-As COVID cases continue to climb,
GOP politicians are doubling down on their opposition
to mask and vaccine mandates.
On top of everything else, the FDA has to warn people
not to take livestock dewormer.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
♪♪
-COVID cases are continuing to rise
and public health officials are pleading with people
to get vaccinated and wear a mask.
And yet, last night, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis,
whose state has been recording more daily cases on average
in the last few weeks than anytime during the pandemic,
and who is against mask and vaccine mandates,
actually blamed the Biden administration
for not ending COVID.
-He said he was gonna end COVID. He hasn't done that.
-It's quite a feat to be the biggest [bleep] in Florida
and not be from New York.
Normally, it's the retired New Yorkers creating problems.
One time I was buying board shorts at a surf shop in Boca
and I overheard a guy yelling at a cashier,
"You telling me it's 8 bucks for a puka shell necklace
when I could go down to the beach and get 'em for free?
Get the [bleep] out of here."
That said, I think he ended up buying the necklace.
-Yeah, that's right. I did.
That gonna be a problem?
-No, not gonna be a problem. I'm making an observation.
-Okay. Good for you.
Now do your little show.
-Okay, I will. [ Laughter ]
Shoemaker, will you walk me to my car tonight?
DeSantis really knows how to boil your blood,
which is a bummer, because Florida usually conjures up
feelings of vacation and relaxation,
or the very least, you know, gators on meth benders.
Their governor should be one of those old guys
who grows a ponytail to make up for going bald
and has a platinum membership at Tommy Bahama,
but somehow they ended up with this comic book henchman.
Whenever this guy says something,
it just brings out the New Yorker in me.
I have the same reaction to DeSantis that I do
when I see a guy double-park his BMW
in a fire lane outside a Duane Reade.
I'm just like, "This [bleep] guy."
-I was just running in for a Monster Energy.
That's a problem?
-What?
-I was double-parked because I was running in
for a Monster Energy.
Is that a problem?
-No, that's your right as an American.
[Quietly] Seriously, maybe bring your pepper spray, too.
Anyway, back to Ron DeSantis.
You're blaming the federal government for not ending COVID
when your state just passed 3 million cases,
ICU's are filling up,
hospitals are fighting to get oxygen.
Instead of promoting mitigation efforts we know can work,
like masks, you've actively stood in the way of mandates --
even in schools.
You can't just make us forget about all that.
Those facts are all public record.
They don't just disappear like sweet nothings
whispered in the summer wind.
And, by the way, those don't disappear either.
"You said you'd love me till the end of time!"
"Well, I didn't know you were gonna
put wet towels on the bed!"
That's why Fox News exists,
to create an upside-down world where nothing matters.
Not only do they exist in a reality-free bubble,
but they don't even adhere to their own internal logic.
One day, for example, when they're pushing back
against efforts to get more people vaccinated,
an anchor like Brian Kilmeade will say something like this.
-I don't think anchors should be recommending medical advice.
-Yeah. I agree.
-Well, you know, but a lot of people have been tuning in
to the show for 25 years to see what we think
about different things.
I think if you have the opportunity, get the shot.
-Right, but shouldn't you see a doctor to give you expertise
about what they're seeing?
-You're a doctor, and that's what people usually do --
they call their doctor for medical advice.
And that's what people should be doing.
Dr. Siegel, thanks so much.
-Right, don't call the president -- call me.
You got it. -Yeah, or anchors.
We should just talk to doctors.
-I'm surprised Kilmeade is so bullish on consulting doctors,
especially after the way they botched
his eye-closening surgery.
And they reveal themselves as wealthy and out of touch
when they say something like, "Call your doctor."
This is America -- lots of people,
especially young and low-income people, don't have doctors.
You might as well say,
"If you want more information on this story,
talk to the head butler on your yacht."
Second, anchors, including your co-host Steve Doocy --
and credit to him --
they aren't recommending medical advice by telling you
about a lifesaving vaccine during a deadly pandemic
any more than "Hot Ones" is recommending dietary advice
by telling you to drink milk with your wings.
Which -- side note -- might help with your mouth,
but it's an awful combination for your stomach.
