In a recent episode of the PBD Podcast, hosted by Patrick Bet-David (PBD) with co-hosts Adam Sosnick, Tom Ellsworth, and Vincent Oshana, former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo openly discussed his health routine and changed perspective on COVID-19 vaccines.
Cuomo addressed his previous critiques of vaccine skeptics and revealed his current support for a treatment he once opposed.
During the conversation, Bet-David played a clip from 2021 showing Cuomo criticizing Rep. Byron Donalds for choosing not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
In the clip, Cuomo reprimanded Donalds for what he perceived as a failure to uphold public health responsibilities.
“Everybody should know that about you, Byron Donalds. You are not telling people to get vaccinated. You are not pushing it. You are not saying it’s the right choice. You’re saying you’re not doing it, and your family is not doing it, and you’re leaving out of the equation that you can make other people sick as if that doesn’t matter. Okay?”
In response, Donalds defended his position, asserting that vaccination is a personal choice and he should not be berated for making that decision.
“If you want to be protected from these variants and the original strain, please go get vaccinated. What about protect other people? I promote you to do that,” Donalds emphasized. “But if there are Americans like myself who choose not to, please don’t berate me for doing that. That is a personal choice I have made with my own health care.”
“I did talk to a couple of doctors that I know about it. I told them. “I already had it, and I’m 42. What do you think?” They said, “Yeah, you’re fine. If that’s what you want to do, go ahead and do it.” They didn’t come and say, “No, you have to do it because of everybody else.” Because if other people want to be protected, they have access to vaccines. Go get the vaccine. I would never tell anybody not to get vaccinated. I do totally support it if that’s what somebody chooses to do,” Donalds added.
Even though Donalds tried to justify his position, Cuomo stood by his criticism, calling Donalds’ stance “foolish in place of being courageous.”
Looking ahead to the PBD Podcast interview, Cuomo discussed how his opinions have changed over time, revealing that he now regularly uses ivermectin.
He admitted that the medical field had unjustly overlooked the drug.
“I am taking a… What do they call it? Like a regular dose, whatever. They’re trying to build up of ivermectin. Ivermectin was a boogie man early on in COVID.”
Cuomo expressed frustration over the misinformation about ivermectin and the lack of accurate information being shared with the public.
He condemned government officials for suppressing open discussion.
“We were given bad information about Ivermectin. The real question is, why? Everyone’s going to say, ‘Joe Rogan was right.’ But that’s not what matters. What matters is the entire clinical community knew that Ivermectin couldn’t hurt you. They knew it. I know they knew it. How do I know? Because now I’m doing nothing but talking to these clinicians who, at the time, were overwhelmed by COVID, and they weren’t saying anything. Not that they were hiding anything, but it’s cheap, it’s not owned by anybody, and it’s used as an anti-microbial, antiviral in all of these different ways. It has been for a long time.”
Yet, when faced with his previous criticism of individuals who declined the vaccine, Cuomo declined to apologize.
He maintained that he was simply conveying the recommended guidelines from government officials at that time.
“Apology? Of course not. Byron Donalds comes on my show. I believe as a leader at that time, you had a duty to be thorough in what you were putting out there as opposed to just playing politics. This was never as simple as vaccine good, vaccine bad. Politics made it that.”
Flashback, here’s a video of Chris Cuomo calling millions of unvaccinated Americans the “biggest enemy in America.”
WATCH:
Chris Cuomo won’t even apologize for labeling unvaccinated Americans were “our biggest enemy in America” when he was 100% in the wrong.
It’s safe to say the things he’s saying now, so he’s saying them — and expecting plaudits for bravery.
Nope.pic.twitter.com/C0PohbsnuT
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) May 8, 2024
Cuomo further defended his past positions, maintaining that the vaccine significantly reduced hospitalizations and serious COVID-19 cases.
“The data is overwhelming that when the vaccine entered our population, the people going into the hospital with very serious or eventually terminal cases was reduced,” he said. “Now, at what cost and why? We don’t know.”
Despite his admissions and evolving views, Cuomo remained resolute in not fully aligning with those who questioned the COVID-19 vaccine’s efficacy from the beginning.
Instead, he placed the blame on government and political leaders for the misinformation and lack of transparency that has fueled public distrust.
“My concern is that the unknowns are now more dangerous than the knowns,” Cuomo noted, urging further investigation into adverse vaccine effects.
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