“Call me a quack, I don’t care,” Fox host Greg Gutfeld said, as he promoted an evidence-free theory that getting a COVID booster shot “may not be that effective” and suggested viewers should just get sick.
Greg Gutfeld is at least the second Fox News personality in a week to fake medical expertise in order to talk their viewers out of getting a COVID vaccine and talk them into getting COVID instead. But at least the last one we saw, radiologist Dr. Nicole Saphier, had a medical degree, though not in anything related to COVID or public health.
But on Fox News, even a medical degree is optional for dispensing potentially lethal medical advice about the COVID pandemic. Media Matters caught Gutfeld advocating against the booster and, while he was at it, declaring that masks on planes are not necessary, either:
GUTFELD: It might have been a month ago when I said that. I said, like, with a high transmission, low severity strain, you actually -- could actually be a natural booster. I was lambasted in the media, as I often am, for being way ahead of the curve.
But you -- what you're talking about raises an interesting question. If you urge a booster for Omicron, does that mean you are actually going to end up preventing a more effective kind of vaccination, nature's vaccination, which would raise the natural immunity in a safe way, but with a booster, that may not be that effective. So, it's like, do you -- why would you get a booster against what is ineffectively -- effectively could be a booster?
Call me a quack, I don't care.
Cohost Dana Perino could be heard saying “hmmmm” in agreement with Gutfeld's "prescription."
We all know that Gutfeld’s real goal is to weaponize the pandemic for political propaganda. Later, he called President Biden “kind of a despicable non-leader." Gutfeld continued, "He hears of omicron, high transmission, low severity, and instead of trying to help America regain a sense of normalcy, he redefines it as a winter of death. These are actions of leaders who are exempt from the very punishments they enact on others. A leader is supposed to understand risk management and embrace it. A hack bureaucrat operates on pandemic.”
“Dr.” Gutfeld also declared that masks are not needed on planes because “it’s incredible how effective the airline cabin is in eliminating contaminants.” Maybe Gutfeld should have a chat with Southwest CEO Gary Kelly, who just testified to the same thing before Congress last week – and tested positive for COVID hours before this show. Kelly later clarified his testimony, saying he supports the federal mask mandate, “Full stop.”
But fake-TV-doctor and real-propagandist Gutfeld pretended to know better. “We know that masks aren’t necessary,” he said, “yet they’re saying put on the masks, they’re yelling at you if it slips below your nose because they’re getting money, they’re getting billions of dollars, they’re getting bailouts.”
And speaking of being exempt from punishments inflicted on others... While fake-Dr. Gutfeld promotes illness for viewers, he practices COVID safety for himself. For one thing, Gutfeld’s employer, Fox News, has a vaccine/testing policy that is stricter than the Biden administration’s. Gutfeld’s Fox show requires audience members to provide proof of COVID vaccination.
Gutfeld’s upcoming appearance in Phoenix requires confirmation of either a vaccine or negative COVID test 48-72 hours before the event.
Fake-Dr. Gutfeld earns a hefty sum for all this. He reportedly earns $7 million a year for his hypocritical, pro-illness for thee, not for me agitprop.
You can watch it below, from the December 17, 2021 The Five, via Media Matters.