WND Profiles In COVID Misinformation: Robert Malone

WorldNetDaily not only loves to amplify Malone's misinformation about COVID vaccines, it also likes to inflate his role in developing the technology behind the mRNA vaccines.

By Terry Krepel
Posted 5/16/2022

Robert Malone

WND loves that, of course. In June, WND's Art Moore touted Malone "warning that Americans don't have enough information to decide whether or not the benefits of getting the shots outweigh the risks" and that he opposed vaccinating children. Moore's headline falsely called Malone the "Inventor of mRNA vaccine." An August article by Bob Unruh repeated Malone -- whom he claimed "is recognized as knowledgeable" -- trying to muddy the waters over the Pfizer vaccine by making a big deal over the Pfizer vaccine that was "approved by the FDA is not the same as the one that's already been in use." In fact, the two vaccines are biologically and chemically the same thing despite having different legal designations.

A Nov. 8 article by Moore highlighted Malone's appearance at a" COVID summit" in Florida:

Dr. Robert Malone, inventor of the mRNA technology employed by the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines: Inoculating 28 million children 5 to 11 years old could lead to "1,000 or more excess deaths" while the risk from COVID-19 for healthy children is "about zero" and appears to be lower than the seasonal flu.

In fact, that "summit" was put on by fringe anti-vaxxers -- and later that month, several people who attended the conference fell ill with COVID, including one doctor who bragged that ivermectin was keeping him healthy. WND has yet to report those facts.

Moore devoted a Nov. 22 article to Malone's rantings, again falsely calling him in the headline the "vaccine inventor":

Americans should pay attention to the severe coronavirus-related restrictions on civil liberties in Australia, Canada and now Austria, said the inventor of the mRNA vaccine technology, warning the virus increasingly is becoming a "platform for advancing other agendas."

"The future of global totalitarianism is here, it's just not evenly distributed," said Dr. Robert Malone, an immunologist and virologist who researched the use of messenger RNA in vaccines at the Salk Institute in the 1980s.

He said in an interview Monday with Steve Bannon's "War Room" that Austria -- the first country to require that every citizen be vaccinated -- is "the most egregious example" of "the deployment of a totalitarian approach to this whole thing."

The European nation and others, Malone said, are using what professor Mattias Desmet of Ghent University in Belgium calls "mass formation psychosis."

"Basically, it's the madness of crowds," Malone said. "And a lot of these governments have been overtaken by this form of psychosis or hypnosis.

"They believe that these vaccines are effective. They clearly are not."

In fact, mass formation psychosis is not actually a thing.

Moore did an fawning interview with Malone for a Dec. 2 article (which again falsely called him the "vaccine inventor" in the headline):

In a wide-ranging video interview with WND, the vaccine researcher who invented the messenger RNA technology behind the Pfizer and Moderna shots explained why he opposes universal vaccination for the COVID-19 virus and why he's been willing to risk the reputation he's cultivated over three decades and weather the scorn of the government and health-care establishment.

Dr. Robert Malone cited the evidence for his concerns about the vaccines, the mandates and policies he believes are causing serious harm, particularly to children, but he also offered insight on his personal journey during the pandemic that has rocked the world.

Unknown to most critics and allies alike, he said in the 80-minute interview, is that he's not "right wing."

"My wife and I are Central Coast Californians by birth and youth, and we actually come from slightly center-left on the political spectrum," he told WND.

[...]

Malone said the reason he is speaking out, in spite of the considerable personal risks, is simple.

"It's because I'm bloody well pissed off. It's not right, it's not fair, it's hurting people, it is breaking the rules, left and right, people are lying continuously, they're manipulating data," he said.

"It's shocking."

He believes the consequences will be fundamental, with a "damaged" hospital and medical-care delivery system and a loss of faith in the government.

The insertion of the government in the affairs of the family, with the lockdowns, school shutdowns, and the vaccine and mask mandates, is causing damage that is "deep and profound and will last for decades," he said.

