Sinclair Broadcast Group host Eric Bolling, who has a pattern of airing dangerous coronavirus claims and conspiracy theories, pushed the debunked claim that only a fraction of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. were caused by the disease in a new episode of his program America This Week: United We Stand. He also aired a segment which seemingly elevated a strategy for 80% of Americans to get infected with coronavirus to achieve herd immunity, which would kill millions.
Sinclair's America This Week pushes more dangerous claims about COVID-19
Eric Bolling brings up a Trump-boosted conspiracy theory downplaying how deadly coronavirus is, and airs a segment advocating for a coronavirus strategy that would kill millions
Written by Zachary Pleat
Published
The latest edition of Bolling's program was available to stream on the websites of many Sinclair-owned or -operated stations on September 3 and also aired in full or in part on at least 39 Sinclair stations in 34 states and Washington, D.C., over the weekend. In it, Bolling asked a guest about “another story that’s been circulating recently,” adding, “I think this is really, really important.” He was unable to provide a source of information and twisted the updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to claim that “only 6% of the deaths that have been attributed to ... COVID-19 are actually caused by COVID-19. Most of them are comorbidities that are killing these people.” Bolling’s guest, Dr. Dena Grayson, commendably called his assertion “complete nonsense” and noted that deaths from the disease are likely being undercounted.
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From the September 3, 2020, edition of Sinclair Broadcast Group's America This Week: United We Stand
ERIC BOLLING (HOST): Students are returning to college for the fall semester, but at least 36 states have reported coronavirus outbreaks on their campuses so far. Here to discuss is pandemic expert, bring her back, Dr. Dena Grayson. Thanks for joining us.
…
BOLLING: Doc, another story that’s been circulating recently, I think this is really, really important. I think this is almost one of those political footballs going back and forth. There was a -- and I can't recall whose study it was, or there's some speculation, let’s put it that way, that some only 6% of the deaths that have been attributed to COVID, coronavirus, COVID-19, are actually caused by COVID-19. Most of them are comorbidities that are killing these people. Your thoughts?
DR. DENA GRAYSON: Yeah, I think that's complete nonsense. You know, the people that have died -- in fact, it's very likely that the true death toll is undercounted. The people that died from this disease, certainly they had comorbid conditions, they tend to be older. So, you know, people have comorbid conditions, other things going on. But I think it's a fair bet to say, given that the United States has had 6million-plus cases and counting, that the death toll of 183-plus thousand, that that's probably fairly accurate. And again, if anything, it’s undercounting the true death toll, unfortunately.
BOLLING: And yet, Dr. Grayson, we haven't seen a move down in the average or the median age of people who are dying from COVID-19. I believe, if I'm not mistaken, still roughly 80 years old.
GRAYSON: Yeah, the average age does tend to be older, Eric, that's right. And again it takes -- fortunately, younger people are less likely to die, but it doesn't mean that they don't die, as we know. Unfortunately, we have seen children die from this illness, young adults, and also one thing to really keep in mind for everyone is that the death toll does not take into account some of these, you know, sort of “long-haulers” as we call them. These are people that have long-term, potentially even lifetime complications from the illness, and that can occur at any age. So this is just not an illness that we want to take lightly, this is something that we should take very seriously.
BOLLING: And I don’t mean to take this lightly, I wholeheartedly believe this is one, let’s call it a badass virus, pardon the expression.
GRAYSON: I think it’s a great way to put it.
Bolling's talking point wasn’t just idle speculation. It was a bogus twisting of updated data on COVID-19 deaths from the CDC showing how many people also had an underlying condition -- spread by a QAnon conspiracy theorist’s social media post which President Donald Trump amplified. This claim had already been debunked by Dr. Anthony Fauci, USA Today, FactCheck.org, PolitiFact, and even one of Sinclair’s own national correspondents days before Bolling’s program aired.
After Grayson fact-checked Bolling's statements and said that “this is just not an illness that we want to take lightly,” Bolling claimed he didn't mean to, saying, “I wholeheartedly believe this is one ... badass virus.” But his pushing a debunked conspiracy theory that the virus is far less deadly than it is shows the opposite. (Dozens of past social media posts from Sinclair-owned stations have also failed to include relevant context about the new CDC data.)
Bolling’s Sinclair program also aired a segment which seemingly advocated for a strategy to expose hundreds of millions of Americans to the coronavirus to achieve herd immunity, instead of maintaining or expanding social distancing restrictions until a safe vaccine has been distributed widely enough to achieve the same effect. Bolling presented the segment, which featured a medical reporter from a Sinclair station, as “a look at how close we are to reaching herd immunity, and the best steps to achieve it.”
