‘Morning Joe’ Fact-Checks RFK Jr.’s Latest ‘Outrageous’ Covid Claims: ‘It’s a Lie’
"Many of his claims flat-out contradict established scientific evidence," MS NOW co-host Jonathan Lemire says after the HHS secretary's interview with Dana Bash on CNN The post ‘Morning Joe’ Fact-Checks RFK Jr.’s Latest ‘Outrageous’ Covid Claims: ‘It’s a Lie’ appeared first on TheWrap .
On Monday’s edition of "Morning Joe," co-host Jonathan Lemire took on the challenge of debunking claims made by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over the weekend. Referring to Kennedy’s remarks during an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Lemire labeled them as "false" and "outrageous." The host outlined a series of disputations, asserting that Kennedy’s assertions about Covid-19, vaccines, and the pandemic’s impact on American health were "flat-out contradict[ing] established scientific evidence."
Lemire’s remarks were particularly pointed when he addressed Kennedy’s assertion that the United States had the highest death rate from Covid-19. The "Morning Joe" host refuted this claim, pointing to data from Johns Hopkins University of Medicine that showed several countries, including Peru, Bulgaria, and Hungary, had higher cumulative per capita death rates than the U.S. Furthermore, Lemire pointed out that within the United States, nine of the top ten states with the highest death rates per capita supported Trump in the 2016 election.
A particularly contentious point of contention between Lemire and Kennedy concerned the availability of ICU beds during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Kennedy had claimed that ICUs were empty across the country, including in New York City. Lemire vehemently disagreed with this assertion, pointing to the fact that in March 2020, FEMA had sent 85 refrigerated trucks to New York City to serve as temporary morgues due to hospitals being at full capacity.
The host noted that hundreds of bodies were stored in these trucks, and the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus had surpassed 400,000 during Trump’s first term.
In a subsequent segment, Lemire extended his critique of Kennedy’s behavior on television. He contended that Kennedy, as part of one of America’s most famous political dynasties, was making public statements that were not only incorrect but also potentially dangerous for public health. Lemire described Kennedy’s actions as "angry, unhinged lying" that disputed "settled fact" and "settled medicine." He emphasized the dangerous implications of such behavior for America’s health future.
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