Just because retired X-ray reader Scott Atlas has left his post as American’s fud-spreader in chief doesn’t mean that the Republican Party is about to be even the slightest bit more reasonable when it comes to the science of COVID-19. Any pining for the days when Donald Trump was promoting a ineffective and dangerous drug in the face of a surging pandemic is about to get a fresh whiff of nostalgia tinged by Lovecraftian horror, as the Senate invites a range of cranks and quacks to testify on Tuesday.
Thanks to Vladimir Putin’s other favorite American, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, the Senate will be hearing from a fan of (brace yourself) hydroxychloroquine. That’s right, the drug that has been found ineffective in multiple international trials—and which the FDA cautioned against back in June—is going to get another day in the Senate. And if that’s not enough damage, the “experts” Johnson has invited to speak are also expected to slam vaccines.