Portrait of a Covid charlatan

The Impersonator: Eric Feigl-Ding, COVID-19, and an implicit far-left agenda | Substack - Jordan Schachtel, The Dossier:

October 26, 2020 - "If you’re on social media and you follow news related to the coronavirus pandemic, chances are you’ve stumbled upon some panicked pandemic posts coming from a man named Eric Feigl-Ding,* a nutritionist and longtime democrat political operative who has succeeded in impersonating a medical professional, and is generating a cult following in the process. With one hysterical tweet after another, Feigl-Ding went from having a small social media following to accumulating a massive army of influence. Feigl-Ding’s consistent elevation of fear and panic, doom and gloom, and his relentless themes of chaos and destruction ,,, brought his accounts millions of clicks and views, and hundreds of thousands of new followers. And he did it all without having a clue what he’s talking about.

"At the beginning of 2020, Feigl-Ding was an unpaid, visiting scientist in Harvard’s nutrition department. His academic research centered entirely around nutrition, diet, and exercise. If Eric Feigl-Ding was interested in pandemics and the study of viruses, his research and academic credentials did not reflect that. When the coronavirus pandemic began to make waves in the media, everything changed. Feigl-Ding, an aspiring politician, appeared to see an opening to influence the masses and build up his brand....

"But ... Feigl-Ding’s frequent use of Harvard-associated credentials to elevate his baseless COVID-19 proclamations greatly upset some of his colleagues (despite many of them advocating for the same draconian measures proposed by Feigl-Ding to 'combat' the virus), and landed him in hot water.... Marc Lipsitch, a professor of epidemiology at Harvard, described him as a 'charlatan exploiting a tenuous connection for self-promotion.' The Association of Health Care Journalists also took notice, reporting that he has 'precisely zero experience in infectious diseases.' An unnamed source at Harvard told the Chronicle on Higher Education in April [2020] that Feigl-Ding has 'been asked many times to stop promoting himself as having specialized knowledge.' In [the second half of 2020], Feigl-Ding updated his profile to show that he is no longer associated with Harvard.... 

"In order to sell his purported expertise on COVID-19, Feigl-Ding has repeatedly misrepresented his credentials.... [P]rior to the pandemic, Ding clarified that he was a PhD nutritionist, and not a medical doctor. He has since removed the PhD label from his account.  [He] has continued to muddy the waters surrounding his credentials, taking it to new heights ... in a pro-Biden Super PAC (funded by Silicon Valley billionaires) ad about the coronavirus pandemic. It features 'Dr' Feigl-Ding in a lab coat with tie ensemble that is associated with the attire worn by a medical doctor.... 'Joe Biden has a plan,' Feigl-Ding says in the ad. 'He listens to medical experts. Joe Biden will do what needs to be done so we can live a healthy, normal life again.' Many reporters were falsely led to believe that Feigl-Ding was one of the medical doctors featured in the ad spot.....

"Feigl-Ding has long been a far-left activist who advances his agenda under a healthcare reform label. In 2018, he ran unsuccessfully for a congressional seat in Pennsylvania. Universal healthcare and medicare for all, or socialized medicine, was the centerpiece platform of his congressional run. According to Science Magazine, Feigl-Ding was supported in his run by political networks associated with far-left democrat mega donor George Soros, and FEC records reflect that. Feigl-Ding’s ties with Soros go back many years. In 2008, he received a Soros scholarship for his medical school studies (he would later drop out).... Feigl-Ding finished an unimpressive third place in the PA-10 2018 Democratic Primary. 

"Feigl-Ding remains closely connected to the Soros network. He currently serves as Treasurer of the The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellows Association (PDSFA). And through his Twitter and Facebook feeds, Feigl-Ding has utilized his unwarranted credential as a 'COVID-19 health expert' to promote his far-left politics, disguised as healthcare expertise, to hundreds of thousands of people....

