Messonnier, Nancy CDC
<h2 class="entry-title grid-title" open="Open" sans="Sans" sans-serif="sans-serif" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" px="px" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: currentcolor none medium; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px;">=</span></span></font></h2><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: currentcolor none medium; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px;">target scientist deep state</span></span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: currentcolor none medium; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px;">
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</span></span></font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: currentcolor none medium; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: currentcolor none medium; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px;">w</span></font><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://click1.e.alternet.org/tbhjcdpspgwkwcrrkbhppkprrbkrsvmtjgpwhldbhcmc_tvzzlpjpklvjhcjhppb.html?a=&b=3907&c=21989&d=2" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb">hite House overruled CDC on recommendation that seniors avoid flying</a></div><p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" font-style="font-style" italic="italic" color="color" rgb="rgb" margin="margin" padding="padding" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;">Could it be any clearer that the Trump administration is…</p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: currentcolor none medium; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px;">=</span></font></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: currentcolor none medium; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px;">=</span></font></div><div><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/pro-trump-media-claim-cdc-overhyping-coronavirus-because-nancy-messonnier"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/pro-trump-media-claim-cdc-overhyping-coronavirus-because-nancy-messonnier</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dr. Nancy Messonnier is the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Her impressive <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/about/leadership/leaders/ncird.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">bio</a> lists a number of top positions that she has held in the CDC, and it also notes that she has received multiple awards.</font></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;" /><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In recent days, Messonnier has taken a leading role in warning the public about the threat that the novel coronavirus strain known as COVID-19 poses to the United States. The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/cdc-warns-it-expects-coronavirus-to-spread-in-u-s-11582653829" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">noted that</a> Messonnier said it was just a question of when coronavirus will circulate in the U.S. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Daily Beast <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/cdc-coronavirus-boss-nancy-messonnier-calls-spread-unprecedented-as-cases-surge-in-us-and-abroad" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">quoted her</a> as saying, “We expect to see more cases of person-to-person spread among close contacts. ... The goal here is to slow entry of this virus into the United States.” CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/25/cdc-outlines-what-closing-schools-businesses-would-look-like-in-us-pandemic.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">quoted her</a> calling for schools to divide students into smaller groups or to close entirely and conduct courses online. Many <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/02/21/coronavirus-who-contain-outbreak-iran-deaths-south-korea-cases/4829278002/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">other outlets</a> have <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/25/us-coronavirus-outbreak-inevitable-cdc-117389" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">quoted</a> her <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Nancy+Messonnier%22&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjAntKKgvDnAhX_hHIEHS2jCtgQ_AUoAXoECAwQAw&biw=2048&bih=1042" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">as well</a>.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But right-wing media have begun to coalesce around a conspiracy theory that Messonnier’s warning should be disregarded because she is the sister of former Trump appointee Rod Rosenstein. Rosenstein was a <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/amid-reports-trump-may-fire-rosenstein-over-mueller-inquiry-fox-news-drumbeat-urges" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">frequent</a> <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/trumprussia/what-trumps-fox-news-cabinet-wants-him-do-about-rod-rosenstein" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">target</a> of <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/effort-impeach-rod-rosenstein-brought-you-sean-hannity-jeanine-pirro-and-lou-dobbs" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">pro-Trump propagandists</a> for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/us/politics/robert-mueller-special-counsel-russia-investigation.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">appointing</a> Robert Mueller as a special counsel in the Russia investigation.</font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">From a QAnon Twitter account to Rush Limbaugh's show</font></h2></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The conspiracy theory about Messonnier and Rosenstein goes back at least to a <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%22qanon%22%20from%3AHambrickRo&src=typed_query" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">QAnon Twitter account</a> noting <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3854876" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">their connection</a> in early January.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It really started to pick up speed this week.