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Wednesday 25 August 2021

GB News Pushes Wacko Covid Remedy

Its chairman Andrew Neil said on the channel’s opening night that Gammon Broadcasting™ News (“Bacon’s News Channel”) would not be pushing conspiracy theories, and that any host so doing would be suitably dealt with. Ten weeks later, GB News is indeed dealing in wacko conspiracy theories, and no admonishment is being administered.

Calvin Robinson

Simon Clarke of the University of Reading, who you can tell as he’s a doctor, observed the other day “Can't quite believe that in August 2021 I've been told by some jumped up wannabe on [GB News] all about the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin and possibly some other bullshit for Covid-19”. Uh-oh. And there was more.


I might just as well have been quizzed on the effectiveness of leeches and the therapeutic uses of mercury … Oh yeah - vitamin D, that was the other [crap]. Clear breach of Ofcom's expected standards during the pandemic”. So would a GB News host care to raise head above parapet? Supremely glib Calvin Robinson would. “You okay?” he sneered back.


He added this summary of his superior insights. “Interviews now available on Facebook and Telegram … Vaccine coercion … Vitamin D … Ivermectin … Hydroxychloroquine … Dr says ‘there’s no evidence’ and flaps when confronted with evidence. Almost as if there’s some kind of narrative?” Clarke didn’t “flap”. Let’s see what happened, shall we?


After Clarke had told Robinson what was, and wasn’t, available for treating Covid-19, the host askedand hydroxychloroquin, for example?” The Doc firmly rejected that one. “Show me it works. There is zero evidence that it works”. “We have a report from Harvard” countered Robinson. What say Dr Clarke? “No, really, there is zero evidence that it works. I’m not going down this path with you. It doesn’t work”. Come on Cal!


You said give me the evidence, I’m willing to give you the evidence. If you’re a scientist you should address the evidence. Yale University is well respected around the world. Harvey Risch PhD, professor of epidemiology at Yale, says this … evidence of the benefit of HCQ used in high risk outpatients is extremely strong”. Except that Dr Risch’s article was an opinion piece and was later strongly criticised by his colleagues.


One of Robinson’s adoring Twitter followers swallowed his argument whole, responding “Isn’t Yale a tad bit better than…. Reading…?” to which Robinson replied “I think that's why he got so upset”. No, he didn’t get upset, merely exasperated at someone pushing wacko and easily debunked nonsense. And, as to Ivermectin, well, it gets worse.


This is what the US Food and Drug Administration has said about Ivermectin: “There seems to be a growing interest in a drug called ivermectin to treat humans with COVID-19. Ivermectin is often used in the U.S. to treat or prevent parasites in animals. The FDA has received multiple reports of patients who have required medical support and been hospitalized after self-medicating with ivermectin intended for horses”.


The use of Ivermectin was pushed by hosts on Fox News Channel (fair and balanced my arse). And Calvin Robinson has now shown that GB News, far from eschewing wacko conspiracy theories, has gone down the same rabbit hole. Will Ofcom now act?

And what about all those advertisers? Who wants to be associated with that idiocy?


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15 comments:

J said...

He's currently crying that people are asking if he's been vaxed and that this is really mean and a violation of something... which seeing as he's getting people on to his show (and more generally the station) that are anti-vax and giving them a public platform makes it a perfectly legitimate question to ask.

If he doesn't like the question, he should stop getting anti-vax advocates on to Gammon Bastard News, the news of the National Front, to pontificate on random and disproven quack remedies.

Honestly I'm just shocked that they've not started selling homeopathic cures and soy based products while screaming that "soy is for beta cucks" already (although its probably only a matter of time). Next up a word from their sponsors - Qloon Brain Farts Plus.

Mr Larrington said...

Since Mr Robinson asserted back in March that that colossal bellend Piers “Morgan” Moron had been fired from his “Good Morning Britain” gig as a result of pressure exerted by the liberal metropolitan woke elite rather than flouncing out like a jowly Scarlett O'Hara in a badly-fitting suit, it is safe to take anything he says with a bulk carrier of NaCl. But then that was inevitable for someone who styles themselves a “Senior Fellow” at the “Policy Exchange”.

Anonymous said...

I don't know about Reading. But I DO know there's more than an imbalance of Yale and Harvard (and Oxford and Cambridge) graduates among the swindlers and liars who caused the 2008 Greates Depression Of All Time, plus Forever Wars, plus a global failure to deal with the pandemic.

So Yes, I'd instinctively trust a qualified doctor via Reading more than a corrupt Murdochised far right gobshite via Gammon Bullshit Nerds.

iMatt said...

Is this not the same Calvin Robinson who said being called an "Uncle Tom" is the worst kind of racism? He does not get out much then. I think the term ''useful idiot'' is perhaps more apt.

Jonathan said...

Let's have a challenge, let's see which one of these RW nut jobs is willing on LIVE television to personally inject themselves with HCQ or any other dodgy shit out they try and pass off as 'cures'.
But they won't because they're cowards, liars, frauds & charlatans.

Anonymous said...

Theres so much wrong about Colvin Neskwik that it’s hard to know where to begin. However let me start by saying that Britain First couldn’t have a finer poster boy

Anonymous said...

@Dr Jonathan

I don't know were you get your misinformation from but there is no suggestion that HCQ, used to treat malaria the world over is actually harmful.

Anonymous said...

I'm not quit sure that dislike of another person's politics is a good scientific basis but you really ought to read your (non-medical) Doctor's statements. He would like to imply that ivermectin has been shown to be ineffective. This is not the case. The evidence is limited but would you really expect the CDC, Fauci's plaything, to fund research that might leave him looking bad. Incidentally, regarding politics, wasn't Fauci a bad man when his boss was Trump?

Some (and only) some of the research.

"Results Univariate analysis showed lower mortality in the ivermectin group (15.0% versus 25.2%, OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.29-0.96, P=.03). Mortality was also lower among 75 patients with severe pulmonary disease treated with ivermectin (38.8% vs 80.7%, OR 0.15, CI 0.05-0.47, P=.001), but there was no significant difference in successful extubation rates (36.1% vs 15.4%, OR 3.11 (0.88-11.00), p=.07)."

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.06.20124461v2

Anonymous said...

Think that's bad?

Wait until the Gammonistas get onto "creationism" and "intelligent design" propped up by a fanatical wild-eyed loony Yank pastor.

You ain't seen nothin' yet. Praise d'lawd an' pass the tambourine!

Jonathan said...

It's not malaria, they the RW nut jobs want to use it for COVID 19...

Jonathan said...

Ivermectin is a dewormer for use in animals and not humans.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/23/fda-horse-message-ivermectin-covid-coronavirus?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Anonymous said...

Yet there are folk who use a horse tranquilliser for recreational purposes - I give you ketamine.

Unknown said...

It's worth taking it to rid yourself of malaria. In all other cases it does more harm than good. Covid19 is not malaria.

See also horse wormer. Useful if you're a horse, with worms.

Anonymous said...

And what is Robinson's medical qualification? Consultant gobshite?

Anonymous said...

Get them in front of a House UnBritish Committee and browbeat them with, "Are you or have you ever been a Gammonist?"

It's only fair.