"Evil can sometimes be intentional, and sometimes it's unintentional, but right now what we're seeing happening with our children is fundamentally evil," he said.

Moore made no apparent effort to challenge anything Malone has said about the vaccines, which is probably why he agreed to the interview with Moore; instead, he unironically complained that "Some of Malone's critics have insisted he's either lying about or embellishing his role in the development of mRNA vaccine technology" -- says the guy who put "vaccine inventor" in the headline -- and gave him space to repeat his claimed role in developing mRNA technology and huffed that "inventorship" is established by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and not by "fact-checkers that haven't graduated from college yet" or journalists.

In a Dec. 6 article also taken from the interview, Moore touted Malone's highly questionable assertion that "more than 500,000 American lives could have been saved if Dr. Anthony Fauci and the government health establishment did not undermine effective COVID-19 early treatments such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine." Moore went on to tout "a peer-reviewed study published in February by the American Journal of Therapeutics that found that ivermectin reduces coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths by about 75%." But Moore got the date wrong; as ConWebWatch documented when Moore previously hyped this study, it had originally been set for publication in the journal Frontiers of Pharmacology, but was ultimately reject because the authors promoted their own ivermectin treatment instead of doing genuinely objective research. The study was ultimately published in the American Journal of Therapeutics a few months later in May.

In a Dec. 13 article, Moore cheered how Malone "has issued a video statement explaining why more than 15,000 physicians and medical scientists around the world have signed a declaration that healthy children should not be vaccinated for COVID-19." in which Malone says fearmongering things like "Ask yourself if you want your own child to be part of the most radical medical experiment in human history." Strangely, Moore did not link to the declaration, which is essentially a form anyone can fill out, and there's no apparent mechanism for vetting the signatures to ensure those who signed it are actual "physicians and medical scientists," let alone proof that 15,000 of them signed it.

Malone did another interview with Moore for a Dec. 20 article that started out speculating about the impact of the Omicron variant, then went conspiratorial:

Malone also commented on the new release of emails showing that outgoing National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins asked White House coronavirus adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci to carry out a "quick and devastating published takedown" of the Great Barrington Declaration in the fall of 2020.

Collins told Fauci the declaration came from three "fringe" epidemiologists, meaning Dr. Martin Kulldorf of Harvard, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford and Dr. Sunetra Gupta of Oxford.

Malone told WND the email showed the "hubris" of Collins, who doesn't have the training and experience in epidemiology that the three scholars possess.

"We have now clear, clear evidence of collusion by senior government officials to suppress scientific discussion and debate about one of the most crucial issues that we’ve addressed over the last two years, which is whether or not lockdowns make sense," Malone said. "And the data are overwhelming. They don't."

And, yes, Moore yet again falsely calls Malone the "vaccine inventor" in the headline. That demonstrates the low level of journalistic accuracy at WND -- and, again, is the likely reason why Malone has agreed to do interviews with Moore.

Rogan and vaccine protests

Moore then devoted a Feb. 6 article to Moore "challenging a 'fact check' of some of his statements by a reporter for Britain's Daily Mail." Malone, to our knowledge, has not challenged the fact-check issued by Health Feedback, which is focused on medical misinformation and is much more comprehensive. Meanwhile, WND columnist Michael Brown -- who suffers from wishy-washiness on the issue of COVID despite having suffered through a bout of it himself -- felt the need to weigh in on Rogan in his Feb. 7 column, arguing that Rogan "host a debate/discussion between two of the most debating "a respected pro-vax professional." That's not likely to happen given Malone is not known for sharing the stage with anyone who might challenge him, which was probably a big reason he appeared on Rogan's show in the first place.

In non-Rogan news, Moore used a Jan. 4 article to transcribe a Malone appearance on Fox News in which he served right-wing-friendly attacks on Anthony Fauci:

Dr. Robert Malone, who as a leading vaccine expert has known Dr. Anthony Fauci for decades, said he wasn't surprised by the White House coronavirus adviser's insistence that people continue to trust cloth masks, despite the growing acknowledgment that they don't stop the spread of the virus.

