Anti-Vax Cartoonist Treating COVID With Ivermectin, Beet Root Juice

A right-wing cartoonist who's made his anti-vaccine opinions clear now has COVID-19. "We’re taking Ivermectin and various vitamins including a lot of Zinc" and drinking beet root juice, Ben Garrison tells Gizmodo. Asked whether he'd been vaccinated, Garrison said no and falsely claimed the COVID vaccines have killed 15,000 people and left hundreds of thousands of others with serious side effects. He also said he'd never go to the hospital for treatment because hospitals are killing people so they can get "extra money for COVID death reports, which is necessary to keep fear ramped up." That conspiracy theory has been lately gaining traction among anti-vaxxers.

As for how he and his wife feel, "Both Tina and I feel slightly better after two weeks, but it has been rough. I lost my taste and smell as well as desire to eat any kind of food. I lost 15 pounds as a result. Young people tend to bounce back more quickly, but we’re in our mid-60s," Garrison tells Gizmodo. The Daily Beast notes Garrison is known for cartoons depicting former President Trump "as a hyper-masculine, square-jawed beefcake." One cartoon found on his site features a horse labeled "Ivermectin" kicking Dr. Anthony Fauci and the "medical industrial complex." (More COVID-19 stories.)