The Signorile Report

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In a discussion about how many Trump supporters and Republicans are still refusing to get vaccinated as coronavirus cases surge, Steve from Pennsylvania called in to my SiriusXM program.

He said he was fully vaccinated, and, as a Trump supporter, he had a question:

Would you have the same opinion if Donald Trump was president? Would you still be supportive of the vaccine if Donald Trump were president?

The question itself was very curious. I explained we have no idea where we’d be and that we’d likely not even be vaccinated by now if the Trump administration were in charge. I explained a few other things about Trump’s recklessness with which Steve was forced to somewhat agree, though he excused Trump, noting Trump’s “messaging was sometimes way off base” because “he has shown time and time again that he is not a politician.”

I was fascinated that, with regard to public health, these people think it’s all about politics for all of us (because it is for them), and that refusing the Covid vaccine is somehow a legitimate way for “both sides” to respond if their candidate weren’t president right now.

I explained to Steve that it’s actually about science and about basic competence and compassion. Trump was reckless and couldn’t get anything done. Biden is competent and cares about people. There is absolutely no reason — beyond irrationality and hatred — to distrust Biden on this, and every reason to be skeptical of Trump, no matter what your politics are.

And so, I put the question right to Steve, and he couldn’t answer right away on whether Donald Trump was level-headed and showed any “care” for people compared to Joe Biden. Then he finally said Trump (and Biden) both did. When I asked again flat out if Donald Trump has shown “compassion” for people, he replied:

Yeah, I believe he has. He’s, uh, you know, he has done a lot of things, that, um, shows an extreme amount of compassion and human kindness.

“What? You tell me,” I asked. Steve then replied in a way that was meant to make it seem like a ridiculous question — because he couldn’t come up with any answers.

"Oh, come now. Come on.

Then Steve tried to change to subject immediately. But I wouldn’t let him and told him he had to list the compassionate things Donald Trump has done.

No, I don’t, I don’t sit here — I don’t want to get into an argument with you.

Eventually, Steve said, “I’ve gotta go.”

I find these interactions valuable because they reveal something about these people who are listening and feel compelled to call in and argue, yet have little to say. I believe they’re really arguing with themselves, trying to convince themselves, truly unsure about their position. I’m not sure what happens when they get off the phone but they do prove how weak their own convictions are.

Listen in and let me know your thoughts!

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“For Democrats in Washington to be fiddling while Rome burns is incredibly frustrating and it’s frighteningly, frankly. To be facing this kind of unprecedented assault on our democratic system and have Democratic leaders not respond in kind by saving our democracy doesn’t bode well for our future prospects.”

Those are the words — and you must listen to the full interview above — of Representative James Talarico, one of the Texas Democrats, heroes of democracy and members of the Texas Legislature who fled the state for Washington DC so as not to give Republicans in the legislature a quorum to vote and pass horrific voter restrictions.

I keep hearing from commentators on television, when they talk about or interview some of these Democrats, “What is the end game? What is your plan?” The implication is that the GOP will win in the end, as the governor will just keep calling special sessions until there is a vote. That may be true, and the governor may also follow through on his threat to arrest these brave Democrats.

But Talarico, who came on my SiriusXM show yesterday, agreed with me at the outset of the interview that this is the end game. Bringing attention to the issue is the end game. Taking the issue to Washington and putting pressure on Democratic leaders is the end game. And using every ounce of their energy, leaving their families and risking arrest to show other Democrats how it’s done — that is the end game.

Anyone who is asking that question doesn’t understand the dire emergency we are in.

Talarico is a very passionate and powerful spokesperson, and Texans — and all of us— are lucky to have him. Again, listen to the entire interview. In the short clip below he explains why he and other Texas Democrats are sacrificing so much to do this. But the full interview is something you really should listen to as he shows what enormous impact their actions have had and why it’s important to stand up.

And as an extra bonus, watch James Talarico in this clip below take on a Fox News propagandist and wipe the floor with him.

This is how it’s done folks. Let me know your thoughts.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, citing the growing transmission of the Covid-19 delta variant, said there should be more requirements for vaccinations at the local level, even if there isn’t a federal mandate.

“I have been of this opinion, and I remain of that opinion, that I do believe at the local level, there should be more mandates. There really should be,” Fauci said on CNN on Sunday.

