Newsmax Host Offers Perhaps The Worst Vaccine Take Since Pandemic Began

Newsmax host Rob Schmitt is getting lots of Twitter heat after coming out with perhaps the worst take on the coronavirus and the COVID-19 vaccine since the pandemic began. On Friday night, Schmitt said that vaccines like those used to fight the coronavirus are “just generally kind of going against nature.” During his segment, Schmitt ― who admitted he’s not a doctor — callously suggested that “maybe there’s just an ebb and flow to life where something’s supposed to wipe out a certain amount of people, and that’s just kind of the way evolution goes.

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In the below footage courtesy of MediaMatters.org, he expounds on his theory.

Schmitt’s hot take came as the United States is experiencing both a slowdown in vaccination rates and the rise of the new, more transmissible, delta variant of the virus.

Many Twitter users dunked on Schmitt’s comments.

Vaccines are “against nature.” So are cars, streets, planes, trains, air conditioning, refrigeration, painkillers, surgical anesthesia, the camera he’s speaking into, and his clothes. https://t.co/FKMKHH3zXz

— Jon Fasman (@jonfasman) July 12, 2021

Come on, they’re right. It is also unnatural for anything to move faster than a horse can run. And what devices do some of us own that hang from the ceiling and shed light after the sun has gone down? Surely it is witchcraft and damned in the sight of the Lord. https://t.co/Q28ae0GDgg

— Michael Marshall Smith (@ememess) July 12, 2021

Others noted that the most at risk of dying from COVID-19 are unvaccinated Trump supporters, Republicans, and Newsmax viewers.

Given it’s mostly unvaccinated Republicans getting killed by COVID, is he arguing that this disease is supposed to kill conservatives? https://t.co/mnvdx3GYCi

— Markos Moulitsas (@markos) July 12, 2021

It seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy for Newsmax’s viewers https://t.co/T7qLH7TB0Y

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) July 12, 2021

Newsmax host Rob Schmitt: Vaccines “go against nature”, theyinterfere with diseases meant to “wipe out a certain amount of people”. I think he must be talking about Trump supporters. pic.twitter.com/McJ6Wr8RNK

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) July 12, 2021

Others ridiculed Schmitt’s crazy train of thought by following it to its logical conclusion.

This is not just dangerous but incredibly stupid.

Is this Newsmax host suggesting we forgo cancer treatments? What about a viral infection?

If you need to say ‘let people die’ to maintain an anti-vax position, maybe you need to rethink your choices. https://t.co/9fGj1p27Yf

— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) July 12, 2021

Bring back polio! Who’s with me? https://t.co/sQLDAR6FoV

— Steve Daniels (@stevedaniels27) July 12, 2021

“Actually, we’re okay with death panels if they’re just made up of individual television pundits” – the GOP https://t.co/Tfms1bqBMC

— Bryson (@Bryson_M) July 12, 2021

Republican pollster Frank Luntz also mocked Schmitt’s line of thinking.

To give you an idea of how far backward @SchmittNYC’s thinking is: George Washington required his troops to be inoculated against smallpox in 1777.

?? https://t.co/LFcew7AYQ1 https://t.co/IrDs1HBA7u

— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) July 12, 2021

Schmitt responded, saying he was being misunderstood.

You didn’t watch the entire segment – I advocate for COVID vaccines for those at high risk. I made my parent’s appointments myself. I still think there’s potentially some price to pay for vaccination; it’s certainly less than the price of dying of COVID, but still could be a cost https://t.co/pcHkKiZlxP

— Rob Schmitt (@SchmittNYC) July 12, 2021

But at least one Twitter user replied that there was no misunderstanding involved.

I remember you from Fox, and this isn’t you. I watched it, Rob, and you know what you’re doing. You’re validating conspiracy theories for well-meaning folks who know no better.

— Jonathan Franks (@jonfranks) July 12, 2021