Robert Malone is a household name in the anti-vaccine movement. The New York Times has called him a “Covid misinformation star.” A medical doctor and infectious disease researcher, Malone is a frequent guest on conservative podcast shows and is well-known for spreading misinformation about the safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines. Throughout the pandemic, Malone questioned the severity of the coronavirus and the safety of the vaccines. Most notably, Malone spread such misinformation on one of the most popular podcasts of all time: The Joe Rogan Experience.
JOHN BYE; [email protected]
Bye is an independent researcher who coauthored the BMJ Group analysis “Understanding and Neutralizing Covid-19 Misinformation and Disinformation.”
Bye told the Institute for Public Accuracy: “Robert Malone gained a certain amount of infamy in 2021 for spreading misinformation about Covid vaccines, backed by exaggerated claims about the extent of his own involvement in developing mRNA technology. Since then, he has continued trading off of this notoriety, earning money from his Substack subscribers and by writing books, as well as appearing at events around the world––often alongside anti-vaccine campaigners and conspiracy theorists.
“In 2023, Malone spoke at a ‘COVID Litigation Conference’ backed by anti-vaccine campaign group Children’s Health Defense and was a guest at the launch event for RFK Jr.’s presidential campaign. He was also on a panel about vaccine harms at CPAC and traveled to Europe for events in London, Brussels, and Stockholm, including speaking at a private event in support of a British Member of Parliament who had just been thrown out of the [then-ruling] Conservative Party for comparing Covid vaccines to the Holocaust.”
“It is clearly concerning,” Bye said, “that Robert Malone is now a member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. This committee is responsible for recommending changes to vaccine coverage and guidelines, and has already made significant changes to advice on Covid vaccines. At one ACIP meeting, Malone falsely claimed that there is no evidence that Covid vaccines protect against serious infection.”
Malone also attended the Brownstone Institute’s annual conference this month, where NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya received an award.