A caller to my SiriusXM program illustrated why Covid-19 vaccines must be mandated by companies, schools and even some businesses open to the public. (Listen in to the call above.) We’re dealing with people who are propagating politically-infused lies or distortions. They think they’re standing against a political establishment, and aren’t about to be vaccinated —unless they must.

And they’re also very privileged: Right now they choose not to be vaccinated, though they have full access, because the pressure isn’t intense enough and they’re following Trumpian anti-vax politics. But if denied service or turned away from a job, they will indeed cave in.

The caller, David from Pittsburgh, made dubious claims about people he knows who were vaccinated, spewed outdated Covid hoax hogwash and got angry about being “shamed” to get vaccinated. And I responded the way we need to respond to every spoiled brat liar: By calling him out harshly.

No, I don’t believe we need to engage in gentle persuasion — at least, not with this certain subset of politics-driven Covid denialist. These people are hellbent on promoting lies and getting away with what they can to own the libs (ironically even if it’s killing themselves and their families). If treated with derision and banned from entry for jobs, stadium events or schools I believe they will go and get vaccinated.

David first said he’s not getting vaccinated because both his grandfather and his “wife’s best friend’s father” developed blood clots after getting the Moderna vaccine — and claims doctors attributed one of the cases to the vaccine. (One of them died from the blood clot, he said, while the other “took his own life” because of the stress it caused.) This, despite the fact that there have been no documented cases of blood clots connected to the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines.

There are of course almost a million cases of blood clots among Americans per year — and over 100,000 deaths — for many other reasons. And that’s what likely happened in these cases — if they even existed.

I told David that only the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was connected to blood clots but that the chances of developing a blot clot after getting that vaccine were one one-hundredth of a percent. And actually, I was wrong! With 75 cases of blood clots connected to the J & J vaccine (only a few of which resulted in death) as of July 1 — out of 12 million of those shots given — it’s actually far less than one one-thousandth of a percent. (Not to mention that almost all of these cases were in young women, and so only younger women have been given an advisory by the drug maker.)

Even if his grandfather and his “wife’s best friend’s father” had the J &J vaccine, the chances of David knowing two men who got a blood clot connected to it (one of whom died) are astronomical. But they didn’t even get the J & J vaccine!

Angry at my dismissal of his claims, David went back to boilerplate Covid hoax material from early 2020, about how very few people supposedly die from Covid — now, with over 600, 000 Americans dead. I explained to him that the highly-transmissible delta variant — which is also believed to cause more severe illness — will get him if he’s not vaccinated. And I explained that if he doesn’t die he’ll likely have long-term debilitating illness.

One study has shown that a quarter of Covid patients going back to early last year are long haulers, with long-term illness, and this could be the tip of the iceberg. And the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, told PBS NewsHour that they’re finding even more long haulers among those who’ve had the delta variant:

[I]ncreasingly, we are seeing people [ who’ve had the delta variant] with what's called long-haul symptoms, with shortness of breath, chest pain, fatigue, brain fog that lasts for months beyond their infection.

David ended the call saying “we will not be shamed” into getting vaccinated, bizarrely posing the unvaccinated as victims of the vaccinated.

Again, these are not the people you read about who don’t have access to vaccines, or are uneducated and are following myths in their communities (and yes, who could benefit from gentle persuasion and explanation). These are educated, privileged people who are pushing lies based on their extremist, cultish political affiliations.

That’s why Fauci, who said this is a “life or death issue,” is right. At the local level, mandates should be put in place Companies should require all employees to be vaccinated, schools should require vaccinations and businesses with high crowd capacity, like stadiums, bars and clubs, should do the responsible thing and require vaccination proof for entry, as many New York City bars have been doing.

Anyway, you know there are those who say I’m too harsh with callers like this. So listen in to David’s call and let me know your thoughts.

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In a discussion on my SiriusXM program focused on the fact that many Americans are still not vaccinated against coronavirus — the U.S. goal of 70% vaccinated by July 4th was missed — Anthony from New York called in.

He claimed that he’s been vaccinated and that his wife, who is a cancer patient, at first waited, but her doctor then okayed it, and she is now vaccinated.

Why I say he “claimed” this is because everything that followed seemed to indicate he might be an anti-vaxxer but maybe was wanting to complicate his argument a bit. No matter — whether he was telling the truth about himself or not, the rest of what he said was dangerous misinformation.