"Feigl-Ding’s political aspirations did not cease with his failed congressional run. During [the 2020] election cycle, he ... contributed over $110,000 of his own money to a non-profit he founded called Health Justice For All. His organization’s website claims to be 'building a grassroots network to expose Big Pharma, to fight for affordable medications, and to elect a bold new generation of leaders who will not stop fighting Big Pharma until there is health justice for all.' However, there is nothing particularly health oriented about this organization. FEC records show that Feigl-Ding uses Health Justice for All to run attack ads against Republicans and supportive ads for Democrats.

"Social media’s foremost COVID-19 hysteric has leveraged his baseless pandemic panic promotion to achieve newfound fame. [During the presidential race last year] the hyper-political nutritionist turned 'COVID-19 expert' ... dedicated his social media feed to nonstop promotion of Joe Biden’s candidacy for president. What happens next is anyone’s guess, but it’s safe to say that Eric Feigl-Ding’s rise to 'public health' stardom has delivered plenty of opportunities to resurface as a true contender in the future political arena."

Read more: https://dossier.substack.com/p/the-impersonator-eric-feigl-ding

* signatory of the John Snow Memorandum

Presidential candidates ignore rising U.S. debt

National Debt? What’s That? - Michael Tanner, National Review Online:

Jamuary 20, 2016 - "In the last Republican debate, there was precisely one question on the debt — and the candidates answered it by talking about their tax plans. That was far too typical...   But while the candidates have been wrangling over such vital issues as fantasy sports betting or Ted Cruz’s citizenship status, our growing sea of red ink has quietly risen toward $19 trillion. One might think our impending national bankruptcy might be worth a bit more attention.

"In his State of the Union address, President Obama took a bow for reducing our annual budget deficit by two-thirds during his time in office. He’s correct. Since its high of $1.4 trillion in 2009, the deficit had dropped to just $439 billion last year, although the president failed to mention that his policies, including the 2009 stimulus bill, helped drive the deficit to those record levels, and policies that he opposed, such as sequestration, helped bring it down.

"But the respite is just temporary. According to the Congressional Budget Office’s newest estimates, released yesterday, the deficit is already rising again, and will exceed $544 billion this year. By 2022, just six years from now, we will once again be experiencing trillion-dollar deficits every year.

"And even with lower deficits, the national debt is still rising. By 2025, our debt will top $27 trillion. Yet, Congress is not only kicking the can down the road, it is making the problem worse. Just last year, Congress put in place spending that will raise the debt by $1.2 trillion over the next ten years. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget called 2015 “a banner year for fiscal irresponsibility.'

"And none of this includes the more than $69 trillion in unfunded liabilities being run up by Medicare and Social Security....

"We know what the Democrats would do about the debt — make it worse. Bernie Sanders has proposed at least $18 trillion in new spending over the next ten years.... Hillary ... has proposed only $1.1 trillion in new spending ... although more proposals to expand government are coming. Both Democrats oppose any reform of entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare....

"But what about Republicans?... They have all issued very detailed tax proposals, but with the occasional exception of Chris Christie and Rand Paul, they have generally skipped the more difficult discussion of spending cuts. Some, like Donald Trump, join Democrats in opposing entitlement reform. Others simply duck the question.

"Unfortunately, those tax proposals, even using dynamic scoring to account for increased economic growth, will reduce government revenues....  (Rand Paul’s proposal is the exception, resulting in a $737 billion increase in revenue after taking into account economic growth)....

"The debt matters. Not only is it remarkably unfair to our children and grandchildren, it is imposing costs today. Our economic growth is slower and our wages lower than they would be if it were smaller. Other political and economic priorities are being squeezed out. Interest on the debt was projected to reach $261 billion this year, and exceed $500 billion by 2020 even before factoring in the recent budget-busting deals.

"One might think that was worth talking about. So far in this campaign, one would apparently be wrong."

Read more: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430033/national-debt
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