Jimmy Kimmel returned to his late-night post on Tuesday after an extended break, and wasted no time going after those like Alex Jones who have curiously taken livestock medicine rather than simply receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I leave you people alone for two months and you start taking horse worm medicine?” a disappointed Kimmel said. “What a weird summer.”
The far-right’s favorite new “miracle cure” for COVID-19, Ivermectin, is obviously not a substitute for the vaccine. Yet after being hyped up in the conservative media ecosystem, poison control centers have seen a rise in calls and pharmacies have received a flood of prescriptions for human-approved versions of the drug.
“It’s like if you’re a vegan and you’re like, ‘No, I don’t want a hamburger. Give me that can of Alpo instead,’” Kimmel said of the craze.
Ivermectin’s popularity has swelled so much that Dr. Anthony Fauci had to implore Americans to not take it.
But conspiracy theorist and Sandy Hook denier Alex Jones would do just the opposite.
One of the nation’s “top medical minds,” as Kimmel described him, a red-faced Jones took an Ivermectin tablet on air during his radio broadcast while decrying the supposed ulterior motives of Fauci and Bill Gates too, for good measure.
“I’ve never seen someone that mad drink a Topo Chico before,” Kimmel commented, noting Jones’ choice of sparkling mineral water. “I would’ve thought [he’d wash it down with] some nacho-flavored Bang energy drink.”
Kimmel also pointed out that one of the reasons why Ivermectin has gained traction is because some people don’t trust the pharmaceutical industry. “Which is fine, I guess, except for the fact that Ivermectin is made by Merck, which is the fourth largest pharmaceutical company in the world.”
Merck, in fact, warned consumers that its drug was unsafe to use against COVID-19.
“If a pharmaceutical company says, ‘Please don’t take the drug we’re selling,’ you should probably listen to them,” Kimmel said.