Anthony went on to say that his 23-year-old daughter was not vaccinated and has no intention of getting vaccinated. He completely respects, even supports, her decision, he said, because the “science isn’t there yet that will illustrate long-term effects or even short-term side effects” of the vaccine.

“If I had a child,” Anthony said, “I absolutely, positively would not allow them to get this vaccination until there’s more science available.”

Again, it does raise a simple question: Why, then, did he get vaccinated — if he did?

But, whatever. His statement is ridiculous for this simple reason: We do know the short-term and long-term side effects of coronavirus and they include death —hundreds of thousands Americans dead, to be precise. And the other effects, for those who live, no matter their age, include debilitating ongoing illnesses, including heart disease and lung problems.

And that had happened in just the first six months of coronavirus.

In the first six months of the vaccines, there’s been nothing even remotely similar in terms of side effects, and millions have been protected from Covid-19, with cases plunging. A tiny number of people who had developed blood clots from one vaccine, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine — only 7 people per million. And mild short term side effects like fever and fatigue occurred for some people from all the vaccines, which subsided in a matter of days.

Anthony was demanding studies, and saying until then his daughter is making a “risk/reward” assessment. But that is completely false. The studies on safety and efficacy were done on the Covid-19 vaccines last fall to warrant emergency approval to fight a virus that is deadly. Those studies shows the rewards of the vaccine far exceeds the risks.

Further studies are being done as the vaccine makers are seeking full approval, but over 331 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in the United States from December 14, 2020, through July 6, 2021, and it’s saved millions of lives. And at this point, it’s highly unlikely long-term side effects will develop as side effects emerge in vaccines in the first weeks or don’t emerge at all. Per the CDC:

Serious side effects that could cause a long-term health problem are extremely unlikely following any vaccination, including COVID-19 vaccination. Vaccine monitoring has historically shown that side effects generally happen within six weeks of receiving a vaccine dose. For this reason, the FDA required each of the authorized COVID-19 vaccines to be studied for at least two months (eight weeks) after the final dose. Millions of people have received COVID-19 vaccines, and no long-term side effects have been detected.

Anthony claimed I resorted to an “emotional” argument by strongly condemning his garbage science, a tactic to negate criticism and shut down discussion. And some people might think I was harsh. But the truth is, he was pushing dangerous disinformation and I had to slam it hard and not allow it on the air any longer.

Listen in and let me know your thoughts.

Thanks for reading and following The Signorile Report. Most of it is free to read, but if you’d like to support my writing and independent, ad-free opinion journalism (and join great discussion threads), please consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $5 per month or $50 annually.

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In a discussion about Texas GOP Representative Dan Crenshaw attacking Olympian hammer thrower Gwen Berry who, after receiving a bronze medal, reportedly turned her back on the American flag — exercising her free speech — Lou from Wyoming called in to my SiriusXM program.

Lou, like Crenshaw, is a military veteran, and defined himself as a “Dan Crenshaw supporter.” He proceeded to elevate Crenshaw’s opinion about Berry — that she should be “removed” from the U.S. Olympic team — simply because Crenshaw served in the military.

I pointed out that Crenshaw had lost all credibility because he defended the insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol (some literally using flagpole with American flags to beat up police officers) by not voting for investigations — and certainly not voting to impeach the inciter-in-chief, Donald Trump.

I was fascinated that Lou believed that Crenshaw had some sort of immunity from criticism because he served in the military. One can serve his or her country, which is an honorable and powerful thing, and then say or do things that are reckless and wrong — and should be called out out for it.

Lou also claimed that being in the military gives a special right to criticize athletes who protest the flag and implied that protest of the flag is an offense to the veteran. I would actually look at it the other way: People have served this country precisely to protect the right of anyone to protest, including protesting the flag, and should be supportive of that freedom they fought for whether they agree with the speech or not.

But beyond that, I’m struck that people like Crenshaw have spent more time attacking a Black athlete who engaged in no violence whatsoever against this country — a country she is holder to higher ideals regarding justice and equal treatment of Black people, engaging in peaceful protest — than those who killed and maimed police officers, tried to kill the vice president and do harm to members of Congress.

Nobody gets a pass, whether they served in the military or not, and anyone who is on Team Trump about the domestic terrorist attack against the Capitol has lost every shred of credibility.

I got pretty worked up with Lou — and yes, dropped an F-bomb — but these people are really both clear-headed and brazen. I also should have rightly called Crenshaw a “terrorist sympathizer” rather than a terrorist. He’s of course not engaged in any violence personally, even if he’s tacitly defended those who have. But you know what happens in the heat of the moment.

