Harvard Law Prof Laurence Tribe Under Fire For Apparently Suggesting Mass Coronavirus Infection and Death to Solve Pandemic
Harvard Law School professor and frequent MSNBC guest Laurence Tribe was criticized on social media, Friday, for claiming that a large number of the population will “need to be exposed” to the coronavirus and die.
In a Twitter post — which has since been removed — Tribe wrote, “Because it’s too late to contain COVID-19, there’s only one possible ending to the story: We must collectively develop immunity to the disease.”
“In lieu of a vaccine, that means most of us will need to be exposed to the virus. Some unknowably large number of us will therefore die,” he argued, quickly inviting the scorn of other media commentators and college professors.
Because it’s too late to contain COVID-19, there’s only one possible ending to the story: We must collectively develop immunity to the disease. In lieu of a vaccine, that means most of us will need to be exposed to the virus. Some unknowably large number of us will therefore die.
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) April 17, 2020
You go first Larry
— Rob (@robrousseau) April 17, 2020
I’ve been telling you all for a few years that Larry Tribe frequently engages in conspiracy theories but partisanship would lead me to get ratio’d.
Now do you get it?
Your anger towards Trump shouldn’t lead you to seek out the opinions of people who are detached from reality. pic.twitter.com/PU7u5WMk8p
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) April 17, 2020
Usually your bullshit doesn’t kill people. This bullshit might. Shut up.
— Angus Johnston ? (@studentactivism) April 17, 2020
Is this an invitation for people to come by your house and cough on you? Because if not maybe avoid the “we” shit
— Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) April 17, 2020
are you volunteering, or is this some chickenhawk punditry?
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) April 17, 2020
Larry Tribe was once the most respected legal scholar of his generation, and considered a likely Supreme Court nominee under a Democratic presidenthttps://t.co/R4WdQGZ882
— dylan matthews (@dylanmatt) April 17, 2020
Lead the way, @tribelaw. Videotape your bravery and post it here to inspire us all. https://t.co/yrkxVoZoFK
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 17, 2020
“This ain’t it, Laurence. Unless you are posting this as your goodbye as you walk mask and glove-less into the fray to be a possible sacrificial lamb for your ‘brilliant’ plan,” reacted actress Yvette Nicole Brown.
This ain’t it, Laurence. Unless you are posting this as your goodbye as you walk mask and glove-less into the fray to be a possible sacrificial lamb for your “brilliant” plan.
Hashtag: NOPE. https://t.co/Yx4rsXrA0T
— yvette nicole brown (@YNB) April 17, 2020
“Constitutional law and public health are different departments at the university for a reason,” commented NBC News policy editor Benjy Sarlin.
Constitutional law and public health are different departments at the university for a reason https://t.co/tZxLFiHQUB
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) April 17, 2020
Tribe has previously been criticized by the media for sharing conspiracy theories about President Donald Trump and Russia, and BuzzFeed called out the professor in 2017 for “sharing unconfirmed, speculative, and sometimes wild information.”
Tribe has also helped promote disgraced media commentator Louise Mensch — who became the subject of widespread mockery for repeatedly claiming that President Trump’s former strategist Steve Bannon was “being considered” for “the death penalty” — while the Intercept described Tribe as “one of the internet’s most unhinged cranks, churning out wild conspiracy theories and, in the process, becoming a social media star and MSNBC favorite.”
UPDATE: Tribe’s post has been removed from Twitter.
