Astrophysicist and famed science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson appeared on The Highwire, an antivax video podcast, to “debate” its host, antivax propagandist Del Bigtree. This incident demonstrates quite well why it is almost never a good idea for a scientist to agree to “debate” science deniers.
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When it comes to the behavior of antivax quacks, I like to say: Come for the quackery and ideology, stay for the grift. A Washington Post story this week confirms this characterization.
Del Bigtree almost bled to death from hemorrhoids, but still refused transfusion from donors vaccinated against COVID-19. Instead, he flew to Cancun to get “unvaccinated blood” at a quack cancer clinic. This sort of disinformation can kill. In Bigtree’s case, it almost did.
Once again, Orac is depressed to discover that an oncologist and scientist whom he admired 30 years ago is now giving credence to the antivax myth that COVID-19 vaccines are causing an epidemic of “turbo cancer.”
An old school “vaccines cause autism” antivaxxer hosted new COVID-19 antivaxxers at an antivax conference last month. Although one new antivaxxer, Geert Vanden Bossche, was discomfited and pushed back against old antivax tropes, the rest joined Del Bigtree in spewing longstanding antivax tropes.