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In one of his recent monologues, host Bill Maher strongly criticized the American media and Democratic politicians for deliberately lying to citizens to benefit from false coverage of the pandemic.
“Over the past year, the COVID pandemic has led the medical establishment, the media and the government to adopt a scare approach to get the public to comply with their recommendations,” he said. Maher also criticized doctors for not being up front about telling the truth.
“Well, I’m from a different school: tell it to me straight, Doc,” he continued. “Because in the long run that always works better than “You can’t handle the truth.”
For the presenter, the media are the ones who have dealt the worst with the information of the pandemic, ensuring that they take advantage of the tragedy.
“And the media? Well, I think we all know that if it bleeds, it sells,” Maher criticized. The more they can get you to stay inside and watch their panic porn, the higher their ratings will be.”
To expand on his argument, Bill Maher cited a study that reveals the American media’s notoriously negative approach to the pandemic.
“Approximately 87% of Covid coverage in the U.S. national media last year was negative,” the study reveals.
Both American left-wing media (such as MSNBC) and conservative media (such as Fox News) gave negative coverage, according to the experts.
For Maher, the media have made Americans an uninformed populace in order to get them to accept establishment recommendations.
“When all of our medical information sources have an agenda to spin us, yes, you end up with a very misinformed public, including the left,” he said.
“Liberals often scoff at the Republican disinformation bubble, which of course is very real, but what about liberals? You know, the high information and science people” Maher continued ironically.
Maher cited a Gallup study showing how Democrats think about hospitalizations of COVID-infected people.
Democrats, the study reveals, are more likely to exaggerate the severity of COVID.
“When asked,” the survey states, “how often Covid patients had to be hospitalized,” 41% of respondents answered that 50% of those infected were hospitalized. The actual hospitalization rate is between 1% and 5%.
The study also demonstrates how Democrats are more likely to exaggerate the numbers on COVID deaths in Americans under 18. These only account for 0.04 % of total deaths.
Bill Maher’s criticism was so severe that the same host praised Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ stewardship. “That’s why he protected his most vulnerable population, the elderly, much better than the governor of New York. Those are just facts.”
The anchor also had positive comments about Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s tenure. “Texas lifted its restrictions recently and the infection rate went down, and part of that was because people came out to let the sun and the wind do their job,” he said.
“What I’m saying is that I don’t want politics mixed in with my medical decisions!” Bill Maher said. “If you lie to people, even for a very good cause, you lose their trust,” the HBO host concluded.
Rafael Valera, Venezuelan, student of Political Science, political exile in São Paulo, Brazil since 2017 // Rafael Valera, venezolano, es estudiante de Ciencias Políticas y exiliado político en São Paulo, Brasil desde 2017