At the Minnesota Reformer, Ricardo Lopez reports in GOP candidate for governor, physician Scott Jensen speaking with anti-vaccine group founded by doctor charged in Jan. 6 Capitol attack:
GOP candidate for governor Scott Jensen is slated to participate in a virtual event with a group that strongly questions COVID-19 vaccine safety and effectiveness and was founded by a doctor arrested for storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Simone Gold, a physician who founded America’s Frontline Doctors, tweeted on Monday that Jensen is among speakers for a July 27 livestream hosted by her group.
“Don’t miss the critical information you need to navigate the deception and confusion of the Chinese Coronavirus lockdowns and the derelict public health response,” an event flyer says. “Content will include brilliant and ethical doctors speaking truthfully and delivering the verified science and data.”
Gold in January was charged with illegally entering a restricted building or grounds, as well as violent entry and disorderly conduct for her role in the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.
She told the Washington Post that she regretted being there, saying it distracted from her advocacy work against pandemic public health restrictions.
Jensen, a family physician who served one term in the Minnesota Senate, has come under fire for his continued questioning of the effectiveness of vaccines. He is also a staunch supporter of using hydroxychloroquine as a preventative treatment for COVID-19, despite the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warning it should not be used outside of hospital settings because it could cause heart rhythm problems.
Jensen did not immediately return messages Tuesday.
Since leaving the Minnesota Senate, the former Chaska lawmaker has announced he would challenge DFL Gov. Tim Walz for governor, making the governor’s handling of the pandemic his main issue.
He also signed onto a lawsuit seeking to ban use of COVID-19 vaccines in children ages 12-15.
Jensen is the sole major candidate on the Republican side thus far, but others are also considering running, including Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake, and state Sen. Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake. . . .
Read the rest at the Minnesota Reformer.
Great reporting. A couple of past Bluestem Prairie stories provide some insight into the depth of Jensen's anti-vaxx cred, which isn't a bug. It's a feature.
In the pre-COVID days of January 2019, we reported Minnesota, kiss your herd immunity good-bye: Senator Scott Jensen cuddles up to anti-vaxxers. Anti-vaxx sentiments aren't a new development for Jensen.
Late last year, Bluestem reported in Small town MN freedom fighting restauranteur's anti-vaxx pals make us pause about her savvy:
In late October, [Larvita McFarquhar] attended the 2020 Vaccine Awareness Event - Minnesota in Alexandria, where (judging from her Facebook page photos) she hob-knobbed with some of the stars of the anti-vaxxer world, described on the gathering's Eventbrite page:
This will truly be a once in a lifetime educational event to hear these amazing speakers speak on vaccine awareness and our health freedoms!About this EventJoin us for our Fall 2020 event on Saturday October 24th 9am-5pm as we welcome Del Bigtree, Dr. Bob Zajac, Shelia Ealey, Leah Wilson, Dr. Joel Bohemier, Senator Scott Jensen and Andrew Wakefield! This will truly be a once in a lifetime educational event to hear these amazing speakers present on vaccine awareness and our health freedoms! We anticipate this event will sell out so grab your tickets now!
Andrew Wakefield? The Guardian reported in 2018's How disgraced anti-vaxxer Andrew Wakefield was embraced by Trump's America:
There cannot be many doctors as thoroughly discredited and ostracised as Andrew Wakefield has been in the UK who are subsequently seen smiling at the inauguration ball of a US president and later discovered to be dating the Australian model Elle Macpherson.
But there he is. Wakefield was all but drummed out of Britain. The gastroenterologist lost his job, had his scientific paper linking the MMR vaccine and autism retracted by medical journal the Lancet and, in 2010, was struck off the medical register. He disappeared to the US and it was assumed he had gone to ground, having lost all credibility. He was a spent force, even though his name was often in the air as the anti-MMR views he seeded around the world led to many parents shunning the vaccine and outbreaks of measles wherever anyone had heard Wakefield’s creed.
It was known he was in Texas with those who shared his views on vaccines and conspiracy. But he was not a public figure. Until Donald Trump was elected US president of the United States. . . .
On April 30, 2021, the Minnesota DFL caught another instance of Jensen speaking at an anti-vaxxer conference. In a press release, GOP Gov Candidate Scott Jensen to Speak at Anti-Vax Convention, the party noted:
Jensen to share the stage and legitimize views of America’s leading anti-vaxxer, the doctor behind the ‘Plandemic’ documentary, a QAnon enthusiast, and more
This weekend, Scott Jensen will share the virtual stage with a group of notorious anti-vaxxers at the conspiracy-drenched Truth Over Fear Summit, a three-day online gathering aiming to “share invaluable and eye-opening insights into the truth behind the headlines, Covid-19, the rushed vaccine, and the Great Reset.”
The Anti-Vaccine Conference
Also speaking at the event is a rogues gallery of conspiracy theorists who, like Jensen himself, have done tremendous harm throughout this pandemic by peddling junk science to the American people, including:
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr – America’s leading anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist who chairs an organization pushing the debunked connection between vaccines and autism and has recently taken to spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines
Dr. Judy Mikovits – The doctor behind the viral ‘Plandemic’ disinformation documentary and a discredited anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist
Dr. Vladimir Zelenko – The doctor who pioneered the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 and got then-President Trump to endorse it, despite its ineffectiveness and danger
Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg – A doctor who has falsely claimed the COVID-19 vaccine causes infertility
Dr. Carrie Madej – A QAnon believing anti-vaxxer who claims the COVID-19 vaccine “contains bio-sensing nanomachines designed to alter human DNA and control people’s minds.”
Claire Deeks – A New Zealand-based anti-vaccine activist who has spread disinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine.
This list is non-comprehensive, as virtually every speaker at the event denies the mainstream science surrounding COVID-19 and has pushed dangerous COVID-19 conspiracy theories, especially surrounding the vaccine.
Scott Jensen’s Anti-Vaccine History
Jensen’s appearance at this event is no surprise considering his extensive history of spreading anti-vaccine propaganda. Most recently, Jensen has refused to get vaccinated himself despite the medical consensus saying he should. He also refused to recommend the vaccine to his young patients, which again contradicts the medical consensus, and has made numerous appearances on anti-vaccine celebrity Del Bigtree’s web show. . . .
There's more in the press release. Other than this, he seems nice.
Photo: Scott Jensen, the man who would be governor.
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