I won't go into details, but two days after I did that show,
I was on WebMD typing in the words,
"What do you do if you can't stop [bleep] your pants?"
Let's see.
"Take off your pants"?
Well, that's not the help I was hoping for.
[ Laughter ]
And also -- side note --
there's a lot of cursing in today's "A Closer Look,"
and that's because last night, the Mets lost 3-2
to the Giants and dropped to four games below .500.
They hit into five double plays.
When I came in this morning, our security guard Jim Breyer
was fully sobbing.
And he thought he was dying
because he had never cried before.
He didn't know what tears were.
He told me he didn't even go home yesterday after the show.
He just rode the Long Island Railroad all night
drinking Natty Light tallboys.
Apparently, they run a special train just for that
after the Mets lose,
and that train is now the leading cause of global warming.
[ Laughter ]
-Anyway, the point is, that's what Fox
and other right-wing figures have often said
when the topic of vaccines come up --
don't listen to anchors or politicians for medical advice.
But then when they wanted to promote
Regeneron's monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID patients,
they had a slightly different take.
-If you don't get vaccinated and you go to the hospital,
most of the time, you're going to get Regeneron.
But Regeneron are the antibodies,
so you're basically still getting vaccinated be
'cause they're sticking you with an antibody.
-No, it's not the same as getting vaccinated,
any more than getting defibrillated is the same thing
as taking your heart medication.
Now, there's definitely evidence that monoclonal antibodies
can be effective, especially in reducing severe disease,
and that is great.
But public officials have stressed it's not a cure
and it's not the way out of the pandemic.
As with any illness, it's much better to prevent people
from getting sick in the first place.
So telling people it's the same as getting vaccinated
is deeply irresponsible, because while Regeneron may work
as a treatment, safe and effective vaccines
that provide tremendous protection
against severe disease and death
are abundant and they're easy to get.
You can walk into pharmacies, health centers, mobile clinics,
or megasites and get a shot in like 20 minutes and be done.
Restaurants are offering them with appetizers now.
The other day, I went to a dinner party,
and we ordered a round of Pfizer shots for the table
along with crab pfupfs and chicken pfingers.
[ Laughter ]
Of course, this has been the case on the right
since the start of the pandemic.
For some reason when it comes to vaccines, they say things like,
"Don't listen to anchors and politicians --
talk to your doctor."
But then they have a very different take
when it comes to unproven treatments
like the antimalaria drug hydroxychloroquine,
or most recently something called ivermectin.
-We know that our FDA has in many ways failed us
by not allowing for the use of ivermectin
and hydroxychloroquine,
both of which are used around the world
to reduce COVID hospitalizations and deaths.
-They seem to keep saying vaccination is the only answer,
the only answer.
And we now know from studies and also from the evidence
that we saw of the use of ivermectin in India
that it does work. -I don't know how many --
100,000 lives might have been saved
if they had let the public and doctors talk about
hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin and prescribe it
without being called by a pharmacist
as if they are doing something illegal.
-This drug, ivermectin, has been called,
at least by some doctors, a miracle drug
when it comes to treating COVID-19.
There's a good chance everyone listening at home
has never heard of ivermectin
because Google has gone about censoring any discussions,
including discussions inside the halls of Congress
about this drug
from their platforms, including YouTube.
-My God, Fox News has basically turned into
one of those spam emails promising you
free natural boner pills for life.
Anytime someone tries to sell you a miracle drug
that "they" don't want you to know about,
you should be suspicious.
That's how I end up with a case of Mike Lindell's My Pills.
They were supposed to help me grow a full, luxuriant mustache,
but I only ended up with one or two of
[Chicago accent] da hairs!
[Normal voice] So, what exactly is ivermectin?
-This is a deworming agent,
a parasitic deworming agent for livestock
that has been used for years and around the world.
What is it chemically?
-Yeah, so, you're talking about an anti-infective
that has been used for a number of conditions --
everything from skin conditions to parasitic conditions.
But again, this is pharmaceutical grade,
not livestock grade that's being prescribed.
And we really are starting to get these kind of crazy calls
where people are now playing doctor,
and this is very dangerous.