"It’s Tony. What can I say? Tony has no integrity. He lies all of the time," Malone said in an interview Monday night with Fox News' Laura Ingraham.

"And me and my peers have been watching this for decades. We just shrug our shoulders and shake our heads and say it’s Fauci."

Moore used a Jan. 13 article to gush over Malone teaming with non-medical expert Peter Navarro to attack vaccines:

Prominent vaccine inventor Dr. Robert Malone and former Trump economic adviser Peter Navarro have published a "declaration of independence" from the federal government's forced universal vaccination policy, contending the "quasi-vaccines" in use are significantly riskier than public health officials have disclosed.

They argue in the Washington Times that, unlike smallpox and polio, a vaccine cannot eliminate a respiratory disease like COVID-19.

Yet, amid growing evidence the "leaky" vaccines don't stop infection or transmission and can make people even more vulnerable to COVID-19, "the Pied Pipers of forced vaccinations are demanding ever more 'booster' jabs" to fight the omicron variant, which while highly contagious generally produces mild symptoms, if any, they write.

In fact, well over 125,000 Americans have been killed by the Omicron variant, and one-fifth of all U.S. children who died from COVID were killed during last winter's Omicron surge -- putting the lie to the duo's claim that Omicron only generates "mild symptoms, if any."

Malone and Navarro also pushed the unproven claim that COVID-19 appears to be a "bioweapon genetically engineered at the Wuhan Institute of Virology using gain-of-function technologies transferred to China by Dr. Anthony Fauci’s National Institutes of Health bureaucracy." Then then repeated old anti-vaxxer claims that the vaccines "can trigger serious cardiac and thrombotic conditions, menstrual cycle disruptions, Bell’s palsy, Guillain-Barre syndrome and anaphylaxis. Male children appear particularly prone to myocarditis, while, post-vaccination, individuals may have suppressed immunities that make them vulnerable to other diseases."

Moore also repeated a conspiracy theory from the duo:

Malone and Navarro warn, based on basic principles of virology, that universal vaccination could produce a "doomsday scenario."

"The more you vaccinate, the more likely you will spawn vaccine-resistant mutations; and the more likely those vaccinated will fall prey to the mutations," they write.

Viruses evolve whether or not there's a vaccine, and it does not completely erode vaccine protection. In fact, the chance of mutations tends to decrease with greater vaccination levels, and the existence of several different COVID vaccines also decreases the change of mutation.

In a Jan. 23 article, Joe Kovacs touted Malone's appearance at an anti-vaccine rally put on by notorious anti-vaxxer Robert Kennedy Jr.:

Kennedy was joined by doctors who have been censored by Big Tech as they warn of the dangers of the COVID shots.

Among them was Dr. Robert Malone, one of the developers of the technology being used in today's vaccines.

"These vaccines do not prevent omicron infection," Malone declared. "These products cannot achieve herd immunity and stop COVID."

"They are not completely safe and the full impact of their use remains unknown."

"The dark winter predicted by our president and pushed by the fear-mongers in our media, is failing to materialize," he continued.

Kovacs passed no judgment on Malone for joining the company of such discredited anti-vaxxers; indeed, as ConWebWatch documented, he hid the fact that Kennedy actually suggested that Anne Frank was in a better situation when she was hiding from the Nazis than anti-vaxxers are today.

Malone's anti-vaxxer friend

For a Feb. 22 interview with Moore, Malone brought a friend:

Urging CDC scientists to speak out, Dr. Robert Malone and Dr. Ryan Cole reacted Monday to the news reported by the New York Times that agency officials admit they have withheld COVID data broken down by age, race and vaccination status because the American people might misinterpret it.

"This meets the criteria of scientific fraud," said Malone, the key inventor of the mRNA technology platform used in the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. "Withholding data is scientific fraud."

Of course, given how anti-vaxxers like Malone have deliberately misinterpreted VAERS data, it's a valid concern for the CDC.