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>On February 25, Rush Limbaugh <a href="https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2020/02/25/drive-bys-hope-the-coronavirus-will-get-trump/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">ranted</a> <a href="https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2020/02/25/crazy-bernie-panic-becomes-media-pandemic/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">about</a> Messonnier, suggesting an anti-Trump conspiracy after he learned she’s related to Rosenstein</b>.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> It was also <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3854881" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">picked up</a> by a poster on white nationalist message board 8kun. Soon thereafter, it jumped <a href="https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/thread/245312227/#q245314667" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">to 4chan's “/pol/</a>,” a slightly less extreme white nationalist message board. The Conservative Treehouse, a right-wing blog featured on <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3854931" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Lou Dobbs' Fox Business show</a> before, <a href="https://twitter.com/TheLastRefuge2/status/1232446134863269889" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">also posted</a> about <a href="https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/02/25/odd-coincidence-rogue-cdc-official-pushing-coronavirus-panic-button-is-rod-rosensteins-sister/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">the conspiracy theory</a>.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Others followed suit:</font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--twitter-tweet paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field field--name-field-twitter-tweet field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;" /><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>On the morning of the February 26, Joe Hoft (the brother of Jim Hoft, proprietor of the Gateway Pundit) <a href="https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/02/just-like-her-corrupt-brother-rod-rosenstein-the-cdcs-dr-nancy-messonnier-drops-a-bomb-on-president-trump-while-on-international-trip/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">posted about it</a></b>. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Hoft wrote that Messonnier’s remarks while President Donald Trump was in India were “a startling rebuke” and that it was “eerily similar to past Presidential trips when former and corrupt DAG Rod Rosenstein and the corrupt and criminal Mueller gang would drop shocking news as the President was overseas.”</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Later on the 26th, Rush Limbaugh returned to the conspiracy theory, with the transcript of his show <a href="https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2020/02/26/bernie-sanders-and-the-democrat-party-pose-a-bigger-threat-than-the-coronavirus/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">hyperlinking</a> to Hoft’s post.</b> <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">After suggesting that Messonnier was not to be trusted, Limbaugh quickly changed the subject to suggest that the virus may just disappear once the weather warms up. Scientists <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus-spread-summer-seasonal-penn-state-20200226.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">have cast doubt</a> on that theory as well.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Meanwhile, Trump is reportedly furious at Messonnier:</font></p></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: currentcolor none medium; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: currentcolor none medium; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px;">=</span></span></font></div><div><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/vp-mike-pence-talks-coronavirus-conspiracy-theorist-rush-limbaugh"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/vp-mike-pence-talks-coronavirus-conspiracy-theorist-rush-limbaugh</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">v President Mike Pence, who President Donald Trump has <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/26/politics/trump-coronavirus-stock-market/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">placed in charge</a> of overseeing the government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, appeared Friday afternoon on <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Rush Limbaugh Show</em> — which has been the source of a mixture of conspiracy theories, denialism, and other misinformation about the virus.</font></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">During the program, Pence stated that the government is on top of the situation, saying, “President Trump has no higher priority than the health of the American people.”</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Radio host Rush Limbaugh offered his support to Pence and discussed the problem as a matter beyond politics. “I'm for you guys, I want you to succeed because this needs success. I mean, this problem needs to be dealt with successfully, hopefully as apolitically as possible,” Limbaugh said. “The virus doesn't know whether it's infecting a Republican or a Democrat, a woman, a man, anything. And until we get a better handle on it, we want competent people working on this.”</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">However, the segment made no mention of all the irresponsible rhetoric and conspiracy theories that its own host had been spreading earlier this week</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[pix]</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">kicking off the week on Monday, <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/rush-limbaugh/rush-limbaugh-coronavirus-effort-get-trump" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Limbaugh falsely claimed</a> that the novel coronavirus strain known as COVID-19 is actually just “the common cold,” but added that it “probably is a [Chinese Communist] laboratory experiment that is in the process of being weaponized” as part of “an effort to bring down Trump” through negative media coverage.