Some think I went too far, and yeah, I do go from zero to 10 in 5 seconds sometimes/ (“Take a deep breath Mike!”) Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks for reading, listen to and following The Signorile Report. Most of it is free to read, but if you’d like to support my writing and independent, ad-free opinion journalism (and join great discussion threads), please consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $5 per month or $50 annually.

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I’ve been very hard on Merrick Garland, particularly after the news of the DOJ defense of Trump in the E. Jean Carroll defamation and rape case, something most legal scholars are baffled about. And there are other concerns. And I’m with those legal scholars and experts who share them.

Marcy Wheeler, who I interview often, agrees with the concerns, but also sees more nuance and offered it on my SiriusXM program yesterday. A long-time, indispensable national security and civil liberties journalist at her site EmptyWheel, she made feel a little less worried in what Garland is doing, including underscoring the Rudy Giuliani investigation, the insurrections investigations and other investigations into Trump World. And she cautions that things take times.

Marcy is by no means an apologist for the DOJ — any administration’s DOJ — so I trust her take. I’d rather Biden have chosen someone else as attorney general, but at the same time it may not be as bad as it all seems, and we may see investigations ramp up. We get into it all later in this interview, so listen in.

Early on in the interview, Marcy explains the true nature of the Trump administration’s surveillance of members of Congress, obtaining metadata from House members Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell, their staffs and their families, and perhaps others, in a unprecedented abuse of power. We also learned the DOJ obtained the data of White House Counsel Don McGahn and his wife.

But again, Marcy offers details and nuance which explain a lot. Those doing the searching — and Jeff Sessions, Bill Barr and Rod Rosenstein claim they knew nothing about it — didn’t apparently know whose information they were getting, until later when the numbers matched names of prominent people. It was at that point that it should have been put under seal — and instead it was continued even after it turned up nothing.

Again, Marcy explains details you’re just not going to get in much of the media so listen in to what she has to say and let me know your thoughts.

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In a discussion on my SiriusXM program about companies mandating that employees returning to offices be vaccinated against Covid-19 — which companies have a legal right and responsibility to do — Thomas from Texas called in.

I had underscored that federal, state an local governments — per a 1905 Supreme Court ruling regarding the smallpox pandemic — can make vaccinations mandatory for all citizens, subjecting them to fines if they refuse, something that the federal government currently is not doing with regard to coronavirus. But many private companies are making vaccinations mandatory for employees.

Thomas was concerned about the power of the “central government over the individual” and said you have to “hold to principles when it comes to freedom.”

He said we were “normalizing discrimination” against people who choose not to be vaccinated, and then went off on a tangent about children under 12 — who currently can’t be vaccinated anyway.

I brought the discussion back to public health and the “freedom” and “liberty” of the entire community to be protected from disease, and what they should expect and deserve from government. He then went in the direction of talking about the common cold, another ridiculous diversion.

I then asked him if he believes in seat belts and if he was wearing one, since he was driving. He really was stumped by this question — “I’m currently wearing a seat belt,” he said— as well as by my asking him if he was drinking while driving and why he shouldn’t be able to drive while drinking.

“That’s a good point,” Thomas said. But then he tried to say this was different because it’s about being able to"freely breath air,” which made no sense.

I had to just end it there because, well, he lost the supposed debate big time.

Listen in and let me know your thoughts.

Hi all, and thanks for reading and following The Signorile Report. Most of it is free to read, but if you’d like to support my writing and independent, ad-free opinion journalism (and join great discussion threads), please consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $5 per month or $50 annually.

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During a segment on my SiriusXM program in which we discussed a Houston hospital suspending employees until they get the vaccine, anti-vaxxer Anne from Washington called in.

She claimed that the vaccines are “experimental” and thus are a violation of the “Nuremberg Code.” This is a dangerous conspiracy that’s gained traction on social media.

While vaccines or any drug are technically considered in the experimental phase when they still have emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration — pending full approval — there is nothing “experimental” about these vaccines. They’ve been tested for safety and efficacy in trials. Like all new — and older drugs — trials will continue. But the vaccines are safe and work.

