Tucker: Dr. Peter Hotez a 'charlatan' who wants dissenters jailed
Baylor doctor fearmongers on masks, public edicts, 'Tucker Carlson Tonight' host says
On Tuesday's "Tucker Carlson Tonight," host Tucker Carlson criticized Baylor College of Medicine tropical diseases expert professor Dr. Peter Hotez for his controversial comments and positions, including once telling another network that the Justice Department may need to get involved against people he believes to be spreading "disinformation" about coronavirus.
Hotez has become a common recurring guest on MSNBC, the host noted, calling him a "crazed publicity addict" and suggesting Baylor University reconsider allowing him to spout off about medicine on television.
Carlson said Hotez is one of the chief reasons why many Americans no longer trust medical doctors in the age of coronavirus and are seeking alternative treatments and advice.
A patient receives an influenza vaccine.
"You might notice that a lot of people in your world don't trust doctors these days. That's not a good sign. Probably have people you know, are exploring alternative medical cures right now. Why is that happening? Well, there are a lot of reasons, but Dr. Peter Hotez is definitely one of those reasons," he said.
"Hotez is a pediatrician who spent his life studying tropical parasites. He wouldn't seem to be the obvious go-to guest for cable news bookers looking for someone to speak knowledgeably about COVID… Unfortunately for all of us, as Peter Hotez speaks, he discredits American medicine," Carlson said.
"He's a misinformation machine constantly spewing insanity," the host added, noting that if observers want to criticize right-wing commentator Alexander Jones for his views on medicine, they should be equally aghast at Hotez from the left.
"Ask yourself, who's saner? It's not even close," Carlson said. "Very few things Peter Hotez says have any relationship to reality. Here he is, explaining back in July that there is no conceivable way that Joe Biden will ever announce a vaccine mandate."
He played a clip of Hotez blaming "anti-vaccine aggression" from the Republican Party's "far-right elements," and blamed discussions at the Conservative Political Action Conference for altering Americans' views of the injections.
"Why in the world would [Baylor] let him do an MSNBC hit like that? If anybody is discrediting vaccines, making people afraid of them, he's such an obvious lunatic and politicizing medicine, it's Peter Hotez, he's totally ignorant," Carlson said.
"This guy is discrediting you and our medical system. He's arguing in his little Baylor scrubs that people who don't agree with him belong in jail… Sorry, Peter Hotez. We have freedom of speech in this country, and no one should be more grateful for that than you," Carlson remarked.
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