* First he spread false reports of people dying from taking the vaccine, and now this…
Gary Rabine, one of three announced GOP candidates for governor, attacked Gov. J.B Pritzker’s mask mandate for schools by falsely contending the results of a Danish study last year dismissed the efficacy of face coverings by concluding there was “no statistical advantage to those who wore masks.” […]
But Rabine went further, contending a Danish study in 2020 found that people who wore masks “were just as likely to get COVID-19 as those who didn’t.” Rabine said the study concluded there was “no statistical advantage to those who work masks.”
Rabine’s conclusion conflicts with context provided by authors of the report who said the study of 6,000 people was geared to look at a 50% difference in COVID-19 infections between those who wore masks and those who did not.
According to FactCheck.org, the authors emphasized that their results “should not be used to conclude that a recommendation for everyone to wear masks in the community would not be effective in reducing SARS-CoV-2 infections, because the trial did not test the role of masks in source control of SARS-CoV-2 infection.”
Source control means the spread of mask wearers to others, meaning the study only assessed the personal protective effect of a mask from being infected, not the potential for masks to block the spread to others, FactCheck.org noted. […]
Still, the Danish results have been misreported widely among COVID-19 deniers and those who oppose mitigation measures to contend that masking is ineffective against the virus. A number of researchers have pointed to concerns about the study, including the adequacy of COVID testing among participants and whether test subjects actually wore masks as were required.
- Candy Dogood - Thursday, Aug 5, 21 @ 10:53 am:
Does it really count as being caught when he does it on a continuous basis? At this point I think we’re safe to conclude that spreading false COVID information is a feature of his campaign.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Thursday, Aug 5, 21 @ 10:58 am:
Man, this GOP primary will be so delicious it’ll have to be fattening.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Aug 5, 21 @ 11:07 am:
The more coverage Rabine gets, the smaller his base for a general election run becomes, if he wins the primary.
Rabine is dangerous as well as purposely disingenuous.
It caters to cult thinking, he knows his audience and constituency.
My hope is the damage Rabine does and continues to do is minimal. Stopping him isn’t good for the Trump brand, Tracy won’t stop it because of that.
- Roadrager - Thursday, Aug 5, 21 @ 11:08 am:
“I’ll parrot any lie that crosses my feed if it reaffirms my biases, and if confronted on it, my excuse is that I am too dumb to know better. That’s why you should elect me to the highest office in the state.”
- NIU Grad - Thursday, Aug 5, 21 @ 11:08 am:
This guy is like a discount Bruce Rauner…and that’s saying something.
- Dan l - Thursday, Aug 5, 21 @ 11:54 am:
His twitter feed seems to be mostly him telling people what they want to hear. I take that to mean he has no real way to build up steam.
- From DaZoo - Thursday, Aug 5, 21 @ 12:02 pm:
The concept that this particular misinformed “factoid” stems from is agitating me more and more, regardless of who I hear spout it (pro or anti mask). The primary purpose of wearing a mask is NOT to protect oneself, but to protect those around us.
I think I need to go check my flowering plants, especially the lavender.
- lake county democrat - Thursday, Aug 5, 21 @ 12:03 pm:
WIND’s main COVID advisor (at least from appearances on twitter) blocked me after she tweeted that study and I responded with an article quoting the lead author saying the study showed no such thing.
- Excitable Boy - Thursday, Aug 5, 21 @ 12:30 pm:
- Does it really count as being caught -
Agreed, that word should probably be removed from the headline. He’s not trying to be sneaky about it.
- Colin O'Scopy - Thursday, Aug 5, 21 @ 12:43 pm:
Gary Who?
- Dotnonymous - Thursday, Aug 5, 21 @ 12:47 pm:
Getting “caught” was the point.
- Proud Papa Bear - Thursday, Aug 5, 21 @ 3:07 pm:
“ The more coverage Rabine gets, the smaller his base for a general election run becomes, if he wins the primary.”
And with a June primary, that’s three additional months for Pritzker to collect footage of the tin hatters.
- Pundent - Thursday, Aug 5, 21 @ 4:55 pm:
If you’re anti-mask or anti-vax you aren’t going to get elected to statewide office in Illinois. And if you’re running for governor as a Republican these days that seems to be a requirement. Quite a dilemma.
In the same way that I don’t like hearing from anti-vaxers that they were wrong after they landed in the hospital, I also don’t want to hear it from Republicans when they lose the next election.
- Mark F Braun - Friday, Aug 6, 21 @ 11:02 am:
Gary Rabine is nuts. But then, running as a Republican on an anti-vax platform is all he’s got. which is as incendiary as washing your clothes in kerosine right before you fire up the Weber grill.