More than that, the Nuremberg Code was about forcing experiments on people in concentration camps — brutal, terrible experiments on Jews and others who were tortured and died. Claiming this about the vaccines is an insult to all Holocaust victims, survivors and their families. It’s an insult to the world. No one is being forced into any experiment.

These vaccines will soon have full approval. Businesses have a legal right to require vaccinations for employees. Actually, the federal and local governments, per a 1905 Supreme Court ruling, can require everyone to be vaccinated — which governments currently are not doing.

The lies and misinformation have to be combatted, and people like Anne are pushing conspiracies that we have to take on. I eventually had to shut her down when she claimed vaccines cause autism, which has been shown to be absolutely false.

Listen in and let me know your thoughts.

Hi all, and thanks for reading and following The Signorile Report. Most of it is free to read, but if you’d like to support my writing and independent, ad-free opinion journalism (and join great discussion threads), please consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $5 per month or $50 annually.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.signorile.com/subscribe

If you’ve been enjoying The Signorile Report, consider subscribing for just $5.00 per month and supporting independent, ad-free opinion journalism. Thanks!

Historian Carol Anderson is a national treasure. I’m honored to interview her often on my SiriusXM program. Speaking with her is an illuminating and gratifying experience — every time. And I know you’re going to come away greatly enlightened after listening to this extended interview with her from this week — a great weekend listen — all about her new book and so many other urgent issues affecting the country.

Professor Anderson’s 2016 book, White Rage, was one of the most important and timely books to be published as we entered the Trump era. Over and over again, she reveals the truths and the hidden history behind so much that is happening in the country with regard to race.

She did it with One Person, No Vote, in 2018, and she has done it again in a powerful, well-researched and illuminating new book, The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America.

Professor Anderson shows how the creation of the Second Amendment was rooted in keeping Black people enslaved, fighting off any rebellions, while a false narrative was created to make it appear as if it were about fighting foreign enemies and an issue of freedom and individual rights. The history of guns and laws around guns ever since has always been about fear of Black people and controlling Black people. Her book takes us from the very beginnings of this nation up to the present, revealing the intertwined histories of race and guns, and is a must-read.

We spoke about The Second, and also about so many other issues to which Professor Anderson brings a lot of insight, including the attack on voting rights in states across the country, and how the GOP is promoting the Big Lie and what it means for the future. Take a listen to the interview and please me know your thoughts.

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In a discussion on my SiriusXM show about vaccine hesitancy, Tracy called to say she is “not vaccinated” but is “very responsible” with mask-wearing. And that people like her are wrongly “grouped together” with “Trumpsters.”

Tracy said some people “are just not comfortable with vaccines” and went on to describe herself as a “naturalist.”

We went back and forth, with me explaining to her that there’s little danger with the vaccine but greater danger from Covid-19. Then she started saying she knows people who had Covid and are not doing bad, and only a small percentage die, etc.

I’ve had many experts on my show who’ve discussed how to talk to the vaccine hesitant. Just the other day I spoke with one researcher, whose firm, Surgo Ventures, produced a study that put them into categories:

Covid Skeptics (people who think Covid is a hoax or not worse than the flu); The Watchful (people who are waiting and seeing what happens with friends who are vaccinated); Cost-Anxious (people who can’t take off from work to get the shot or to recover from any side effects or who have to spend money to travel to get it); and System Distrusters (people who believe the medical system is discriminatory and are wary of how they’re treated).

This piece in the New York Times describes the results of the study.

Some people in several of these groups can be incentivized — whether via employers paying them, lotteries or being unable to enter a stadium — and will eventually get the vaccine, the researcher said. The hardest are the Covid Skeptics while the easiest are The Watchful.

But I don’t think Tracy will get the vaccine, and I don’t even know which group she fits in. When I asked the researcher — who came on the show after Tracy’s call — she admitted it wasn’t so clear cut, and Tracy might fall into a few groups.

In the end, I believe Tracy is with the Covid Skeptics — and thus the hardest group — since she winds up downplaying Covid, even as she claims to wear masks.

Ultimately, I wound up telling she was harming others, allowing Covid to continue to spread, and could transmit the virus to someone who will die. Some experts say guilting or shaming people doesn’t work, and they may be right. But I thought maybe for other listeners, in other groups who might get the vaccine (like The Watchful), this would be helpful. But I’m not sure how successful this was — certainly it wasn’t succesful at getting Tracy to get the vaccine — and wonder what you all think.

Let me know your thoughts.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.signorile.com/subscribe