Ted Nugent Trends on Twitter For Asking Why Previous 18 COVIDs Didn’t Lead to Shutdowns

Ted Nugent took to Facebook Live recently and asked why the previous 18 COVIDs didn't lead to shutdowns in the country.

The Nuge spoke at-length during an April 7 Facebook Live video during which he said, "This year's tour is canceled again. The production companies won't let us tour again this year. Dirty bastard, lying, scam, smoke-and-mirrors COVID-19 freaks."

Nugent continued, "You know, I guess I would ask you, because I'm addicted to truth, logic and common sense, and my common sense meter would demand the answer to, why weren't we shut down for COVID-1 through -18? There was a COVID-1, and there was a COVID-2, -3, -4, -5, -6, -7, -8, -9, -10, -11, -12, -13, -14, -15, -16, -17, -18. COVID-1 through -18 didn't shut anything down, but woah, COVID-19 [did], even though it's 99.8 percent survivable. Why didn't we shut down for the AIDS epidemic or the flu or the Spanish Flu or the bird flu or the West Nile flu or influenza every year?"

Nugent added, without citing any evidence, "They claim five hundred thousand people have died from COVID-19. Bulls---. I believe that medical examiners in all 50 states have gone, 'I put down on the death certificate that he died of asphyxiation, but they made me put COVID.' 'Well, this guy was stabbed to death, but they made me put down COVID.' 'This guy was run over by a tandem gravel truck doing a four-wheel drift and the crows be pecking at your flesh, but they made me put down COVID-19.'

Snopes noted in a post on Nugent's video, "The respiratory disease COVID-19 was named in February 2020 for the coronavirus that causes it — SARS-CoV-2 — and the year in which the first disease case was reported — 2019. Following that logic, Nugent’s proclamation of a 'COVID one through 18' would suggest that there had been 18 years of coronavirus infection rates at a global scale, which is unfounded."

As of publishing, tweets related to Nugent's video have led to him being a top ten trending topic on Twitter. Here are some notable tweets in response to Nugent.