In case you hadn’t heard, actress Jessica Biel has been palling around with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. It seems they’ve found some common ground on vaccines. At least according to the Daily Beast:
On Tuesday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental activist whose recent work has focused increasingly on baseless allegations that vaccines are unsafe and can injure a statistically minuscule population of “medically fragile” children, appeared at the California State Assembly beside an unlikely scene partner: actress Jessica Biel. In a series of Instagram posts, first reported in Jezebel by Anna Merlan, the two posed with activists, legislators, and miscellaneous bureaucratic architecture. In the caption, Kennedy called Biel “courageous.”
The duo had come to lobby against SB 276, a California state bill that would limit medical exemptions from vaccinations without approval from a state public-health officer. The bill has been decried by anti-vaxx advocates like Kennedy and vaguely critiqued by Gov. Gavin Newsom, over official estimations that it would reduce medical exemptions by nearly 40 percent.
…
“The biggest problem with the bill, which is something I think Jessica is concerned with,” Kennedy said, “is that a doctor who has made a determination—if he has found children in this state whose doctors have determined that they’re too fragile to receive vaccinations—this bill would overrule the doctors and force them to be vaccinated anyways.”
“She was a very effective advocate,” Kennedy said of Biel. “She was very strong and very knowledgeable. Extremely well-informed. An extremely effective advocate. She knows what she’s talking about… She’s upset about this issue because of its particular cruelty. She has friends who have been vaccine-injured who would be forced to leave the state.”
Biel has since come out and said that despite hanging out with avowed anti-vaxxer RFK Jr., she is not, in fact, anti-vaxx herself:
Jessica Biel declares 'I am not against vaccinations' amid controversy https://t.co/hgAh8xCR6a
— TODAY Wellness (@TODAYshowHealth) June 13, 2019
Here’s her Instagram Post:
But that didn’t stop the TODAY Show from offering up this now-deleted take on things earlier this morning:
We removed the tweet, seen below, which included an irresponsibly presented headline. The article headline has also been updated. https://t.co/HPlkuhlwCY pic.twitter.com/s9cYrfjxPo
— TODAY Wellness (@TODAYshowHealth) June 13, 2019
“Irresponsibly presented”? Yeah, you might say that. It’s not hard to see why they ultimately deleted that tweet. But not before the Ratio Gods had their way with them:
Got a beautiful ratio here just waiting to be injected into my veins, which oddly enough will do more to boost my immune system than going unvaccinated pic.twitter.com/ETpdGOIgXv
— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) June 13, 2019
could be a record breaker pic.twitter.com/QWctCSthPg
— Tyler McNally (@Tyler_McNally) June 13, 2019
Let’s take a look at some of the tweets that made the TODAY Show’s take so popular:
— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) June 13, 2019
This is an absolutely irresponsible headline
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) June 13, 2019
you should feel really, really bad about this
— David Mack (@davidmackau) June 13, 2019
This is a bad, even dangerous, tweet. There is no debate. https://t.co/SscAr0KJsq
— Sam Stein (@samstein) June 13, 2019
hey I know a lot of people are saying this is a bad, irresponsible, and even dangerous tweet but I'm just here to let you know that they are absolutely right
— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) June 13, 2019
Looking forward to the other @TODAYshowHealth features this week:
Which Chainsaw Is Right for Your Toddler?
Boa Constrictors: Nature's Nannies
How Much Broken Glass Should You Feed a Three-Year Old?— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) June 13, 2019
Are you kidding us with this?
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) June 13, 2019
Did a measle tweet this? pic.twitter.com/laH2BrKbhq
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) June 13, 2019
The debate is whether she's a complete idiot or an abject moron. https://t.co/pBaMFtfCP5
— Some guy tweeted something ??♂️ (@jtLOL) June 13, 2019
We’re wondering the same thing about the TODAY Show.
Please fire whoever wrote this tweet.
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) June 13, 2019
To their credit, though, the TODAY Show succeeded in doing something few others have been able to do: giving people from all over the political spectrum a common cause.
Hey what happened to this? Was looking forward to a world record ratio. pic.twitter.com/27XDgIJ4mh
— ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@jerdemink) June 13, 2019
Don’t be too disappointed. Now that they’ve shown us what they’re capable of, we feel certain they can find a way to do it again.
Meanwhile, Jessica Biel’s credibility isn’t looking super-hot right now, either. Some parting reminders on who she’s getting chummy with:
lol. “It’s not what you think, all those smiling pictures of me with RFK Jr – the notorious discredited anti-science anti-vaxxer lunatic – are just a coincidence.” pic.twitter.com/IiXWWZPVbc
— Ned Pyle (@NerdPyle) June 13, 2019
RFK Jr., who has done more than anyone to generate & spread anti-vaxx-ism, is also a well-known clearinghouse for multiple crazy left-wing conspiracy theories. Nobody should be giving that guy a platform. https://t.co/HYKA2VwbY9
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) June 13, 2019
Anti-vaxx sentiment crosses party, ideological, educational, regional, religious, racial, & class lines in some unsettling ways, but it's RFK Jr.'s status as a member of liberal Democratic royalty that still gets him microphones he manifestly does not deserve.
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) June 13, 2019
Also, I personally would not take health advice on what is safe to put in my body from a guy who got busted for using heroin https://t.co/acEqWDODKJ
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) June 13, 2019
You have chosen poorly, Jessica.
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