CMU President John Marshall’s spin on the Israeli study matches TheGatewayPundit’s spin on the same study

The information CMU President John Marshall promoted in an email about an un-peer-reviewed Israeli study, and the key information that he left out, match that of the right wing conspiracy website TheGatewayPundit.com (Photo: Twitter @maverickprez)

On August 27, 2021, the conspiracy website TheGatewayPundit.com posted an article strongly promoting a “new study out of Israel” that touted natural immunity against Covid-19 over the immunity provided by vaccines. The Gateway Pundit article headline said people who have recovered from COVID-19 have more protection against the virus than people who’ve only been vaccinated. The study the website pointed to as the source of this information was the very same un-peer reviewed Israeli preprint on MedRxIv.org with a warning label that CMU President John Marshall pointed to as the basis for his August 30 “Campus Safety” email to staff promoting the protective value of natural immunity to Covid-19.

The Campus Safety email to staff stated,

“…a large observational study out of Israel demonstrated the power of the human immune system which supports what we’ve been saying all along: That naturally acquired immunity after a SARS-CoV-2 infection is highly protective against reinfection and severe disease and hospitalization.”

Same key info omitted

Coincidentally both Marshall and GatewayPundit withheld the very same key information that readers really needed know about this study: that the study had not yet been peer-reviewed, that it could contain erroneous information and that it had a warning label clearly stating that it “should not be used to guide clinical practice.” Marshall and GatewayPundit also both failed to disclose the limitations of the study its authors disclosed, specifically that they did not consider the effects of participants’ health behaviors like masking and physical distancing. And neither Marshall nor GatewayPundit mentioned the same important point that the website Politifact made about the article, specifically that “gauging immunity by comparing COVID-19 reinfection rates among the unvaccinated with breakthrough infections among the vaccinated ignores the dangers of contracting COVID-19 in the first place, and the protections against severe illness that vaccines provide.” Also, neither Marshall nor GatewayPundit mentioned that the Israeli study had concluded that “individuals who were both previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 and given a single dose of the vaccine gained additional protection against the Delta variant.” [Italicized emphasis added.]

Gateway Pundit is the same right wing conspiracy theory website that posted Mesa County’s voting machine passwords

If the name “Gateway Pundit” sounds familiar, there’s a reason why: it’s the same far right wing conspiracy website that posted the passwords to Mesa County’s voting machines last month after County Clerk Tina Peters allegedly let an unauthorized person access the equipment while surveillance cameras were turned off.

National Public Radio described Gateway Pundit as “a conservative news site that traffics in election conspiracy theories.” In 2017, the Washington Post described Gateway Pundi as a “blog known for spreading hoaxes” and the New York Times called it a “pro-Trump blog.” Wikipedia describes Gateway Pundit as “a far right fake news website … known for publishing falsehoods, hoaxes and conspiracy theories,” and in February, 2021, Twitter permanently shut down the account of the Gateway Pundit’s founder, Jim Hoft, because of his efforts to try to manipulate the election.

If CMU President Marshall is getting his medical information about Covid-19 immunity from TheGatewayPundit, as it appears he is, and not from professional immunologists, epidemiologists, virologists and other public health experts, or from peer-reviewed, academic and scientific published research, Mesa County may be very big in trouble.

  6 comments for “CMU President John Marshall’s spin on the Israeli study matches TheGatewayPundit’s spin on the same study

  1. CMU has a lot of potential, it has a beautiful campus and great resources, but it’s wasted with such poor choices for leadership positions. To anyone that’s actually worked in higher ed, John Marshall was such an obviously bad pick for university president – he’s professionally unqualified, and has ethical and moral values that misalign with those of higher ed.

    CMU acts like it’s running for the award of the most “basic” university in Colorado. Academic standards are low, students have reported graduating and finding their program was absolutely worthless. They’ve gutted their social sciences and humanities. A significant portion of students don’t have university-level reading/writing skills. Marshall’s inability to cite peer-reviewed research (a skill you should have your freshman year of college) and spreading of mis-information, doesn’t do anything to improve the academic culture.

    What I don’t understand though, is why more faculty speak up?

  2. He has four kids. So we all get to live in a world polluted by all these kids. All that trash. All those sins. Thanks a lot Marshall.

  3. https://science.thewire.in/health/natural-immunity-covid-19-greater-protection-delta-variant-vaccines-israel-study/

    Honestly Ann- Its good to know that you remain a poster child for the main stream media narrative and attacking other sources of news actually makes you think you are an authority – from ivermectin doesn’t work to vaccines are the cure all end all solution. You might do a little research on VAERS regarding vaccine deaths, and injuries. Corona virus will never go away – we cannot vaccinate ourselves out of a pandemic- never have never will. Is there people that should get the vaccine- absolutely are there many that don’t need to? Absolutely! Should vaccines be mandated absolutely NOT. For a progressive liberal that maintains being an atheist- your right, believes that abortion is a right, that freedom of speech should be protected – ( okay maybe you do not believe that anymore) – What happened to MY BODY MY CHOICE? – Kudos to the new CMU president-

  4. Marshall was a terrible choice. He has no cogent academic experience, but was a political choice and is mouthing political statements. CMU will suffer greatly in academic circles from his “leadership” and degrees from there will not be respected.

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