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Right-Wing Pundits Apparently Profiting From Ivermectin Craze They Pushed

Right-wing media helped dupe their audiences into believing that drugs like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine were miracle cures for COVID-19. Now, conservative commentators are apparently cashing in on that credulity thanks to the paid sponsorship of a mail-order pharmacy that provides easy access to the medicines.

The Florida-based All Family Pharmacy has sponsored a slew of right-wing commentators, including Fox News host Laura Ingraham, presidential son Donald Trump Jr., podcaster (and now deputy director of the FBI) Dan Bongino, One America News Network’s Matt Gaetz and Chanel Rion, The F1rst’s Bill O’Reilly, podcaster Candace Owens, and radio hosts Lars Larson, Michael Savage, and Howie Carr.

These pundits tout the company in social media posts and live ad reads as a way for their followers to acquire drugs like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. Some even offer personal testimonials about their own experiences as its customers.

All Family Pharmacy, in turn, points to being “featured” by the commentators on its website, and provides dedicated pages for several of them that include their images.

The company is careful, both on its website and in the ad copy read by its right-wing promoters, not to explicitly invoke the use of ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine as treatments for COVID-19 without disclaimers. But it’s very clear what’s going on.

How right-wing pundits built demand for dubious COVID-19 cures

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, right-wing media outlets combated the public health consensus by promoting the virtues of unproven drugs.

In March 2020, they touted the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine as an alternative to stay-at-home orders. A year and a half later, they highlighted the purported therapeutic benefits of the antiparasite drug ivermectin as an alternative to the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines they typically deplored.

Unfortunately, studies found that the drugs do not actually work as COVID-19 therapies, and a slew of health agencies and the manufacturers warned against their use for that purpose.

As a result, when consumers of right-wing media asked their doctors to write off-label prescriptions for the drugs that the media figures they most trusted had recommended for COVID-19, the doctors sometimes refused.

But telemedicine companies filled that gap in the market, offering credulous right-wingers easy access to prescriptions and mail-order drugs.

When NBC News reported on one such company, SpeakWithAnMD.com, in September 2021, I wrote that its success “shows how the right-wing movement functions as a money-making operation that serves up its hapless members" to organizations trying to cash in on conservative trends, but noted that while right-wing media figures “play an essential role” in the scheme, “there’s no reason to think they directly profit from it.”

That is no longer the case.

All Family Pharmacy sells easy access to the drugs

All Family Pharmacy’s operation is similar to that of SpeakWithAnMD.com. “We work with doctors all over the country to help get access to medications normal pharmacies don't or are unwilling to dispense including but not limited to Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine,” its website says.

The Florida-based telemedicine company promises an “easy as 1-2-3” process of obtaining medicines in which customers “choose your meds, fill out the medical form, and pay,” and then, after “a licensed doctor reviews your form and writes your prescription,” receive the drugs by mail.

While All Family Pharmacy says it provides “Easy Access to 200+ Medications,” its website emphasizes the availability of drugs that became conservatives’ causes célèbre during the pandemic.

An image of a box of ivermectin and capsules of the drug is splashed across the website’s landing page and separate pages for the right-wingers it sponsors, and the company is currently offering a “Buy One Get One FREE” sale for both that medicine and the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine.

All Family Pharmacy provides would-be purchasers of ivermectin with their “Covid-19 Treatment Dose” and “Covid-19/Viral Prevention Dose,” but also informs them that the drug is “not FDA-approved for … COVID-19 treatment or prevention” and instructs to “consult a licensed healthcare provider for advice.”

All Family Pharmacy co-founder Michael Kuenzler touted the company and sale in a March 17 appearance on Howie Carr’s radio show.

Kuenzler explained that their business took off during the pandemic due to “patients contacting us because their doctors were not prescribing medications that they felt were helpful toward the illnesses that they were having or enduring. My brother and I, we started pushing to help patients outside of their traditional PCP doctors get access to antibiotics, hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, any drugs that physicians just purely weren’t prescribing for whatever reasons.”

“I’m not a pharmacist, I’m not a doctor, I’m just here to help patients get access to a lot of these medications that they’re unable to get access to for various reasons,” he added.

The right-wing commentators pitching All Family Pharmacy’s ivermectin

Carr described himself as a “very satisfied customer” of All Family Pharmacy’s ivermectin during Monday’s interview with Kuenzler, praising the company’s pricing and easy process. “The first time I ordered it, I had it within 48 hours,” he said.

“I remember,” Kuenzler replied, chuckling. “A lot of our advertisers, they like to try the ivermectin out, and I promise you this — within 30 days, I have another request coming. It's becoming a very popular drug of choice.”

Dan Bongino, the newly minted deputy director of the FBI, is among the right-wing pundits who are not only sponsored by All Family Pharmacy but say they are also its customers.

“Need ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, emergency antibiotics, or other essential medications — you got it,” Bongino said during an ad read for one of his final podcasts. “I use All Family Pharmacy. They’ve been great to me, helped me on a couple of vacations I was on. They step up when the system fails you.”

