Coronavirus has been in the news lately. We’ve seen a surge in new cases. Yet, the fact remains that there will be no second shutdown. There can’t be. The credibility behind them is dead, which members of the media and Democrats did an expert job of filleting over the past month. The George Floyd riots killed the lockdowns. After weeks of being told to stay inside, the officer-involved death of Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 lead to the media forgetting about the virus. Go out and protest was the message from liberal America, with the media excusing or defending the rioters. For two weeks, not really a lot of COVID coverage and when the rioting began to subside, we needed to get back inside. Yeah, not happening. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, one of the most insufferable clowns in office, issued an edict banning large crowd gatherings unless you’re protesting in support of Black Lives Matter. They don’t even hide their hypocrisy anymore. Well, over at NBC News, there was something they tried to hide as well regarding COVID, which is that one of their contributors who they peddled as having the virus…never had it.
Former CNN producer Steve Krakauer touched upon this, noting that the network appeared to just ignore that Dr. Joseph Fair had five negative tests regarding COVID. Oh, and it gets worse, Fair had scores of interviews because he was the man who “recovered” from the virus. He never had it. Either this is willful deception or just an epic screw-up. If it’s the former, then welcome to the fake news hall of fame. If it’s truly a misunderstanding or error, then correct it. But Krakauer noted that the only thing resembling a correction was some short Today show piece detailing Fair’s “severe illness” (via Fourth Watch) [emphasis mine]:
"Joining me now [is] virologist Joseph Fair, who recently recovered from COVID-19 himself," said Chuck Todd on Meet The Press on June 14. "Dr. Fair, let me start with you because I would like you to share a little bit about your recovery from COVID-19. What should Americans take away from your experience?"
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What Todd didn't tell the audience that day, and Dr. Joseph Fair didn't offer up either, was that Fair had already had at least five negative coronavirus tests. Two days ago on Twitter, Dr. Fair revealed the results of his antibody test - negative again. He never had COVID-19. And that's just the beginning of the troubling story.
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In this newsletter on June 17, I detailed the full backstory of this strange media situation - from the changing symptoms as his TV appearances went on, to NBC and MSNBC initially telling viewers the caveat about the negative tests, to ultimately abandoning that key part of the story.
The circumstances were odd to begin with - Dr. Fair appeared on the Today show, and told his story. As a virologist and coronavirus expert, he took every precaution he could. But he said he likely contracted coronavirus through his eyes on an airplane. "If it can take me down, it can take down anybody," he said in that May 14 appearance.
Dr. Fair has a long history as a "virus hunter" and virologist - and seems to have as long a history of getting publicity. On Meet The Press, he described the first week of supposedly having COVID-19 as "the worst I've ever felt." In replying to a Twitter follower this week, he said "It was only the second time I have been hospitalized in my life and I am someone who rarely gets ill."
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And now we know Dr. Fair never had coronavirus, despite nearly a dozen appearances on NBC and MSNBC where he talked about having it or recovering from it. In the end, NBC's viewers were left with two very alarming - and false - impressions. First, that an expert virologist can take every precaution but can still catch COVID-19 through his eyes. False. Second, that tests can be so untrustworthy that you can have multiple negative tests and still have coronavirus. Craig Melvin described them as "false negative tests" in that initial report on May 14. Hoda Kotb said, "every time it came back negative, but clearly you have it." False. Anti-science. And truly damaging.
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So what really happened? We don't know. I asked several medical experts, and it's unclear what the story really is. In one later MSNBC appearance, Fair discussed having a "panic attack" right before going to the hospital. But we don't know. Fair did not respond to repeated requests for comment. NBC has declined to comment on the record throughout the past month.
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So far, there have been no on-air corrections. Or online -this NBC News story is still uncorrected, for example. The Today show website wrote a brief story, where they now describewhat he had as a"severe illness."
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Oh, and better yet, Krakauer noted that one of Fair’s colleagues, Laurie Garrett, decided to toss into the mix back in May, that Fair had survived Ebola in West Africa. The former media executive couldn’t find references to his alleged Ebola survival other than being included in a book about the deadly virus in which Fair got very sick when he was a graduate student, got last rites, and then took some antibiotics and got all better, but his supposed coronavirus battle was the worst yet?
This is all so odd isn’t it and the ‘you have it despite the negative tests’ angle is also disturbing. Yet, this is the media. When something doesn’t fit the narrative, just say that it does and hope no one notices. And folks wonder why some are not going back inside. Well, the propaganda failed. And nothing says fake news or screw the so-called medical experts than having some guy saying he had COVID, recovered from it, and then finding out he never had it from the start.
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