Moore's next step was to try and pump up the credentials of Malone's buddy:

Cole, a Mayo Clinic-trained pathologist who runs a major diagnostic lab in Idaho, said that as "an ethical physician who took oaths to the human race, this is incredibly disturbing."

"These are the people that are entrusted to tell us the truth," he said of the CDC officials.

In actuality, Cole is an anti-vaxxer and a hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin enthusiast -- to the point that some of his patients have ended up in the emergency room suffering from COVID after following his advice. His lab was kicked out of Idaho's largest health care network over his divergence from sound medical care, and he has falsely claimed that COVID vaccines cause cancer and autoimmune illnesses. In other words, exactly the kind of guy who would be buddies with Malone and WND. Moore went on to write:

Cole agreed that they have "an ethical responsibility to humanity" to tell the American people what is going on. Last month, he testified with Malone and other physicians and scientists at a panel convened by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., called "COVID-19: A Second Opinion." Cole testified that he has observed in his lab over the past year a startling uptick in incidences of clotting, auto-immune diseases and cancers.

"We physicians and scientists have one responsibility, and one responsibility only, and that is the health and wellness of humanity, no matter the inconvenient cost of telling that truth," he said.

If these guys are on the guest list on Johnson's event, you can guess what the rest of it would look likely. And needless to say, Moore lovingly wrote about it when in happened in January -- but he wouldn't mention all the misinformation spouted at the event. Moore also noted that "Many of the panel members ... spoke at a rally Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial called 'Defeat the Mandates.'" That would be the above-noted rally headlined by anti-vaxxer Robert Kennedy Jr.

WND also featured this dynamic duo in an anonymously written Feb. 23 article:

When Washington state's Board of Health proposed making COVID-19 shots mandatory for public schoolchildren, a local non-profit invited two of the most prominent critics of the vaccines in the scientific community to the Puget Sound area to present their concern to parents, school board members, lawmakers and others.

Dr. Robert Malone, the original inventor of the mRNA technology platform behind the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and Idaho pathologist Dr. Ryan Cole were featured in four sold-out sessions, Sunday and Monday, attended by a total of about 2,000 people. WND News Editor Art Moore was one of two interviewers, along with Rachel Cole Harter, who was fired from her position with a pharmaceutical company because she chose not to be vaccinated for COVID-19.

Malone and Cole, in a conversational format in which they spoke as parents as well as scientists, address the key issues of whether or not the vaccines are safe and effective, presenting the latest scientific data and studies.

That "local nonprofit" is something called One Washington, a right-wing anti-vaxxer group that does things like teach people how to evade vaccine mandates and offers lessons in "biblical citizenship."

Moore used a March 6 article to fearmonger about the risk of myocarditis some might face in taking the COVID vaccine -- in which was he misleading and deceitful about the results of the study he cited -- and he made sure to call on his usual coterie of COVID misinformers:

Prominent cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough has found from his review of studies that the rate of myocarditis produced by COVID-19 is mild and "inconsequential." However, myocarditis caused by the vaccine can be severe, he said, citing pre-clinical studies showing the lipid nanoparticles – which deliver the spike protein in the mRNA system – "go right into the heart."

"When the kids get myocarditis after the vaccine, 90% have to be hospitalized," McCullough said in a podcast interview in December. "They have dramatic EKG changes, chest pain, early heart failure, they need echocardiograms."

McCullough is wrong -- but Moore will never tell you that. Moore also touted Malone:

Malone, on his SubStack page, said there is increasing evidence that vaccinating young people for COVID-19 is "bad medicine, bad policy and shows poor decision making by the FDA on the rushed decision to grant EUA status to these vaccines, particularly for male adolescents and male young adults."

He urged parents to "consider very carefully before making the decision to vaccinate children."

Malone's wrong too -- but, again, Moore is hiding that fact from you.

Thus, WND's parade of misinformation continues -- that, along with its refusal to admit publishing misinformation, is why WND is barely staying alive.