"I called doctors in Wuhan" - When Elon Musk recalled triggering media backlash with shocking COVID-19 prophecy in chat with Joe Rogan
Elon Musk once recounted sparking a severe media backlash with an apparently foreboding COVID-19 warning. Musk expounded upon the debacle during a conversation with UFC color commentator Joe Rogan on the latter's world-renowned JRE (Joe Rogan Experience) podcast.
On JRE's episode #2054 in Oct. 2023, Musk and Rogan reaffirmed their longstanding stance that the American and global strategies for the COVID-19 pandemic and the COVID-19 vaccine could've been better. The duo has often lambasted the alleged mass hysteria as counterintuitive while dealing with public health challenges of that ilk.
Joe Rogan and Elon Musk alluded that the pandemic came to light in China's Wuhan region in late 2019. The coronavirus variants swiftly wreaked havoc worldwide, causing international logistical, entrepreneurial, health, and miscellaneous devastation.
Specifically pointing out one of the allegedly incorrect health measures precipitated by the supposed COVID-induced mass panic, Rogan stated:
"80 percent of the people they put on ventilators died."
For his part, Musk had time and again indicated that the overuse of ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients was adversely affecting their health, especially their lungs. Implying that he raised this point back in 2020 and faced widespread criticism in the media, Musk stated:
"Yeah. So, in fact, I actually posted about that because I called doctors in Wuhan and said, 'What are the biggest mistakes you made in the first wave?' This was early on. And they said, 'We put far too many people on intubated ventilators.'"
The SpaceX founder added:
"So then, I actually posted on Twitter at the time and said, 'Hey, what I'm hearing from Wuhan is that they made a big mistake in putting people on intubated ventilators for an extended period and that this is actually what is damaging the lungs. Not COVID. It's the treatment. The cure is worse than the disease.' And people yelled at me and said I'm not a doctor. I'm like, 'yeah, but I do make spaceships with life support systems. What do you do?'"
Check out Joe Rogan and Elon Musk's comments below:
Watch the duo discuss the topic below (1:04:00 to 1:09:06):
Elon Musk reignited debate about intubated ventilator use for COVID-afflicted persons
In 2020, Elon Musk emphasized that intubated ventilators were having counterproductive, primarily fatal, effects on the persons who were undergoing treatment to battle the COVID-19 virus. Musk, who acquired the social media platform Twitter (later rebranded as X) in 2022, shared multiple posts about the intubated ventilator topic in 2020.
The medical community was divided about the veracity of Musk's prophecy. Some accused him of perpetuating misinformation, whereas others speculated that one shouldn't rule out the possibility of certain medical treatments having inadvertently malevolent consequences.
Fast-forward to 2024, and Elon Musk has made several appearances on JRE and has also partaken in American politics. The world's current richest person is expected to serve in the Trump-Vance administration from Jan. 2025.
The COVID-19 virus and COVID-19 vaccines have been hot-button topics in election-related socio-political discourse in the U.S. and beyond.
On that note, Musk recently reaffirmed his stance about the intubated ventilators. In June 2024, he seemingly reignited the debate concerning how prolonged periods in the ventilators have possibly disastrous results. An excerpt from Musk's post on X read:
"I tried telling people this! When I talked to doctors in Wuhan after the first wave hit China, their top recommendation was to avoid using intubated ventilators for extended periods at 100% O2, as it damages the lungs."