I'm at Breaking Point': Phil Valentine, Radio Host Who Regrets Mocking Vaccines, Is 'Fighting for His Life
By: Zoe Richards (The Daily Beast)
bummer, dude...
meh, I'm sure this won't have an effect on your conservative radio career...
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A conservative radio host in Tennessee, who repeatedly spread misinformation about coronavirus and mocked vaccines but changed his tune after falling seriously ill, was still "fighting for his life" on Saturday, weeks after contracting the virus.
Phil Valentine, who hosts a talk radio show on 99.7 WWTN-FM in Nashville, is hospitalized and is receiving supplemental oxygen while in critical care battling COVID pneumonia, his family said in a statement Friday.
"They say he is still not getting well.. please pray for me," his wife, Susan, told the station on Saturday morning, according to a tweet. "I am at a breaking point."
On Saturday afternoon, Julia Campbell Shirley declined to comment on her son-in-law's condition before hurriedly telling The Daily Beast: "I certainly think people should be vaccinated."
Valentine had repeatedly downplayed COVID-19 and dismissed guidance from health officials about the seriousness of the virus and the importance of getting vaccinated.
In a blog post in December, days after doses of Pfizer's COVID vaccine was first authorized for emergency use in the United States, Valentine said he was simply following the logic in deciding not to get vaccinated.
"I'm not an anti-vaxxer," he wrote. "I'm just using common sense. What are my odds of getting Covid? They're pretty low. What are my odds of dying from Covid if I do get it? Probably way less than 1 percent. I'm doing what everyone should do and that's my own personal health risk assessment. If you have underlying health issues, you probably need to get the vaccine. If you're not at high risk of dying from Covid then you're probably safer not getting it."
After confirming rumors of his diagnosis on July 11, Valentine was initially well enough to report to listeners about his condition.
"I think I'm on the other side of it," he said of the virus on one occasion, according to WIAT, while describing painful coughing, congestion, and fatigue.
"I'm certainly moving forward, it appears, but not in a straight line," he added.
Valentine defended his decision not to get vaccinated as he began wrestling with the virus, insisting that he had thought the disease wouldn't kill him.
Before he was hospitalized, Valentine also announced on air that he was "taking the vitamin D like crazy" and had found a doctor who agreed to prescribe ivermectin. The drug, often used to treat parasites in animals, has been touted in right-wing media circles as a promising COVID treatment but the Food and Drug Administration has cautioned against its use for COVID-19.
But in the days that followed, Valentine's family shared with the radio station that his battle against the virus had become more dire and he was being hospitalized in critical care.
His brother, Mark Valentine, posted an impassioned message to Facebook on Wednesday, suggesting that Valentine's fight for his life "has persuaded me to go get vaccinated when I was previously not inclined to do so."
"Having seen this up close and personal I'd encourage ALL of you to put politics and other concerns aside and get it," he added, noting that he wouldn't wish his brother's condition on his worst enemies.
A day later, during an appearance on WWTN-FM in Nashville, Mark Valentine said his brother was regretful that he wasn't a more vocal advocate for getting vaccinated.
"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," he said.
Mark Valentine insisted that while his brother had not been anti-vax, "he got this one wrong."
Just last month, Valentine even wrote and performed a parody song of the Beatles' song "Taxman," called "Vaxman" in which he appeared to mock vaccines.
"Let me tell you how it will be," he sang, "and I don't care if you agree, 'Cause I'm the Vaxman, yeah I'm the Vaxman. If you don't like me coming round, be thankful I don't hold you down."
Tennessee continues to rank among the lowest in the country for vaccination rates even as cases are rising largely from the highly contagious Delta variant.
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maybe he should perform a parody of the song instant karma by john lennon next time...
please remember to help keep fascism and white supremacy off the NT front page by commenting and voting up seeds like this one - thank you
No sympathy for stupid.
please pray for me
Pass
And the people that listened to him and believed him will make excuses now that he is in ICU.
It's a joke, it's not real. /s
some liberal infected him on purpose!!!
It's actually just the flu, not the COVID-19 or Delta...He'll be back in a day or so. /s
God works in mysterious ways.
Or God has a twisted sense of humor.
