On Monday’s MSNBC Live with Stephanie Ruhle, host Stephanie Ruhle brought on director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity and a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Lisa Cooper to spout leftist talking points about health care and the U.S.’s COVID response.
Cooper made the bold claim that “people of color have not had opportunities to live lives that are healthy and productive” in the U.S. due to “structural racism” and that America need’s “leaders just like Governor Andrew Cuomo” to help Americans trust the government’s response to the pandemic.
Ruhle expressed that she brought Cooper on her show to discuss the COVID vaccine due to her “expertise” on “health equity.”
Cooper, the “equity” expert, launched into a perfect mashup of leftist talking points about “structural racism” in response to Ruhle asking her why African Americans might not trust the COVID vaccine:
So, you know, it stems from a long history of oppression in this country. You -- we know structural racism where people of color have not had opportunities to live lives that are healthy and productive. There are ongoing disparities in health care. You know, many people in communities of color still remember so many egregious acts against them from the time of slavery through the Tuskegee syphilis experiment and-- and even through current day experiences of discrimination.
Between equity and structural racism, Ruhle and Cooper were perfectly running through the leftist checklist of woke terms. Maybe Cooper herself has contributed to structural racism and “disparities in healthcare” due to her position as an expert at one of the U.S.’s leading medical schools.
Also, it is surprising that MSNBC is now on board with the vaccine, as on his program on MSNBC, Al Sharpton warned that the vaccine might be a racial hoax like the Tuskegee syphilis experiment.
Cooper then laughably advocated for “leaders just like Andrew Cuomo” to help African Americans trust the vaccine:
I think we all need to -- public health professionals, people in the media, health professionals, leaders just like Governor Mario -- Governor Andrew Cuomo, need to work with community leaders, with trusted organizations, faith organizations, businesses, schools. They need to work with local celebrities, artists. Anybody who is trusted in communities of color to deliver this message of how to protect themselves from getting COVID-19 and to help them to actually believe more in the safety of the vaccine.
Andrew Cuomo is responsible for as many as 12,000 COVID deaths in nursing homes due to an executive order which sent 6,326 COVID patients to nursing homes. Perhaps he may not be the best choice for advocating for faith in a vaccine, especially when he actively tried to undermine the vaccine due to it arriving under President Trump's administration. Or does Cooper just care about advocating for Democratic politicians and not the actual health of Americans? Also, how bizarre is it that the liberal media continues to shower praise on Cuomo despite his disastrous leadership and the sexual assault allegations against him?
Expressing her love for big government, Ruhle suggested that “a great way to build trust is to change policies to help all Americans.”
Don’t worry, the government will take care of us all and we will never have to worry about anything with people like Andrew Cuomo making all of our decisions for us!
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Read the full December 14th transcript here:
MSNBC Live with Stephanie Ruhle
9:30:35 AM
12/14/20
STEPHANIE RUHLE: Let's bring in Dr. Lisa cooper. She's the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity and a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She’s also the author of the upcoming book Why are health Disparities Everyone's Problem? Doctor, these are -- this is an incredible morning. What's your reaction to what you're seeing?
DR. LISA COOPER (DIRECTOR OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR HEALTH EQUITY AND PROFESSOR AT THE JOHNS HOPKINS BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH): It’s so exciting. I -- I'm just -- I’m thrilled to see this moment arrive. This is such a critical time in the health of our country. There are so many lives at stake. And this vaccine has incredible potential to save lives and to improve our quality of life and actually get us back to working and kids back in schools, you know, so I'm thrilled.
RUHLE: Health equity is obviously your world of expertise. We know how much this pandemic has hurt the black and brown community. But we also know from polls that distrust of the vaccine is particularly high among white Africans -- among African-Americans. What do you think that stems from?
COOPER: So, you know, it stems from a long history of oppression in this country. You -- we know structural racism where people of color have not had opportunities to live lives that are healthy and productive. There are ongoing disparities in health care. You know, many people in communities of color still remember so many egregious acts against them from the time of slavery through the Tuskegee syphilis experiment and-- and even through current day experiences of discrimination. So it's not surprising that mistrust is there in terms of what science could do to harm people. You know but they --but people need to remember that there have been lots of changes in the way science is conducted since that time to protect people from harm. So there are a lot of things in place to protect people. Scientific teams are much more racially and ethically diverse. In fact, one of the developers of the vaccine is an African-American woman, Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett. There are scientists who are experts in community engagement who are also involved. So, you know, there are a lot of protections in place. But the mistrust is understandable.
RUHLE: What do we need to do right now to help our most vulnerable communities? We know how the pandemic has hit them. But we also know come January, more and more people are going to become food insecure. They are going to lose their homes. People are losing their jobs. What do we need to do right now beyond logistics plans for the distribution of the vaccine which is months away?
COOPER: Well, I think we all need to -- public health professionals, people in the media, health professionals, leaders just like Governor Mario -- Governor Andrew Cuomo, need to work with community leaders, with trusted organizations, faith organizations, businesses, schools. They need to work with local celebrities, artists. Anybody who is trusted in communities of color to deliver this message of how to protect themselves from getting COVID-19 and to help them to actually believe more in the safety of the vaccine. I think we need to have people who are health -- frontline health care workers like the nurse we just saw who stepped up to the plate and -- and gave her testimony and was willing to be a role model. So I think we all need to work together to -- to give that story to make sure people have accurate information and that they can make an informed decision about this. We can't force anybody to take the vaccine, and we wouldn't want to do that. I think everyone has to make their own decision, but it needs to be an informed decision, and they should seek out trusted physicians, nurses. We really need to work with people who are in those local communities who understand the concerns, be empathetic, not -- not be judgmental and be very clear and answer all questions.
RUHLE: A great way to build trust is to change policies to help all Americans. Is there an immediate policy change or government action that could help some of the most vulnerable Americans who are saying the system’s never worked for me, why is it going to work now?
COOPER: Absolutely. I mean, I think the country is looking to -- to local and national leaders to make decisions on policies. Things like the economic stimulus package. Things that will deliver relief to people who need housing assistance, who need unemployment benefits right now. Who need to make sure their health insurance benefits are continued. So national leaders can actually act right now in a way that would engender greater trust from communities of color and actually from all communities.
