Ted Cruz Exposed Covertly Deleting Dangerous Medical Lies
The backlash proved too much for the MAGA senator.
MAGA Senator Ted Cruz has backpedaled on his egregiously false claims about COVID-19 vaccines after intense online backlash.
Cruz, 55, posted on X on Wednesday in promotion of his latest podcast episode that there was “bombshell data” supporting that COVID-19 vaccines produced an “82% Miscarriage Rate.”
The senator had been referring to texts from January 2021 that were released this week from Dr. Anthony Fauci, where he expressed theoretical concerns about the COVID vaccine’s impact on miscarriage. Safety data was limited at the time, but Fauci had also emphasized that “no issues had arisen” after more than 10,000 pregnant women had been vaccinated.
Cruz waited a whole day before taking down his incendiary and egregiously false post.
Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
Subsequent studies found no increased risk of miscarriage associated with the vaccine, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encouraged vaccination during pregnancy.
The post immediately drew vehement criticism online, with people calling Cruz’s statement “deeply, dangerously dishonest,” “false,” and “a bald faced lie.”
The Texas Republican’s post even received a community note on the platform, which read: “The post misrepresents a 2021 CDC/NEJM study (Shimabukuro et al.). The 82 percent miscarriage figure excludes ~ 700 of 827 participants with incomplete follow-up; full data shows ~ 12.6 percent rate, within normal background (10-26 percent). Large analyses confirm no increased risk.”
Sign Up for The Swamp Newsletter
By clicking “SUBSCRIBE” you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Cruz’s vaccine lie remained on the platform through Thursday evening, when the incendiary post was no longer found on the website.
CNN shared the now-deleted post on Thursday night, along with its community note.
CNN
The Daily Beast has reached out to Cruz for comment.
CNN’s Erin Burnett covered the senator’s retraction, noting that the post reached over 600,000 users in the amount of time that it was on the social media platform.
“If you watched this on social media, the number of people who bought into it, believed it, fed it into preconceived narratives about vaccines, was deeply unsettling,” the network host revealed on OutFront.
“The 82 percent miscarriage number is a misreading of the study’s data,” she explained, “which actually has the miscarriage rate at 12.6 percent, which is in line with the normal rate of miscarriages in the general population in the United States of America. So no added risk due to the COVID vaccine.”
Dr. Kevin Ault told Burnett that Cruz's claims were an "incoherent story."
CNN
Dr. Kevin Ault, a gynecologist and former member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, told Burnett that Cruz’s claims were “an incoherent story.”
“This is a well-studied area; we knew this in 2021, that there wasn’t an increased risk, and now we have five more years of data,” Ault said. “It’s hard to believe we would miss a factor of eight increase in miscarriages.”
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
- Account (completed)
- Payment (completed)
- Confirmation (completed)
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.
- 1Account
- 2Payment
- 3Confirmation
Sign in or create an account
Login dialog
Loading comments…