How many times does this story have to play out before people learn? Same plot - just the names of the characters change.
Again and again and again, it seems.
Sorry but republicans have gone insane... I just read this,
Unbelievable. So now, no matter the disease or outbreak, people in Montana cannot be quarantined. If someone has leprosy or the plague, they can walk around town....
This is absolute stupidity. Is this what people want? Is this what republicans want?
Total insanity, the right is as crazy as shit house rats.
As Florida had over 14,000 new cases yesterday and our brilliant goevrnor said it's a ''Seasonal thing''...We're having quite the season.
Has he suggested injecting bleach?
Give them a little taste of smallpox (it does still exist) and see how quickly they change their tune.
But yeah, they are out of their fucking minds. The desire to score political points has made common sense, and even the most basic proactive actions enemies.
republicans want to regress to the 19th century in treating pandemics. if somebody gets it, you simply board up the doors and windows and torch the house. /s
republicans want to regress to the 19th century in treating pandemics. if somebody gets it, you simply board up the doors and windows and torch the house. /s
Or..you could always send them your thoughts and prayers. That's usually pretty effective!
/sarc
Hopefully he recovers so he can come back and tell us how this was the liberals’ fault.
His odds of getting COVID are pretty low? Is he retarded? 34+ million people in the US have caught it so far, that is over 10% of the population and that is with much of the country taking substantial measures to curb its spread. How does that make your odds of catching it “low”?
He is the worst kind of selfish prick, the kind who expects everyone else to be responsible so that he can on being an asshole relatively risk free.
I personally know three survivors who were in comas during their hospital stays.
All are now constantly angry.
They have lost whatever stops people from blurting out mean hurtful insults.
Two have doubled down against the vaccine or the belief that they had COVID.
It appears to be a brain injury that very slowly heals over time.
Not fast enough.
I hope Phil survives and breaks this pattern for his family's sake.
ain't that the truth...
I feel like when these guys claim they aren’t anti-vaxxers, it makes the whole thing even more stupid. Think about it. They’re not against vaccines in general. They understand and appreciate the benefit of vaccines. And they still won’t get a shot.
And why? Not because of some specific medical reason, but rather because it’s some kind of corporate or government conspiracy. It’s allegedly mind control or something. Basically, they oppose the vaccine because of partisan politics. You’re willing to risk your life and the lives of others because you hate Joe Biden or Dr. Fauci or something? That makes it even more dumb.
Totally agree with you. I can't get my head wrapped around this. Since when did a health issue become a political one? I'm so tired of those who will not get the shot and who either get their info from other idiots on the internet, instead of the medical community, or who just don't get it because of politics.
People seem to forget, that we rid ourselves of smallpox because everyone got vaccinated. If we don't get the vaccination rate up both at home and worldwide, we may never be rid of this virus, because it will always be in a state of mutation.
Since Trump was President.
As am I. These people are not only being stupid, but inconsiderate and irresponsible and putting others at risk.
We're seeing that now, with the new variants. The current vaccine is not as effective against them either. How long until a variant emerges which completely negates vaccine protection? We'll all be right back to square 1 again.
I’ve been saying it, people like the cocksucker in the seed are the reason we are still in a pandemic and will be the reason we get an even worse variant in the near future. They keep letting the virus grab offensive rebounds, eventually on of its shots will go in.
So very true. I wonder how they arrive at the conclusions that THIS vaccine and not the others is the one the government wants to use to control your mind or whatever.
Additionally, a lot of these people, we have one in particular here *cough, Husker, cough*, we’re pitching a fit that Trump didn’t get enough credit for the vaccine effort. Now the vaccine that we should have been kissing trumps ass for is bad because how Biden became the president. The dumbest fucking reasoning I have ever heard. Basically their reasoning is that our efforts to battle deadly diseases should be based solely on who is in the White House.
BINGO
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Guaranteed modern therapies will work better than God or prayer.
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Some just work better than others.
So Mr. XXJ-- I see that once again you are attempting to play the "thoughts and prayers" card!
Good on ya-- that always works!!!
I wonder why a good Christian like him got a deadly case of covid but a mouthy atheist like me hasn’t gotten it yet. I must be God’s favorite atheist.
It's like I said, God has a twisted sense of humor.