The title for this Associated Press story is "Conservative radio host regrets COVID vaccine hesitancy." But that's misleading. Like most conservatives, Valentine wasn't hesitant at all. He just didn't want to take the vaccine. He was making a statement. A stupid one, but a statement.
Source: Associated Press
A conservative talk radio host from Tennessee who had been a vaccine skeptic until he was hospitalized from COVID-19 now says his listeners should get vaccinated.
Phil Valentine's brother, Mark Valentine, spoke at length on WWTN-FM in Nashville on Thursday about his brother's condition, saying he is in a critical care unit on supplemental oxygen, but not on a ventilator. Phil Valentine has had an afternoon talk radio show on the station for years.
“First of all, he's regretful that he wasn't a more vocal advocate of the vaccination,” Mark Valentine said of his brother. “For those listening, I know if he were able to tell you this, he would tell you, ‘Go get vaccinated. Quit worrying about the politics. Quit worrying about all the conspiracy theories.’"
Mark Valentine took exception to the idea that Phil Valentine was anti-vaccination, labeling him “pro-information” and “pro-choice” on the vaccine but adding, “he got this one wrong."
"He got this one wrong."
No shit.
Valentine also took a regimen of high doses of Vitamin D, and got a prescription for ivermectin, a drug commonly used to control parasites in animals. The FDA labelled the practice dangerous.
I would imagine his talk show was full of stuff like this tweet.
I'm avoiding Twitter, but I just had to let you see this. It should scare the hell out of everybody. https://t.co/OIv3lV4jmZ
— Phil Valentine (@ValentineShow) April 13, 2021
And an even earlier tweet suggested his chances were "low" for getting COVID and even lower for dying from it. That's what you call making a really bad bet.
Kawasaki disease is the scariest! Seriously, this is what I talk about when I say I do risk assessment. I have a very low risk of A) getting COVID, and B) dying of it if I do. Why would I risk getting heart attack or paralysis by getting the vaccine?
— Phil Valentine (@ValentineShow) December 8, 2020