-The Mississippi State Department of Health
confirming today that "at least 70% of the recent calls
to poison control in Mississippi
have been related to ingestion
of livestock or animal formulations of ivermectin
purchased at livestock supply centers."
-I mean, you wouldn't get your --
treat your pneumonia with your animal's medication.
It can be dangerous to get the wrong doses of medication,
especially for something that's meant for a horse or a cow.
-I got to say, when I first heard
that Fox News was pushing ivermectin,
I knew it was gonna be bad,
but I was not expecting it to be horse dewormer.
Sounds like the name of a drug they give super soldiers
in a Paul Verhoeven movie to turn them into Robocops.
You know someone at the company that made ivermectin once said,
"Hey, should we put 'not for people'
on the horse pill labels?" and someone else said,
"There's a picture of a horse on the bottle!
It's fine!"
I mean, how does this [bleep] keep getting dumber and dumber?
First it was hydroxychloroquine, then it was bleach,
powerful lights, now it's horse dewormer.
I'm honestly terrified to imagine what's next.
One day we're going to wake up and Brian Kilmeade is going to
be telling people you can cure COVID by eating kibble
and sleeping in a bed of kitty litter.
"Works for me! That's why I blink as often as a sphinx."
Normally when you hear the phrase "horse pills,"
you think it's a euphemism, but in this case,
it's literal horse pills.
Imagine getting that offer in the bathroom at a club.
"Hey, man, you want to ride the stallion?"
"Sure. What is it?"
"Heart pills for a stallion."
Things have gotten so bad, the WHO and Merck
have warned against using ivermectin.
And this week, the FDA had to issue a tweet saying
"You are not a horse. You are not a cow.
Seriously, y'all. Stop it."
There is no better indicator of where we're at as a nation
that the face of the FDA has resorted to "y'all."
The juxtaposition of anti-vaccine rhetoric
and scam artists pushing an unproven livestock dewormer,
is just so crazy. In Texas, for example,
the governor just banned vaccine mandates
even though the Pfizer vaccine is now fully approved.
At the same time, calls to Texas poison control about ivermectin
are soaring.
There's been a 550% increase.
On top of everything else now,
doctors have to deal with this [bleep] too.
Can you imagine how exhausted they are?
"Doc, I'm feeling a little" --
"Did you take horse pills?" "No, no, I didn't!
Sorry, I gotta sneeze."
[ Nickers ]
[ Laughter ]
"I did take horse pills."
I mean, if you think doctors are fed up,
imagine how employees at feed stores feel.
Here's a report from local store in Georgia
where a reporter had to call local feed stores to ask them
about customers trying to buy ivermectin for COVID.
-Some folks are lining up for the FDA-approved Pfizer vaccine.
Others are trying a different approach to fight COVID-19 --
animal dewormer.
-Never thought I'd have to do an explainer
on why people should not use animal dewormer,
but here we are.
Several feed stores in central Georgia say
they're sold out of the drug called ivermectin.
One employee at the Tractor Supply in Byron told me
they can't keep it on the shelves over the last few days.
I called over a dozen stores
until I found a small mom-and-pop feed store.
When I asked the employee if they had it in stock,
he said yes,
but he asked, "Are you buying this for an animal?
Ma'am, please don't say you're buying this for COVID."
That's where we are right now.
-You know who the real victims are here?
The horses who can't get their worm pills.
Whoa, Smokey. Whoa.
I got bad news, boy.
I been to every feed store in the state, but they're all out.
I did get you a Pfizer vaccine.
they were about to throw away because it was gonna expire.
Easy, boy!
Easy, Smokey.
[ Laughter ]
We have a political coalition
fighting against mask and vaccine mandates
while also pushing unproven miracle cures.
This just proves yet again
that you shouldn't get medical information
from right-wing media any more than you should get it from --
-A horse or a cow.
-This has been "A Closer Look."
♪♪
God's Love We Deliver cooks and brings
over 2 million meals a year to men, women, and children
living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other serious illnesses,
and they need your help.
If you're watching this online, you can hit the Donate button.
Stay safe, wear a mask, get vaccinated.
We love you.