Steve Kirsch
Steve Kirsch is a multimillionaire and former entrepreneur[1]. He went off the deep end during the pandemic and now spends his time making crappy anti-vax Substack posts. He is an occasional guest on InfoWars, with a first appearance on November 9 2021[2].
In March 2020, he founded the Covid-19 Early Treatment Fund (CETF), which looked for FDA-approved drugs with a well-known safety profile which were effective against Covid-19[1]. He was extremely optimistic about the several drugs, claiming enormous benefits for hydroxychloroquine and fluvoxamine. His disagreements with experts (including ones he'd funded) grew toxic and most began avoiding him.
In May 2021, he began antivax activism[3]. That same month, the entire scientific advisory board of CETF resigned due to his behavior. He was asked to leave his most recent startup later that year[1].
Unlike many Covid-19 cranks, he insists that the virus is real and reasonably lethal[4]. As of November 2021, he did not think that vaccines were intended to cause deaths[2]. Instead, his narrative is that the vaccines cause enormous hidden harms that exceed any benefits.
A speculative explanation for his descent is a drive to be a hero that saved millions, which is sabotaged by its narcissistic nature. Before the pandemic he funded asteroid detection efforts[1]. In 2020, he started a high-risk philanthropic effort to find treatments. (Both good ideas.) He could not accept the latter had minimal results and that followup studies weren't a high priority. This would mean he'd failed. So, he decided the naysayers were dumb and he had to convince them. Authorities later promoted vaccines, still ignoring his treatments. It was unacceptable for his efforts to be ignored for a working alternative. This would still be failure. But if vaccines are inferior, he'd still have been right. And if the vaccines are lethal enough, he can save millions by spreading the truth.
Kirsch has a dishonest and erratic rhetorical style. A common tactic is offering bets or bounties for "proofs", and announcing that the lack of takers proves him right. This incorrectly assumes that someone with money and expertise has heard of him and expects him to pay out without onerous shenanigans. Additionally, the fine print often has conditions that may bias outcomes or render proof impossible. For example, "bets" require neutral judges, preferably with a scientific background[4]. If the overwhelming consensus says a given claim is false (or true), informed judges would begin with a firm opinion. Claims of neutrality would likely select for dishonesty or biased reasoning, favoring a radical claim. In another example, he once offered[5] $1 million to anyone at a university who could prove vaccine deaths were below a certain value. Behind the headline, he mandated that they must use the methodology from a blog post, and publish the results in a peer-reviewed journal. No money was offered to show that the method was horseshit and would be rejected by any credible journal. No mention was made of whether a potential author's enormous financial interest in the results would impact their ability to publish.
Steve Kirsch is a fan of live debates and often structures bets around them. Anyone wishing to debate him should consider what happened to lab leak proponent Yuri Deigin. Deigin agreed to discuss some points about vaccine safety (with no apparent bet). They did not discuss having anyone else in their discussion, which was supposed to be a couple hours. Since it wasn't explicitly forbidden, Kirsch invited a dozen or so of his closest friends and conspiracy theorists to constantly interrupt Deigin and make contradictory assertions[6]. He'd likely do even crazier things if there was money on the line.
Relevant Episodes by Release Date
| No. | Title | Coverage
start date |
Coverage
end date |
Air date | Episode type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 616 | 616: November 9, 2021 | November 9, 2021 | November 9, 2021 | November 12, 2021 | Present Day |
| 619 | 619: November 16, 2021 | November 16, 2021 | November 16, 2021 | November 22, 2021 | Present Day |
| 625 | 625: December 5, 2021 | December 5, 2021 | December 5, 2021 | December 10, 2021 | Present Day |
| 632 | 632: Christmas Message and More | December 25, 2021 | December 29, 2021 | December 31, 2021 | Present Day |
| 635 | 635: January 6-7, 2022 | January 6, 2022 | January 7, 2022 | January 10, 2022 | Present Day |
| 640 | 640: January 22, 2022 | January 22, 2022 | January 22, 2022 | January 24, 2022 | Present Day |
| 644 | 644: February 2, 2022 | February 2, 2022 | February 2, 2022 | February 4, 2022 | Present Day |
| 718 | 718: August 21-22, 2022 | August 21, 2022 | August 22, 2022 | August 26, 2022 | Present Day |
| 725 | 725: September 13-14, 2022 | September 13, 2022 | September 14, 2022 | September 16, 2022 | Present Day |
| 748 | 748: November 16, 2022 | November 16, 2022 | November 16, 2022 | November 18, 2022 | Present Day |
| 809 | 809: May 18, 2023 | May 18, 2023 | May 18, 2023 | May 22, 2023 | Present Day |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/10/05/1036408/silicon-valley-millionaire-steve-kirsch-covid-vaccine-misinformation/
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 616: November 9, 2021
- ↑ https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/my-bio
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/1m-bet-rules
- ↑ https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire
- ↑ https://youtu.be/SUmicxBfWuo?t=581
