During a campaign event on Thursday, Paul Junge hosted Rob Steele, a Republican National Committeeman and cardiologist with no expertise in infectious diseases, for a “COVID Q&A Happy Hour” discussion, where Steele spread multiple falsehoods about the virus.
While discussing reopening, Junge’s guest stated that “testing is no more important for reopening the economy than it would be in a bad flu season … it’s nonsensical.”
This view goes against multiple experts, including the president’s Director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has emphasized the need for more widespread testing before easing stay-at-home orders.
Junge’s guest also suggested that COVID-19 was no more serious than the seasonal flu, that hospitals were inflating the number of COVID-19 deaths in order to “get a higher payment,” and that the United States had not seen an increase in overall deaths during the crisis.
“With more than 50,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 4,800 deaths in Michigan alone, it’s extremely dangerous for any candidate for Congress to elevate such misinformation,” said DCCC Spokesperson Courtney Rice. “Paul Junge needs to immediately denounce these falsehoods and apologize to the thousands of Michiganders whose lives have been affected by this pandemic.”
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