Calley Means is an author, not a physician, and the purveyor of lots and lots of health-related products which he'd love for you to purchase with your health savings account. But Means, described as an “outside adviser” to RFK Jr. (also not an M.D.), was allowed to play a medical expert on CNN, probably because no real doctor was willing to defend the Musk/Trump/Kennedy attacks on vaccines in the middle of a measles outbreak.
Means couldn’t defend the anti-vaxxism either, apparently. Instead of making his case with facts, Means pretended RFK Jr. is not anti-vaccine, then attacked the physicians alarmed about the spread of a preventable and dangerous disease by painting them as woke hysterics.
Asked by CNN anchor Pamela Brown if now wouldn’t be a good time to promote the measles vaccine, Means sneered, “Pamela, with respect, why aren't you asking me about the fact that 50 percent of teens have obesity?” He went on to complain that people care too much about measles. “It’s breathless coverage of five measles cases,” he said, dismissively.
People are being hospitalized with measles which, again, is a preventable disease. It can also be fatal. But like any good shyster, Means quickly tried to change the subject. “Why aren’t we asking why 16% of COVID deaths worldwide were Americans when we’re only 4% of the world population?”
When Brown cut off that distraction tactic, Means played the favorite MAGA role of woke victim. “The entire coverage of Bobby Kennedy is around measles," he whined. "The Democrats said the word ‘measles’ 25 times in the first hearing and said the words ‘obesity, diabetes and chronic disease’ zero times. The HHS priority document under President Biden said the word ‘equity’ 25 times, said the word ‘vaccines’ countless times, did not say the word ‘obesity’ or ‘diabetes.’”
Means went on to falsely claim that his buddy is “just saying we need studies” about vaccines.
You have to wonder if Means caught RFK Jr.'s brainworm because there have been many studies.
Then, after a jag of attacking Dr. Paul Offit, a real medical doctor who is also director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Means came out with the obvious truth: “Bobby Kennedy is not concerned with measles.” He added that Kennedy “wants good policies with measles.”
What could be a better policy with measles than doing everything to prevent people from getting it in the first place?
