Gym owner arrested for defying lockdowns blasts WaPo's delayed admission on exercise and COVID: 'Infuriating'

close

Video

Gym owner targeted by COVID mandates speaks out after Washington Post report

Gym owner Ian Smith reacts to the Washington Post admitting that exercise helps protect against fatal COVID on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.'

Ian Smith, the former gym owner who was arrested for defying lockdown orders during the pandemic responded to a Washington Post column citing the benefits of exercise to avoid fatal COVID-19 on Thursday, calling the publication's delayed admission "infuriating."

The Washington Post report revealing that exercise reduces the risk of contracting a fatal case of COVID-19 was widely mocked online for "confirming the obvious" after health columnist Gretchen Reynolds cited what she called an "eye-opening study" that found that exercise, even in the smallest amount, greatly reduced the risk of contracting a severe coronavirus infection.

Critics blasted the outlet for taking years to confirm what most of the public had known since the pandemic's onset, while citing the column as vindication for Smith and others who were outspoken about keeping gyms open at the height of the outbreak.

WASHINGTON POST REPORT BLASTED FOR ‘STATING THE OBVIOUS’ ABOUT BENEFITS OF EXERCISE ON COVID 2 YEARS LATER

"It's infuriating," Smith said of the column on "Tucker Carlson Tonight." "It was something we knew all along….they call it an ‘eye-opening study.’ Nothing about this study is groundbreaking in any sense. In fact, it’s elementary school-level knowledge. When I was in third grade, I was taught that exercising and eating right meant I’d be healthy and not get sick. We all knew that going into 2020."

Smith was arrested in 2020 for defying New Jersey's stay-at-home order. (Fox News)

"For some reason, the established science was wiped clean and replaced by the experts of COVID, who did pretty much everything the opposite," he added. "You know, you said casinos and bars were open, gyms and churches were closed. They even closed parks and oceans. All of these things we know have a great benefit on your health, not just in respect to COVID, but health overall."

The study cited in the Washington Post column was published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine and examined the impact of physical inactivity on COVID-19 outcomes. 

The findings, Reynolds wrote, "add to mounting evidence that any amount of exercise helps lower the ferocity of coronavirus infections."

TAYLOR LORENZ ATTACKS WAPO COLLEAGUE OVER ‘ABSURD, INSENSITIVE COVID TWEET’

Jason Nichols, facilities operation manager, disinfects equipment at the Life Time Biltmore as it opens for business after being closed due to the coronavirus Monday, May 18, 2020, in Phoenix.  (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin))

Smith emphasized in multiple Fox News appearances that Americans aren’t any healthier because of public health guidance and has previously blamed misguided public health policies for contributing to the obesity crisis in the U.S.

The Washington Post column is further fuel for critics like him who challenged public health policy to keep people exercising during the COVID-19 crisis, he said.

"We watched Americans’ health decline over the last two years, while the government would not step back on these restrictions and held on to them in places like New Jersey and California, and other blue states, for as long as they possibly could, even when all the science had been concluded," Smith told Carlson.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Twitter users responding to the Washington Post column urged Smith to take legal action against New Jersey after his arrest for defying Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy's stay-at-home order in 2020.

While he did not confirm whether he will consider a lawsuit, Smith did say he believes criminal activity was at play.

"The American people need to start looking at COVID protocol and the reaction to COVID as a crime scene, not a series of mistakes by the government," he said.