</font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Limbaugh then only <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/rush-limbaugh/rush-limbaugh-mocks-concerns-over-coronavirus-i-have-no-interest-lying-you-about" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">dug in further</a> on Tuesday, downplaying the potential impact of coronavirus in the U.S. and declaring:</font></p></div></div><blockquote class="block-quote block-quote--collapsable" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(239, 243, 247);"><div class="block-quotequote" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 1.5rem;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">RUSH LIMBAUGH (HOST): I'm not going to play ball with this, <b>I'm not going to join a panic</b> over something that I have been independently informing myself about. I have no interest in lying to you about anything, it doesn't help me, it doesn't help you, it doesn't further anything. It doesn't help a thing for me to knowingly lie to you about something as serious as a “possible global pandemic,” and that's how the media is treating this.</font></p></div></blockquote><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>He later <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/rush-limbaugh/rush-limbaugh-media-wants-coronavirus-be-deadly-just-they-hope-hurricanes-so-they-can" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">went on to claim</a> that the coronavirus was not a major threat, but that the media was only hoping for it to sufficiently evolve to become one:</b></font></p></div></div><blockquote class="block-quote block-quote--collapsable" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="block-quotequote" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 1.5rem;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">RUSH LIMBAUGH (HOST): They hope for hurricanes — on the first day of hurricane season, they hope for Hurricane Katrina so they can say “climate change,” anything to advance the leftist agenda. Now, the leftist agenda includes getting rid of Trump. They would love for the coronavirus to be this deadly strain that wipes everybody out, so they could blame Trump for it.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(239, 243, 247);">”</span></font></p></div></blockquote><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Limbaugh did not repeat or even acknowledge any of these conspiracy theories during the interview with Pence — nor did Pence mention that Limbaugh had been spreading them.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Later in the program, Pence projected a message of nonpartisan national unity in the crisis.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“We're going to follow the facts, we're going to follow the science, we're going to tune out the politics, and keep reaching out to people across the spectrum,”</span> Pence said. “And I have to tell you, my conversations with many of the officials that I mentioned to you in the Democratic Party, I get that sense — I think this is a real moment where we have an opportunity to really come together and work this issue on behalf of the American people. And that's going to continue to be our focus.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Pence also rebutted the story that any kind of <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/white-house-reportedly-shutting-down-media-appearances-disease-expert-dr-fauci" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">“gag order” had been imposed</a> on Dr. Anthony Fauci,</b> director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, as was reported Thursday in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/us/politics/us-coronavirus-pence.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">The New York Times</a>.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“I was told that Dr. Fauci testified at a briefing in Congress today that there is no gag order and there is not. What we want to make sure is happening is that with so many different agencies involved, that we're providing that information in a consistent and a systematic way,” Pence said. “We're going to give the American people the facts. We're going to follow what the scientific community is recommending on this. And we're going to let the health care experts lead.”</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>However, the message that the Trump-Pence administration is “going to let the health care experts lead” is another talking point that should contrast sharply with Limbaugh’s rhetoric during the coronavirus crisis. On Thursday, Limbaugh was <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/pro-trump-media-claim-cdc-overhyping-coronavirus-because-nancy-messonnier" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">one of many right-wing media figures attacking Dr. Nancy Messonnier</a>,</b>director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, because she is also the sister of former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. (Rosenstein is a <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/amid-reports-trump-may-fire-rosenstein-over-mueller-inquiry-fox-news-drumbeat-urges" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">frequent</a> <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/trumprussia/what-trumps-fox-news-cabinet-wants-him-do-about-rod-rosenstein" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">target</a> of <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/effort-impeach-rod-rosenstein-brought-you-sean-hannity-jeanine-pirro-and-lou-dobbs" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">pro-Trump propagandists</a> for having <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/us/politics/robert-mueller-special-counsel-russia-investigation.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">appointed</a> Robert Mueller as a special counsel in the Russia investigation.)</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Beyond Limbaugh, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/2/28/21156158/mike-pence-coronavirus-trump-administration-hiv-science" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Pence</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/09/17/the-origins-of-donald-trumps-autismvaccine-theory-and-how-it-was-completely-debunked-eons-ago/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Donald</a> <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/donald-trump-spouts-climate-denial-without-rebuttal-msnbcs-morning-joe" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Trump</a> have had their own serious issues when it comes to “following the science.”</b></font></p></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: currentcolor none medium; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></font></div></div></div>