Covid Fearmongering and Lies Home Page

Other Websites, Newsletters, and Books by the Director

Covid, Dan Bongino, and Other Conservative Commentators

By Gary F. Zeolla

      I have long enjoyed listening to a wide variety of conservative commentators, be it via podcasts, radio shows, or on TV. But I have been disheartened by the misinformation being promulgated by those commentators about Covid and the vaccines, so much so that I wrote two lengthy articles refuting the misinformation they have been promulgating.

      One commentator that I really enjoyed listening to and who was mostly sound on Covid was Dan Bongino. But then even he took a turn for the worst after his experience with Covid.

Dan Bongino’s Infection

      Dan Bongino was vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine back in March 2021. He has said the reason he got vaccinated was due to him having recently recovered from cancer, so he is at high risk from Covid. But he then failed to get a booster shot. And come late November 2021, he was sickened with Covid.

      He says he was very sick for a couple of days, with a temperature of 103.5 degrees. He also alternated between chills and the sweats. He made it clear that being sick with Covid is far worse than having the flu, declaring, it was “one of the worst things I ever experienced.” A friend of mine who had Covid twice said the same thing, as she also had those same symptoms, especially night sweats.

      But unlike my friend, who had to wait eight days to get a monoclonal antibody treatment, Dan got his within a couple of days. And 36 hours later, he was almost fully recovered. It is good that he lives in Florida, which has its act together in terms of its Covid protocol. That is so unlike here in Pennsylvania, which still seems to be trying to figure things out, even after 20 months of Covid.

      The point is, if Dan had gotten his booster shot before the eight month mark, he could have saved himself even those few days of suffering, which again, would have been longer if he lived here in PA and had to wait for the antibody treatment. It took my friend eight days to the treatment after her second Covid infection. As a result, she was sick for three weeks, after having been sick for three months the first time. That was six months earlier, when she got no such treatment.

      In any case, given his cancer background, the vaccine Dan did get probably prevented him from ending up in the hospital or morgue.

      However, smaller conservative news outlets are reporting that Dan was infected and got very sick, “regardless of having been vaccinated” (Muricase News) or “despite having been vaccinated” (Washington Examiner; Gazette, The. Dan). They do so in their never-ending attempt to disparage the vaccines. But they are being disingenuous when they fail to mention that he was eight months out from being vaccinated but did not get a booster and that he is immunocompromised due to having had cancer. But those are the most important points of his story. Dan mentioned these points on his radio show on November 29^th, so it is inexcusable for these news outlets to not report them.

Dan Bongino Updates

      The preceding about Dan Bongino’s Covid infection was as he reported it on his radio show on November 29, 2021. A week later, on December 6, he added another detail that is worth mentioning. He said that along with monoclonal antibodies, he also received Hydroxychlotoquine (HCQ) and Ivermectin.

      Good for him. But again, he was only able to do so because he lives in the red and free state of Florida. If he lived here in the blue Commonwealth of PA, he would not have been able to get either of those treatments. As a result, his suffering probably would have lasted much longer, as it did for my friend, who asked for both of those therapeutics both times she was infected, but she was denied both times.

      On the other hand, Dan articulated some of his own misinformation when he said, “The Covid vaccines failed me totally.” No, they did not. What failed Dan was Dan and him not listening to the authorities and their guidance that those who got vaccinated more than six months ago to get a booster shot, especially those like Dan who are at high risk form Covid.

      Again, Dan was vaccinated in March while he got infected in November, eight months later. If he had followed the now standard vaccine advice and gotten a booster shot after six months, he most likely would not have gotten infected, or at least, not have gotten so sick. But again, he was fortunate enough to live in Florida, where he got timely treatment.

      The same happened with Dana White, the president of UFC. He was on Dan’s Fox News show on December 4^th. Dana got infected with Covid but got those same three treatments. As a result, he was only sick for five days. Dana made a point of saying how sad it was that not everyone gets such timely and effective treatment, and on that point I would fully agree. The Covid response in this country has been atrocious, especially in blue states. Much needless suffering has resulted.