“I never travel without my emergency kit!” Matt Gaetz said on social media last month while promoting his ad-read touting All Family Pharmacy’s ivermectin.

Donald Trump Jr. read ad copy for All Family Pharmacy on his podcast earlier this month, saying that the company is “cutting through the red tape to get you the meds you need fast, easy, with no interference, whether it’s ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, you know, those ‘bad things’ that other guys wouldn’t want you to have but have been proven to be really effective.”

Bill O’Reilly told his audience that buying drugs from All Family Pharmacy gives them protection during pandemics and political chaos.

“Yes, they’ve got the miracle drug everyone’s been talking about, ivermectin,” he added in an ad read on The F1rst in late January. “Here is the truth: When the system collapses and shortages happen, the unprepared suffer. Do not be one of them.”

Here are some more All Family Pharmacy ads from right-wing commentators who tout its supply of ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, or both:

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Trump's State Media Struggling To Justify His Economic Failure

President Donald Trump’s propaganda outlets are struggling to articulate a clear message as his sclerotic rollout of tariffs trigger widespread economic turbulence.

U.S. stock markets tumbled on Monday after Trump told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that he could not rule out the possibility of a recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both suffered their worst day of the year, losing more than 2%, while the NASDAQ Composite fell 4%, its worst day since September 2022.

“The rout extended a miserable month for markets that has seen all three major indexes wipe out their gains since the US presidential election in November,” CNN reported. “The widespread selloff was mostly driven by anxiety about the impact of Trump’s tariffs.”

Here’s how the MAGA stalwarts on Fox News and Newsmax responded on Monday night.

Fox’s Watters and Hannity pretended the market fall didn’t happen

On Monday night, Fox prime-time host Jesse Watters did not mention the stock market decline outside of a passing comment about “a few rocky days on Wall Street,” instead focusing his attention on stories about how Democrats are “living a nightmare,” former first lady Michelle Obama’s forthcoming podcast, and Trump “cleaning up Biden’s mess.”

But the collapse did not go entirely unaddressed on Watters’ show. For the night’s final segment, Watters sent a producer to “explore” the political views of Gen Zers by interviewing spring breakers on the beach in Florida. When the producer asked the bathing suit-clad young people to identify the issue most important to them, one guy answered, “The stock market crashing.”

Fox host Sean Hannity didn’t send a producer to the beach, so on his program the market decline went unmentioned — his lead story was a “Hannity investigation” of “Biden’s Spending Spree.”

Fox’s Ingraham gently warned Trump about his tariffs’ potential political impact

Fox host Laura Ingraham opened her Monday program with a monologue criticizing Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) for, among other things, her “potty mouth.” But after that was over, she turned to the second-most-important story of the day: The economy.

Ingraham began the segment by noting the “rocky ride for the markets today,” which she attributed to how “businesses hate uncertainty, and for many the fentanyl tariffs, they just don't compute.”

The host walked a tightrope during the subsequent interview with Fox’s Maria Bartiromo, offering some mild criticism of the impact of Trump’s economic policy, which she carefully caveated by making clear that she supported the president’s goals.

Ingraham portrayed herself as “very pro-tariff” and a strong supporter of Trump’s China tariffs in his first term, adding that the public can’t “process” “the fentanyl tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and then China gets only 10%, then we're doing a summit with China.”

She later argued that the public needed to wait to see the benefits from the tariffs, saying, “People don't also understand right at this moment, or maybe they can't see, or they don't really care, some of these businesses, is the economic boom that will happen when manufacturing returns.”

But she added that the lag could have political consequences, asking, “Will the voters in the midterms, depending on how long this uncertainty goes on, maybe it's not so long, the voters in the midterms, will they be patient? That, I think, is the question.”

Newsmax’s Schmitt and Kelly said that Trump knows best

The hosts of Fox competitor Newsmax apparently saw the stock market drop as an opportunity to portray themselves as the most sycophantic Trump supporters.

Rob Schmitt made the case that the market collapse was actually a good sign.

“It is important to remember as you look at the markets, that as most Americans were gutted by inflation these last three years, those same markets as indicators were skyrocketing,” he said, “So perhaps stocks need to take a nosedive so the working man can get a little relief from all of this inflation.”

And Greg Kelly argued, as his show’s on-screen text put it, that “Trump Has Always Known What’s Best For The U.S.” and that viewers are “Better Off Listening To Trump Since He’s Proven To Always Be Right.”

“Everybody needs to calm down a little bit, and have some faith,” he said, claiming that “the mainstream media, the establishment, Democrats, a lot of RINOs out there, they want people to be panicked so all this stuff gets reversed.”

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters

Laura Ingraham Warns Of Economic 'Disaster' To Promote Her Gold Grift

When the going gets tough, right-wing commentators get grifting — though to be fair, they also rile up their audiences so they can profit off them in good times.

Take Laura Ingraham. On Tuesday morning, the Fox News host previewed the evening’s vice presidential debate between Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance by urging her X followers to buy gold and silver from her sponsor in order to avoid “a potential Harris/Walz disaster” to their personal finances.

