Fox News culture of death below, from the April 14, 2020 Hannity show. Underneath is Oz’s BS walk back.

UPDATE: As per comments from Terri Schiavo's brother, below, I have amended this post to describe her condition as "persistent vegetative state," rather than "braindead."

UPDATE: In the comments below, our regular reader Eyes on Fox, pointed out that Oz was not talking about 2-3% of children dying but a cost of "only" 2-3% in terms of total mortality, presumably from coronavirus, if schools re-open. Perhaps that's what Oz meant when he said he misspoke. Eyes on Fox, who has long been a credible source of information, also said he read The Lancet article Oz cited and that the actual figure is 2-4%. So I re-worded my references to Oz's "appetizing opportunity" in this post to reflect that.