Sometimes, one needs reminding that the public debate over the efficacy of COVID vaccines has always pitted faith against reason.
No one, of course — certainly no one who reads The Western Journal — should denigrate faith in general. But the object matters. Faith in what exactly?
In April 2024 — four months before he allied with now-President Donald Trump — now-Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was running as an independent presidential candidate.
He appeared on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” and delivered what any reasonable person would regard as a knockout blow to the host’s pro-vaccine argument.
Maher, however, would not concede defeat. After all, as a liberal, his faith in science — particularly COVID vaccine science — amounts to a kind of religion.
Clips of the exchange began circulating again this week on the social media platform X. It became even more relevant on Monday, when Trump used his social media platform Truth Social to demand that “Drug Companies justify the success of their various Covid Drugs.”
Moreover, last week, the Trump administration fired Director Susan Monarez from the Centers for Disease Control. This prompted resignations from four other CDC officials.
In short, the debate over COVID vaccines has taken center stage once again. And this time, there isn’t a Biden administration around to censor it.
Thus, the Kennedy-Maher exchange reminds us of why this debate remains so maddening to skeptics of coronavirus vaccinations.
Who won the exchange?
In a clip posted to YouTube, Maher began by asking about Kennedy’s vice-presidential running mate, Nicole Shanahan. The host noted that Shanahan wanted to recall the Moderna vaccine, which Maher happened to have gotten.
Kennedy responded by citing polls on the subject.
“There’s 25 percent of Americans who believe that they know somebody who was killed by a COVID vaccine,” Kennedy stated.
“Killed?” Maher queried.
“Killed — 25 percent. Fifty-two percent of Americans believe the vaccines are causing injuries, including death,” Kennedy continued. If nothing else, that amounts to a significant public-perception problem for the drug companies.
Kennedy also mentioned clinical trial studies of the Pfizer vaccine.
“People who got the vaccine had a 23 percent higher death rate from all causes at the end of that study,” he said.
Then came the remarkable exchange that ignited huge applause.
“But that could not be the disease itself?” Maher asked.
“If it is, then the vaccine doesn’t work, does it?” Kennedy replied.
The laughter and applause from the crowd practically drowned out the host’s protests.
“Well, no, no that’s … not true at all,” Maher insisted, appearing annoyed at his own audience.
The host then claimed that “many people who would have died because they were not in good health” (i.e. elderly and obese people) remain alive thanks to the vaccine.
Another segment of the audience applauded for that claim.
Readers may view the entire exchange in the YouTube video below.
In the end, Maher spent so much time talking over Kennedy, that he wasn’t able to respond to Maher’s lives-saved claim. So ultimately, that’s all it amounts to: a claim only.
One must acknowledge, however, that Maher sometimes arrives at sound conclusions. To his credit, he does not slavishly carry water for the Democrats.
On the other hand, effete liberals like Maher — whether they know it or not — tend to worship science. Or, at minimum, they accept at face value whatever the scientific establishment tells them to.
“I believe the vaccine saved lives,” Maher effectively said, “so heck with your studies and polls.”
Of course, if Trump himself can come around to the need for serious scrutinizing of the COVID vaccine data, then perhaps Maher can, too.
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