But instead of discussing vaccination as the best step toward herd immunity, the segment focused more on the higher percentage of immune people in areas with large outbreaks, hinting at the strategy of intentionally exposing Americans to the virus to build herd immunity.
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From the September 3, 2020, edition of Sinclair Broadcast Group's America This Week: United We Stand
ERIC BOLLING (HOST): According to experts, until we reach herd immunity, most of us won't be mask-free and safe from COVID-19. WKRC’s medical reporter Liz Bonis takes a look at how close we are to reaching herd immunity, and the best steps to achieve it.
LIZ BONIS (WKRC MEDICAL REPORTER): Hey guys, hello to you. The path forward needs herd immunity if we’re going to stop the spread of this virus. Herd immunity occurs when enough people become immune to a disease to make its spread unlikely. As a result, the entire community [is] protected, even those who are not themselves immune.
(VIDEO BEGINS)
DR. KEVIN JOSEPH (TRIHEALTH CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER): Most experts will say somewhere around 80% is what’s needed to have a really good, solid herd immunity.
BONIS: So are we close?
JOSEPH: If you look at the whole population of the United States, it’s estimated less than 5% of the population has been infected with COVID-19 and has immunity.
BONIS: That means then we have a long way to go. Except perhaps in areas where there have been large outbreaks. The numbers there could be a whole lot different.
JOSEPH: If you look at certain pockets where there has been a larger incidence of COVID-19, maybe certain areas of around New York City, and Texas, and Florida, they’re closer because more people have caught the virus. They may be at 20, 30, 40, I don't know the statistics on those different states, but they are closer just because more of the population has had the virus so far.
BONIS: So, you know, there’s been a couple schools of thought with this virus, like Switzerland was like, “Send the young people out.” You know, quicker death earlier but maybe long-term? Other people were like, no, we're going to let this go gradually, partly to protect the healthcare system. Where do you weigh in on that?
JOSEPH: I'll give you a few numbers. If we want herd immunity to occur by just allowing the general population to get sick and build up their own immune system, it’s not going to end well. In the United States, there’s about 320 million people. If we need 80% of the population to have immunity, therefore have gotten infected to have herd immunity, then that means 260 million people in the United States will have to catch the virus. If the mortality rate is 0.65%, then you take that number by the 260 million people [that] have to be infected, 1.7 million Americans will die from COVID-19 if we allow natural herd immunity.
(VIDEO ENDS)
BONIS: Herd immunity is usually achieved through vaccination as well, which is also why there is a race to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus right now. I'm medical reporter Liz Bonis, we’ll throw it back to you
Despite the warning of nearly 2 million Americans dead “if we allow natural herd immunity,” this ghastly prediction was not referenced at all either by the show’s host or the reporter from the segment.
This talking point builds on an argument forwarded by Trump’s newest coronavirus adviser, Scott Atlas, hired by the president likely after he saw him on Fox News numerous times. Atlas, a radiologist and former employee of a right-wing think tank, has been urging the president to allow the virus to spread through the country’s population in order to build herd immunity, and the administration has already taken steps in that direction, according to an August 31 report from The Washington Post (the White House later denied considering that approach). An analysis from the Post found that “reaching a 65 percent threshold for herd immunity may require 2.13 million deaths.”
Irresponsibility is the hallmark of Bolling’s approach to the coronavirus pandemic, which to date has killed more than 186,000 Americans. In late July, Bolling used his show to give a platform to a coronavirus conspiracy theorist whose video was removed from multiple social media platforms for spreading potentially harmful misinformation about COVID-19. After Media Matters’ reporting on that episode, Bolling claimed ignorance of his guest and Sinclair eventually announced the segment would not be broadcast on its stations -- after initially defending the interview and allowing it to air on at least one of its stations.
Bolling has previously spread dangerous misinformation about COVID-19 on his Sinclair program. He and his guests have pushed conspiracy theories that the coronavirus was engineered in a lab, suggested the coronavirus death toll was being inflated, and promoted unproven coronavirus treatments. In March, he suggested that media outlets were inciting panic about the outbreak to damage Trump politically. He has also repeatedly used racist names for the virus. And in an earlier episode, Bolling agreed with a guest that the economy must reopen despite the health risks, as the pandemic continues raging in most states.