SOAKING IN SNAKE OIL
A now-deleted tweet by anti-vaxxer Aseem Malhotra that features Helen Zille adds fuel to the conspiracy fire. It’s indicative of the kind of conservative ideology that’s kicking back at the imaginary opponent of ‘wokeness’
You might be one of those who wasn’t surprised to see DA politician Helen Zille pop up on the Twitter feed of antivaxxer Aseem Malhotra — a cardiologist and proud recipient of the British Dietetic Association’s (BDA) “top five worst celeb diets to avoid in 2018” award for his Pioppi diet.
The tweet in question (now deleted) showed a picture of Zille, Malhotra and a BizNews faux journalist beaming and awash in a cheap 1980s blue lighting effect, taken at an event hosted by conspiracy capitalists BizNews.
The tweet was captioned: “This morning one of South Africa’s most influential politicians Helen Zille attended my talk on the application of ethical evidence-based medicine to Covid mRNA vaccines. What she said to me is very revealing. Watch this space.”
Apparently, what Zille said must have been too revealing, as the space appears to have disappeared with the tweet. Damn you, cancel culture! But we are left with the question of why an “influential” politician would use that alleged influence to legitimise an anti-vaxxing shyster.
Here’s an example of how that works. A fellow traveller triumphantly tweeted: “South African politician Helen Zille agrees with Dr Aseem Malhotra,” with a link to a video titled “Helen Zille supports call to suspend C19 shots — in conversation with Dr Aseem Malhotra.”
Another tweet added more info: “South African politician Helen Zille agrees with Dr Aseem Malhotra that it is rational for the C19 shots to be suspended for full investigations. She bravely shares her coronavirus story & post C19 shot heart issue.”
Brave indeed.
Whether Zille did actually express support, I can’t say. Nobody can force me to watch the video, and it seems that all the tweets about this are gone. But all that does, of course, is add fuel to the conspiracy fire.
According to an “awake, not woke pureblood” user I won’t bother naming, because she’s an idiot, “all tweets regarding Zille’s jab injury, even Dr Malhotra’s tweet that she attended his session have been deleted. Nothing on Rumble either. Has she been chastised by her WEF masters??”
Malhotra’s Pioppi diet is ostensibly based on the lifestyle of 200 or so people who live in the small Italian village of Pioppi. Malhotra and his coauthor didn’t actually do any scientific research, they just hung out there and then relied on their observations to design their new health shill.
I can’t imagine how annoying this must have been for the villagers. Actually, I can easily imagine it, now that I’ve seen that awful picture on Malhotra’s Twitter feed, of himself, emeritus professor of bowel movements Tim Noakes and that Mr Panda Panda antivax guy, all three shirtless and glistening with snake oil, with the caption, “just returned from a breathtaking hike in the stunning Drakensberg mountains with these two (low-carb) truthseeking warriors”.
Warriors, huh?
Malhotra conducted the same rigorous scientific research in South Africa as he did in Pioppi, you’ll be glad to know. “The amount of
reports of people suffering serious adverse events from the Covid mRNA jab across
South Africa is mind-blowing.
Almost everyone I speak to (from taxi drivers to shopkeepers) has either suffered themselves or knows of someone who has died as a result.”
According to the BBC, “the BDA accused [Malhotra and his co-author] of ‘hijacking’ the Mediterranean diet with their agenda, saying it was ‘ridiculous’ to include coconut oil or cauliflower for a pizza base as one of their suggestions. A spokesperson for the
BDA said: ‘We all know now that a Mediterranean-style diet is one of the most healthy diets to follow. But it’s not low carb.’”
So what would cause someone such as Zille — who some have taken to describing as a “once-respected” politician, but who could more accurately be described as a now differently respected politician — hitch her wagon to the cause-hucksters of the world?
Ag, you know what, I don’t really care enough to analyse that. I can’t better the pithiness of Daily Maverick journalist
Ferial Haffajee, who wrote: “Comment: loss of marbles almost complete now.”
