A Newsmax host suggested late last week that coronavirus vaccines may be “against nature” and asked a university professor if some deadly diseases are “supposed to wipe out a certain amount of people.”
The remarks came while host Rob Schmitt was interviewing Peter McCullough, an associate professor in Texas A&M University’s Department of Health and Kinesiology.
“You know, one thing I’ve always thought, and maybe you can guide me on this because, obviously, I’m not a doctor. But I’ve always thought about vaccines, and I always think about just nature and the way everything works. And I feel like a vaccination in a weird way is just generally kind of going against nature,” Schmitt said.
“Like, I mean, if there is some disease out there — maybe there’s just an ebb and flow to life where something’s supposed to wipe out a certain amount of people, and that’s just kind of the way evolution goes. Vaccines kind of stand in the way of that. Do you follow what I’m saying? Does that make sense to somebody in medicine?”
McCullough, who holds a Ph.D. in kinesiology, did not answer the question directly but said there isn’t “any long-term data on the newer vaccines.”
Earlier in the interview, Schmitt said he has “people in my family, very close to me, who I thought should get vaccinated because when you weigh the risks.”
“But when it comes to vaccines in general, are you of the consensus that it could potentially take a long time to really know what a vaccination does to people in some cases?”
“Well, there are some reports that support what you’re saying,” McCullough responded, citing research that he said “shows among vaccinated populations the diversity of different strains is narrowing. So it’s going to be fewer numbers of strains.”
Federal health officials have for months said the three vaccines being used in the United States are safe and effective, with President Biden supporting efforts to fight vaccine hesitancy and misinformation.
NBC News political director and “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd earlier this month ripped into politicians and media figures who have been spreading misinformation about the virus or doubting a need for all Americans to be vaccinated.
“Shame on you. People are needlessly dying because of your misinformation,” Todd said. “I don’t know how some of you sleep at night who are doing this for a living on television.”