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Conservative pundit Candace Owens has been receiving backlash on Twitter since she recently made comments on what she considers to be the mainstream media’s biased coverage on the COVID-19 vaccines. After a misinformed tweet she posted last year about the virus’ statistics in India resurfaced, many think that right-wing correspondent is the last person we should be listening to when it comes to sources we can trust about the vaccines.
Things were kicked off yesterday (May 3) when Owens tweeted that she thought it was problematic that “the mainstream media” was “promoting” Microsoft entrepreneur and philanthropist Bill Gates as more of an authority on the COVID vaccines than comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan. As she sees it, both men are “equally” qualified to speak on the vaccines. Keep in mind though, while Gates has spent decades both funding and researching global vaccine development, and relatedly, has networked with some of the world’s leading scientists and medical experts, Rogan has made headlines recently for spreading “anti-vaccine advice,” as per The Washington Post.
“The mainstream media promoting Bill Gates while admonishing Joe Rogan is the reason nobody trusts journalists anymore,” Owens’ tweet from yesterday said — now with over 2,000 Replies, 53,000 Likes, and 10,00 Retweets. It continued, “Hate to break it to you but they are equally as qualified to talk about vaccines. Being a billionaire doesn’t make you a doctor.”
Many users pointed out that Gates and Rogan were in fact not “equal” in terms of their abilities to share accurate information of the virus and its vaccines. In his reply to the post, user @jules_su resurfaced an old tweet Owens made last year which has aged extremely poorly. In her effort to imply that COVID-19 was a hoax, she referenced India as an example of a country with a low number of coronavirus deaths within regards to its overall population.
Her tweet from April 9, 2020 read, “Two weeks ago I told you all that India was the country to watch as millions of their workers were stranded along the railroad — no means of social distancing. India has just 169 deaths. Reported its first case in January.” Being sarcastic, she said of COVID at the end of the tweet, “BUT IT’S 10 TIMES MORE DEADLY THAN THE FLU, BRO!”
On top of the tweet being generally misinformed, Owens’ resurfaced post about India comes off as especially poor considering the fact that the country is currently facing a devasting “crisis” as they try to combat their recent surge in COVID cases and deaths. As if all that controversy wasn’t enough, she also tweeted Donald Trump Jr. yesterday night and emphasized her disappointment with Joe Biden’s administration by noting that other world leaders must be “having a real laugh” right now at America’s expense. Then, this morning, she announced that the former president, Donald Trump, would be the next guest on her podcast, The Candace Owens Show. According to her, the interview will be available to listen to later tonight.
In all honesty, everything surrounding Owens at the moment is a complete mess. See some of the tweets circling all the controversy down below.
