Appearing on Tiffany Cross's MSNBC show today to discuss the problem of portions of the population who refuse to be vaccinated against Covid, Dr. Chris Pernell decried "people unfortunately who have become susceptible to the conspiracy theories."
But ironically, Pernell floated a paranoid conspiracy theory of her own: that anti-vaxxers are white supremacists who are targeting communities of color. She seemed to be saying that the white supremacists are encouraging POC to refuse vaccination so that they'll contract the potentially fatal disease. Now that's paranoid.
Said Pernell:
"I don’t have any tolerance for the anti-vaxxer movement. And I don’t have any tolerance for politicians who befriend, who cozy up to, or become allies of that movement. I actually see that as another example of the proliferation of white supremacy.
"Because in particular, they are targeting communities of color, and they are targeting the historical injustices, the atrocities, that communities of color have experienced, as a way to play on their vulnerabilities."
No specifics were offered in this conspiracy theory. Nobody needs any evidence on this "news channel"! Dr. Pernell is a more regular guest on CNN than she is on MSNBC.
Question for Dr. Pernell: Do communities of color look to white supremacists and their supposedly favorite politicians as trusted sources of information? Or are the anti-vaxxers recruiting minorities to act as secret agents to spread disinformation within communities of color? America wants to know!
Tiffany Cross apparently embraced Pernell's paranoia, saying she was "so great to answer the questions and put them in the proper perspective."
Note: Pernell seems to hold herself in high esteem. On her web page, she describes herself—or had someone describe her—as a "charismatic and leading voice" who is nothing less than: "America’s public health physician and health equity champion."
For the record: I'm no anti-vaxxer. By February 9th I'd received my second Pfizer shot, and would encourage people to get vaccinated.
MSNBC guest Dr. Chris Pernell suggesting white-supremacist anti-vaxxers are targeting communities of color was sponsored in part by T-Mobile, Volvo, and Google.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
The Cross Connection
7/10/21
10:20 am EDTTIFFANY CROSS: I have to ask you. There is still so many conspiracy theories out there. And I'm increasingly disconcerted by some of the people who are sharing these. Big Boi, from Outkast just shared a video from an older black woman saying, don’t get the vaccine. The Second Gentleman, Doug Emhoff, was at a barbershop in Chicago, and someone said to him, ain’t nothing going to make me take that unless my life is on the line. And you want to scream: your life is on the line. How can we penetrate some of these communities? Because you've got the anti-vaxxer community, and then you have some pockets of African-Americans, because of the long, distrustful history with the medical community. What do we have to do at this point?
CHRIS PERNELL: We have to understand the various factors that implicate or influence human behavior. I'm going make this very plain. I don’t have any tolerance for the anti-vaxxer movement. And I don’t have any tolerance for politicians who befriend, who cozy up to, or become allies of that movement.
I actually see that as another example of the proliferation of white supremacy. Because in particular, they are targeting communities of color. And they are targeting the historical injustices, the atrocity, that communities of color have experienced, as a way to play on their vulnerabilities. You have people who have questions. You have people unfortunately who have become susceptible to the conspiracy theories.
