Dr. Hotez Speaks For Himself

1/n Many thanks ⁦@mehdirhasan⁩ ⁦@MehdiHasanShow⁩ for hosting me this evening I explained the problems of “debating” science on Joe Rogan with RFK Jr and there are several. pic.twitter.com/40MnuXL62Y

— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) June 19, 2023

3/n I said maybe there are exceptions but generally science is conducted through peer-review and manuscript submissions or presentations at scientific conferences and meetings in front of colleagues for suggestions or in some cases concerns.

— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) June 19, 2023

5/n he tends to move the goalposts on his specific concerns about vaccines. For instance even in the autism space it was MMR, then thimerosal, then spacing vaccines, then alum, then something called “chronic illness” and now the stakes are higher..

— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) June 19, 2023

7/n so antivaccine activism is now a lethal societal force. I would be willing to come on Joe Rogan and speak to him to solve problems as I’ve done X2 before, or do something with Elon on Twitter. Possibly that might be useful

— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) June 19, 2023

And Twitter does not disappoint in the expected quality of the responses:

I would expect the network would say it’s a bad idea. They have to much to lose because of the add revenue from big pharmaceutical companies. Big pharmaceutical is scared of RFK Jr. they insist not to have these debates!

— Retirement on Autopilot MX (@deeph20inlv) June 19, 2023

All I have left is: pearls before swine.

That and I appreciate the difficulty of discussing a topic you are educated in with people who are not, and who think they don’t need to be.