Ingraham linked to a dedicated landing page featuring her endorsement of GoldPro, a precious metals investment company whose right-wing sponsors have included Ingraham’s Fox colleague Sean Hannity and Stew Peters, a white nationalist and antisemitic streamer who has called for the execution of journalists.

Ingraham’s LauraLikesGold.com testimonial states that “our current Administration has done nothing to make the lives of everyday American families better,” citing factors like “Rising Inflation,” “Increasing National debt,” and “a looming recession.”

“Will it ever get better?” she added. “Expert analysts are not hopeful, which is why I encourage you to learn how gold and silver can be a great way to hedge against these economic factors eating away at your nest egg.”

It is certainly amusing that in exchange for money, Ingraham is warning her audience both that former President Donald Trump may lose the 2024 presidential election and that even if he wins, his economic performance will prove so poor that they need to buy gold and silver as a hedge.

But Ingraham’s paid missive both defies what economists and other experts say about the relative merits of the plans put forward by Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump, and provides a stark example of how right-wing pundits enrich themselves on the backs of their followers.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Vance Is Just An Awful Politician -- And Trump Is Stuck With Him

Some of my best friends are cat people. I’m particularly indebted to our neighbor Laura, a self-described “crazy cat lady” who took in Albert, the most unusual feline I’ve known.

One time when we lived in the country, we walked through the fields to check on Albert where he’d set up temporary headquarters hunting mice in the neighbor’s hay barn. He came sauntering out to greet us, walking straight through a flock of turkey vultures cleaning up carrion on the ground. The buzzards paid him no mind. My wife was flabbergasted.

Albert always had his own plan. Except for one time after I’d broken three ribs in a fall from a horse. He converted himself from a barn cat to a house pet: sitting on the arm of my chair purring and helping me watch the Red Sox on TV until I healed up.

I was absurdly fond of that cat.

Altogether, Albert lived with us for ten years before relocating to Laura’s front porch. After moving back to town, we’d adopted an energetic young dog—a Great Pyrenees-Husky mix who thinks cat-pestering is great fun. I don’t believe he means to hurt them—Aspen is a friendly, gentle animal in other respects—but Albert wasn’t sticking around to find out. I figured he’d adapt, but he chose Laura’s front porch instead.

He's always been a shrewd judge of character. Laura feeds him, pets him, and takes him to the vet. We pay the vet bills and make occasional visits, where he’s somewhat aloof but friendly. So, it’s all worked out for the best.

Indeed, Laura has recently managed something I’d have thought impossible: she’s converted the now 15-year-old orange tabby to an indoor cat. He no longer prowls the neighborhood killing rats and getting into fights. He’s living as an older gentleman among Laura’s several cats.

In short, she’s a feline philanthropist and a wonderful neighbor. I know she has elderly parents nearby that she cares for, but Laura’s intimate life isn’t something we talk about. Her immediate family consists of her and the cats.

In other words, J.D. Vance can kiss my grits, as we say in Arkansas when we’re being nice.

So, I don’t know if “weird” is the right word, but he and Trump are definitely soul brothers. Try to imagine why a politician would be fool enough to call Jennifer Aniston, the widely beloved actress—she has a reported 50 million Instagram followers—"disgusting.”

Aniston’s sin was objecting to the “childless” part of “childless cat ladies who are miserable in their own lives” and therefore “have no direct stake in America.”

On her Instagram account, the actress, who has made no secret of her struggles to become a mother, commented “Mr. Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day. I hope she will not have to turn to IVF as a second option. Because you are trying to take that away from her too.”

It's true. A fierce anti-abortion activist, Vance voted against a Democratic bill to protect IVF rights. What he found “disgusting” was the actress’s mention of his two-year-old daughter. Evidently, only he gets to use his children as political pawns.

Has any national politician ever had a more unfortunate coming-out? This guy makes Alaskan “Hockey Mom” Sarah Palin look like Abraham Lincoln by comparison. As my man Charles Pierce puts it, “Vance may be the worst public politician I have ever seen. No kidding. This guy could screw up a two-car funeral if you spotted him the hearse.”

Vance’s liege and sovereign lord, meanwhile, has been going around the country promising his followers that if he’s elected in 2024, there won’t be any need for future elections. Or something.

“Christians, get out and vote! Just this time,” Donald Trump told an audience of evangelicals last week. “You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years. You know what? It’ll be fixed! It’ll be fine! You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians! I’m a Christian.”

Yeah, well if he’s a Christian, I’m the Pope.

On her Fox News program, Laura Ingraham all but begged Trump to clear up his ambiguous remarks. Surely, he didn’t mean to say he’d rule as a dictator?

Trump only repeated himself in one of his classic bafflegab statements: “Don’t worry about the future,” he said. “You have to vote on November 5. After that, you don’t have to worry about voting anymore, I don’t care, because the country will be fixed, and we won’t even need your vote anymore because frankly, we will have such love if you don’t want to vote anymore, that’s OK.”

We’re all supposed to pretend that Trump’s engaging in strategic ambiguity, and is not simply a cunning but confused old man slipping into senility.

Truth is, he’s halfway gone.

Gene Lyons is a former columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, a winner of the National Magazine Award, and co-author of The Hunting of the President.

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