Blue-check 'expert' who claimed COVID wouldn't infect BLM protesters FACE-PLANTS while taking victory lap in LAME thread

Experts REALLY REALLY REALLY hate it when people don’t buy into their BS. Take for example, the many experts who claimed it was ok for people to protest racism during the pandemic because protesting was more important than being alive.

Because you know, if you catch COVID you’re done for or something.

No no, sorry other Americans, you can’t go to work and you can’t have any funerals for your loved ones because IT’S TOO DANGEROUS, but rioting, sorry, protesting is super important and worth the risk.

At least that’s what Jeremy Konyndyk claimed a month ago:

OK, let's address these "why did we lock down if BLM protests are ok" takes.

There are lots of pundits arguing this means public health advice is all relative to ideological sympathies.

That's not it. It's about balance of risks.

— Jeremy BLACK LIVES MATTER Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) June 4, 2020

Seems Konyndyk thinks the data prove he was correct, he even wrote a thread about it:

A month ago I tweeted this thread, to *enormous* backlash. Many folks yelled that I had sold out my credibility. An expert on experts called me out for "the very essence of politicizing expertise."

But here the thing. I and others making this point…weren't wrong. https://t.co/YEuVEM6gy4

— Jeremy BLACK LIVES MATTER Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) July 5, 2020

Enormous backlash.

And we’re thinking this is a dig at Tom Nichols …

The basic argument was two-fold:

– That if done properly and carefully, outdoor protesting was not a high-risk activity

– That the importance of the #BLM movement justified accepting that degree of risk

— Jeremy BLACK LIVES MATTER Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) July 5, 2020

But a vocal faction on twitter insisted we were being disingenuous. That we were downplaying the risk because of our political sympathies.

That if we didn't call out the protests just as we called out reckless reopening policies, we had no credibility.

— Jeremy BLACK LIVES MATTER Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) July 5, 2020

You are still being disingenuous and you lack credibility.

Sorry, not sorry.

So with the benefit of a month's hindsight, let's test that accusation.

— Jeremy BLACK LIVES MATTER Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) July 5, 2020

Did protesters maintain responsible mitigation behaviors? Overall, they largely did. Most photos of BLM protesters showed 95%+ masking. Many of the marches had good spacing (not all).

— Jeremy BLACK LIVES MATTER Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) July 5, 2020

HA HA HA HA HA HA

95%.

Holy crap, show your work.

And this is borne out by targeted testing of protesters, which in MN showed they tested + at lower rates than the general population. Other cities similar. https://t.co/09bu7lkk1z pic.twitter.com/lK9aKYdbM8

— Jeremy BLACK LIVES MATTER Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) July 5, 2020

So are transmission risks of protests lower than risks of over-eager reopening, as I argued? Sure looks that way. The places with the larges protests are NOT the places where transmission is currently exploding. pic.twitter.com/dHOZoJCDSw

— Jeremy BLACK LIVES MATTER Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) July 5, 2020

Over-eager reopening.

Eff this guy.

So transmission data are consistent with the notion that reopening too fast is a much higher risk than outdoor protests.

In other words there is (despite the chorus of twitter scolds) a meaningful difference in the risk of protesting outdoors in a mask vs drinking in a bar.

— Jeremy BLACK LIVES MATTER Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) July 5, 2020

Protesting and destroying crap is AOK but if you want to go back to work and save yourself from poverty THAT’S NOT.

As for whether the protests themselves merit the accepting that degree of risk – I continue to think so. There's no question there has been a major impact on public opinion. https://t.co/F43iL9a0L0

— Jeremy BLACK LIVES MATTER Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) July 5, 2020

He can think so all he wants. That doesn’t make him right.

So – back to this question of whether I and others skewed our analysis to align with our political sympathies.

The data show otherwise.

But that didn't deter people from insisting on interpreting our analysis mainly in partisan rather than public health terms.

— Jeremy BLACK LIVES MATTER Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) July 5, 2020

Except it doesn’t.

There's a larger lesson here about what's undermining the US COVID response right now. There is a contingent of the public that insists on viewing all public health guidance in politically partisan terms. Their trust in experts is undermined for many reasons, starting with POTUS.

— Jeremy BLACK LIVES MATTER Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) July 5, 2020

He leaves out how many elected officials have ordered their contact tracers NOT to ask about protesting.

But their dismissal of experts is helped along by pundits who – even if their political sympathies differ – spout contrarian hot takes that caricature public health advice rather than attempt to understand it. https://t.co/TGGRIRKUBJ

— Jeremy BLACK LIVES MATTER Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) July 5, 2020

Experts.

That’s adorable.

Would love to see some of those pundits reflect on why they got this so wrong. And perhaps be a little more cautious about castigating public health expertise in the future.

— Jeremy BLACK LIVES MATTER Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) July 5, 2020

You guys notice he didn’t provide one bit of real ‘data’ to back up his claims? Oooh, two screenshots taken out of context, he showed us!

These stupid hypocrites are ridiculous. They constantly tie themselves in knots justifying whatever nonsense they want to do. No self-awareness, no intellectual honsesty. Just self-righteous narcissism all day, every day. https://t.co/mbwS33Oj1p

— Nick Searcy, INTERNATIONAL FILM & TELEVISION STAR (@yesnicksearcy) July 6, 2020

All day, every day.

Yup.

The virus doesn't care why you're spreading it.

— I didn't vote for him, so think of a new retort (@jtLOL) July 6, 2020

Apparently it doesn’t want to infect anyone tearing down statues but totally stalks anyone who wants to open up their small business or have a drink at a bar.

You were wrong

— AR-14 totin ponysoldier (@C0nservatlve) July 6, 2020

That. ^

“You’d think from the moral outrage about these beach photos that fun, in itself, transmits the virus,” the Harvard epi @JuliaLMarcus told me. “But when people find lower-risk ways to enjoy their lives, that’s actually a public-health win.” Nice work @zeynep @TheAtlantic! https://t.co/vSvEbCFDsP

— Dr. Saskia Popescu (@SaskiaPopescu) July 4, 2020

Public-health win.

You were technically right (with a large dose of luck) and burned public health's credibility with 40% of the American population forever.

— Fred Zimmerman (@fredzannarbor) July 5, 2020

Technically right? Eh.

And yes, destroyed their credibility forever.