      This point relates back to my three-part article Does a Mask Protect the Wearer from the Coronavirus? (Three-Pronged Path to Ending this Crisis). The three prongs were mask wearing, vaccinations, and following a healthy lifestyle. The theme of the article was that each of those prongs would enable people to attain immunity without having to suffer excessively with a Covid infection. I explain how each does that in the article.

      But I could have made that a four-prong path by adding timely use of safe and effective therapeutics. But sadly, such has not become common protocol in the USA throughout the pandemic. If it had been, much suffering and death could have been prevented.

Further Thoughts

      Dan’s refusal to follow the now standard medical advice to get a booster shot was probably because he has become entrenched in fighting against the vaccine mandate by the radio company that airs his show. Even though he had been vaccinated, he considers such a mandate to be draconian and unwarranted. I think Dan’s fight against that mandate moved him to become against the vaccines in general, and that is probably why he did not get the prescribed booster shot.

      I think the same has happened with a lot of other conservative commentators. They have been so opposed to the mandates, lockdowns, and other draconian measures used by the various levels of government to try to control the virus that it has caused them to move to the position of denying the seriousness of Covid and consequently the need for the vaccines.

      However, it is possible to recognize the seriousness of Covid and to be fully supportive of the vaccines while also being stanchly opposed to any mandates for people to get vaccinated and to be against lockdowns and other measures that cause more harm than good, be they by governmental entities or private businesses.

      That has been my position throughout this pandemic. I recognize that Covid is a serious disease and that the vaccines are one of the best measures against it, but I also do not believe the lockdowns and mandates are or ever were appropriate or even beneficial. They in fact caused more harm than good.

Rethinking Conservative Views

      Hearing all of the false information being spouted by conservative commentators on Covid and the vaccines has caused me to rethink my agreement with them of many other issues. If they are so wrong on those issues, what else are they wrong on?

      Don’t get me wrong. I am not in any way moving to a liberal view of things, let alone a leftist view. The amount of misinformation on the left is still far greater than on the right. Even on Covid, leftists overstate the risk of Covid, making it sound like a Covid infection is tantamount to a death sentence, which it is not, not even close. But such fear mongering has led many to forgo needed medical treatments for health issues other than Covid out of fear of contracting Covid, and that has led to much needless suffering and death. Leftists also support those mandates and lockdowns, which I could never do.

      However, I have stopped listening to most all conservative podcasts and radio shows, and that includes Dan’s podcast. Although, I might still listen to some of his radio show, but only because it comes on right after the noon news, which I always listen to. I listen to the news then the first part of his radio show while I am getting my lunch. But that is about it.

      Otherwise, I have reduced my watching of Fox News and Newsmax and have been watching a bit more of CNN. Maybe that is a good thing, to get a more balanced view of things.

Articles

      The lengthy articles I wrote refuting the misinformation promulgated by conservative commentators are my four-part article Why I Decided to Get Vaccinated (Refuting Covid Antivaxxers) and my two-part article Statistical Refutations of Covid Deniers and Antivaxxers. Please read them before you believe anything being promulgated by conservative commentators about Covid and the vaccines. I know they are rather long, but that is because conservative commentators have promulgated so much misinformation about Covid and the vaccines, that it took six parts to fully refute all of it.

The Director's Politics Books

    Much to the dismay of most Americans, we are probably looking at a Trump-Biden rematch for the presidential election. Each of these books focuses on Trump and/ or Biden. Specifically, these books present in the detail the  background to each of Trump’s four indictments and other unjustified attacks that have been leveled against him over the past several years, while other books look at the alleged corruption and failures of Joe Biden and his administration.

    If you want to be an informed voter for next year’s election and be able to engage in intelligent conversations about all of these issues with your fellow-Americans, then check out these books. They are available in a variety of hardcopy and eBook formats.

References:

      Gazette, The.  Dan Bongino infected with painful breakthrough case of COVID-19: ‘One of the worst things I ever experienced.’

      Muricase News. Dan Bongino contaminated with painful breakthrough case of COVID-19: ‘One of many worst issues I ever skilled.’

      Washington Examiner. Dan Bongino infected with painful breakthrough case of COVID-19: ‘One of the worst things I ever experienced’.

Covid, Dan Bongino, and Other Conservative Commentators. Copyright © 2021 by Gary F. Zeolla (www.Zeolla.org).

The above article was posted on this website December 17, 2021.