Monkeypox is a zoonotic virus (translation: it transferred from animals to humans) that is similar to smallpox, symptom-wise, and is currently affecting more than 20,000 people, per the CDC—most of them in the U.S. It’s a large enough number that the World Health Organization has declared the virus a global health emergency, and because it’s transmitted through close touch and contact, the WHO has recommended that bisexual and gay men limit their number of partners, which has reignited the same stigmas many saw at the beginning of the HIV/AIDS crisis. And Tucker Carlson is at the forefront of that ignorance.
While the Fox News host contends that “monkeypox is about the coolest name ever for a disease,” many people have expressed concern over the inaccuracy of the name and the stigmas it may create, particularly in communities of color, and have petitioned WHO to change the name “because of racism or something,” Carlson flippantly explained on Thursday night, according to Mediaite. He then declared that “we’re not going to allow it.”
If the name is going to be changed, Tucker insists that he and his viewers are going to be the ones to come up with the new moniker, and he ran a Twitter poll to do just that. The choices? Hunter Hives, Midterm Variant, Adam Schiffilis, or… Schlong COVID.
What should we rename monkeypox?@DrTedros @CDCDirector
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 29, 2022
Unsurprisingly, Schlong COVID was declared the winner with nearly 40 percent of the vote (and more than 26,000 people actually did vote). Sure, it’s a play on “long COVID,” but it’s hard to imagine it’s not something more than that. Especially coming from a guy who was once a member of The Dan White Society (as in: the man who assassinated Harvey Milk).
Carlson then encouraged his viewers to call Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, and let her know about their chosen new name for the disease. He even provided her phone number, so it’s great to know that the organization tasked with keeping our country safe will instead be inundated with prank phone calls from people who believe the “News” in Fox News is real.
(Via Mediaite)