John Rich defended inserting himself into a discussion between actor Terence Howard and Joe Rogan, and further lent his support to a controversial anti-vax doctor.
The country singer shared a clip of the Iron Man actor during his appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast where he discussed topics ranging from gravity to the coronavirus vaccines.
The clip from the latest episode of Rogan's podcast showed the men discussing their opposition to the vaccines, with Howard spouting a widely disproved theory that they cause an increase in spike protein in the body.
"Now we have all of these diseases that are showing themselves because the body is overwhelmed trying to deal with the spike protein," Howard said on the most recent episode of the podcast. "And the more boosters you get, the worse your outcomes are going to be."
On Wednesday, Rich who has long been an anti-vaxxer posted the clip to X, formerly Twitter, and tagged the controversial Dr. Peter A. McCullough, asking him to share his opinion.
He then followed up that post with another slamming the COVID-19 vaccines and hailing the doctor as a "hero."
"If you have to offer people doughnuts and hamburgers to take the jab, or worse, threaten them with unemployment and ridicule if they don't, you're one of the bad guys. Tick-Tock goes the clock.@P_McCulloughMD is a hero," Rich posted.
Spike proteins are found on the surface of COVID-19 virus cells and are included in vaccines used to prevent the virus, in order to teach the body to create a replica of the spike proteins, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
This is so that the body can trigger an immune response to fight the virus in future and after the spike proteins have done their job, our cells break them down and remove them from the body as waste.
McCullough went viral on social media and in research papers which were universally slammed by his peers, claiming COVID-19 vaccines cause heart disease because of the spike proteins found in them.
But his theories have repeatedly been found to be false by a range of fact-checking services, especially because research has shown that the spike proteins in the vaccine don't behave in a similar way as they do in the coronavirus.
"COVID-19 vaccines have also been shown to be effective in reducing the risk of severe forms of the disease. Multiple studies have estimated that the COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives across the globe," wrote FactCheck in February in response to one of McCullough's articles.
"But an article—written by misinformation spreaders who oppose COVID-19 vaccination—that claims to have reviewed the original trials and 'other relevant studies' largely ignores this body of evidence. Instead … [it] cites multiple flawed or criticized studies to falsely claim the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have caused 'extensive, well-documented' serious adverse events and have killed nearly 14 times as many people as they saved."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more