It’s more fun to take a look at what the absurd endpoint for anti-woke product placement can look like, and take bets on how long it’ll take Zille and her counterparts to get there.
One of the many right-wing, conservative social media platforms I subscribe to (don’t ask) is Parler, the home of Conspiracy Jesus™. One of Parler’s writers has penned a column titled “My 10 Favourite Patriotic Companies”, and I can’t help thinking that it serves as a fable for where our own anti-woke whackjobs are headed.
She writes: “I never really focused on who I was purchasing products from until six years ago. I remember during that time that companies such as Nike were taking stands on pressing topics that I did not agree with. I found that when chaos was hitting our world, whether it was through Covid-19 or even the overturn of Roe vs Wade, there were companies that made stances on those topics … I knew I couldn’t support companies that were taking my money and putting it towards a cause I don’t support. I did a lot of research following those events and have found some great companies. So, I wanted to create a list of my top 10 favourite patriotic companies that I believe support a true patriot’s values.”
Here is a sample of the companies she supports, with reasons why she supports them, and I invite you to read this aloud in the voice of Zille giving John Steenhuisen fashion advice.
“Black Rifle Coffee was one of the first brands I remember that broke into the coffee industry as a supporter of the patriotic lifestyle … One of my favourite things about them is how they started out by selling their coffee at shooting ranges. I love the idea behind their marketing — of really meeting their target audience right where they are.”
Is that why Zille turns up at these conspiracy events? Because she believes that’s where the DA’s audience is? I can’t imagine that’s the case. Perhaps that’s where she wishes they were.
Then there’s clothing brand Brittany & Kasi: “Looks created specifically for Americans”, which basically means a lot of tired cowboy clichés.
Brittany, she says, was making headlines “because of her conservative values” and being “vocally conservative”.
“During the height of the controversy
... she decided to create a conservativeminded clothing brand alongside her sister-in-law. One of the things I really liked about this was the mission behind why they started it. Instead of allowing themselves to be cancelled she rose up and went full-on conservative and even made a clothing brand.”
More clothing: “I put Nine Line on this list because they are one of the first memories I have when it comes to patriotic clothing. When I think of the original conservative in-your-face company, I automatically think of this one. I love how truly bold they are and how they’re not afraid to put some ‘offensive’ slogans on their shirts.”
A sample of offensive (without the inverted commas) slogans from Nine
Line: “America. Live it, love it, or get the hell out”, “Keep calm and double tap”, and the ever-resonant “Dropping warheads on foreheads since 1947”.
String those together, and you’ve got a short story about US imperialism, xenophobia and the cult of violence.
And then — and you saw this one coming — there’s that trope so beloved of conservatives: the right to drool over deadly weapons.
“When I started carrying a gun a few years ago I did a lot of research to figure out what holster I wanted to use,” our writer says. “I wanted a very specific style and clip for my holster. After a lot of research, I found Eclipse Holsters and absolutely loved my experience with them. I send everybody I know to them.”
But what does the stylish “good guy/gal with a gun” pair that holster with, hardware aside?
“Alexo Athletica … changed the game when it came to concealed carrying.
They make amazing pants that you can carry in without having to wear a belt. They have made it possible for me to carry during times that are much longer than a few hours.”
Because everyone needs to carry a gun when you’re out for the day visiting.
There’s not a world of difference between Zille endorsing misinformation brands such as Malhotra and Panda (Pandemics Data & Analytics), and the sort of shilling our tame US patriot is doing. Both are based on buttressing a particular sort of conservative ideology that is defined by its incessantly trumpeted opposition to an imaginary opponent they’re choosing to call wokeness.
Both are based on a simple principle: you can understand a person by the type of brands they associate with. For some of our politicians it’s Breitling or buffalo, for others it’s the counterfeit libertarianism you’ll find marked down in the sales bin. And as usual, it’s our democracy that has to foot the bill.