The Adam and Dr. Drew Show - Classic #1744 Adam Is ”Newsweek” Infamous

Episode Date: July 8, 2026

July 11, 2023Adam and Dr. Drew dived right into a “Newsweek” article from the gates of hell that were 2020. Line by line he eviscerates the author’s erroneous points. Adam and Dr. Drew further illustrates their perspectives by using various examples, emphasizing all the egregious ways so many people behaved towards one another during this time. People claimed health concerns but ultimately, it was predominantly politically fueled jargon.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Throwback episode not so long ago, July 2023, we get right into a Newsweek article from the Gates of Hell that were 2020. We then look at the author's erroneous points. We illustrate our perspectives by using examples, all the egregious way so many people behaved towards one another during that time. The hell of 2019, 2020, people claimed health concerns, but ultimately, we know what this was. You'll have to relive it with us in July 11th of 2023, episode 1744. Enjoy this throwback. Recorded live at Corolla 1 Studios with Adam Carolla and board certified physician and addiction medicine specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky. You're listening to The Adam and Dr. Drew Show.

Yeah, get it on. Got to get on that. I got to get on that church. I get on. Dr. Drew's Board of Certified Physician, the specialist. and he's in New York City. Yeah, man. I sure am.

So, you know, there's something you and I were talking about yesterday I wanted to share with this audio or a couple days ago we were talking about. And that is sort of speculating about some of the extreme pushback that happened during COVID and how if you dared to raise your hand about any of the sort of, what should we say, the wisdom coming out of the CDC and Dr. Fauci, you just said, I'm masking, really? You just didn't you just say mask, don't wear? You were crushed with this incredible fury. But you brought up something about that that is a little clearer in retrospect, which is that there was a, you were also accused of not just wanting to kill other people and harm other people, but you were a Nazi.

You were extreme MAGA, which I didn't really at the time appreciate how much of it was that. It was mostly that. Yeah. It was you tipping your hand. There's a kind of, it's almost like in Hollywood, if there's any celebrity that says he's Christian or very religious or something, they always go after him, right? And then you go, why they go in after the guy from Guardians of the Gallagher? Well, he hunts and he's he's a devout Christian. And you go, so what?

What's that have to do with that? He's never said anything or done anything or whatever anything. And they go, he hunts and he's religious. So we know how he votes. And so we're coming after him, right? And so that's kind of how it works. So if what happened with the COVID is if you said, I don't want to wear a mask or I don't think shutting schools down is a good idea.

Then you showed your hand. Yeah. To that. Yeah. You didn't have to say how you voted. You just told them how you voted. You didn't want schools to be closed and you didn't want, you didn't think Ivermectin was horse-paced. But fine.

Okay. Then they went after you with a ferocity not because they were cared to. whether masked are effective or not. I mean, you have to think, half the guys that lectured you about wearing masks were wearing a mask that was pulled down underneath their nose. Yes. Or, you know, every politician that lectured you about your mask

was seen at Staples Center taking pictures with Magic Johnson and no mask. You know, like it wasn't about the mask. The mask represented. And so did all these things represented how you voted. And so the reason they went after everyone with a ferocity wasn't because of COVID. COVID was not very dangerous in the eyes of most people, realistically. They were leaving their house, going to the supermarket. You know, they were.

Remember, they had people convinced that there was a 50% fatality rate for a 30-year-old. I mean, that was people. No, here's what I'm saying, Drew. what I'm saying is is people didn't feel the fear of it like we thought they did. They didn't do it. I mean, like I said, you know, Gavin Newsom's going out to dinner with 30 of his closest friends indoors. Was he really worried about being ravaged by COVID? No, he didn't care.

They used fear to, you know. Yeah, I get it. I get it. But how many, I would go to the supermarket. It would be crowded. You know, I would go out and about. People were out and about. Now, look, they've tried to lock down and there was much less traffic on the freeway and stuff like that.

But this didn't really sink in like something that people thought was going to kill them. It just didn't. I mean, not when you really think that way. I, you, you, you, you,

you know what I mean? Like, you don't have a paper mask that's down around your chin half the time when you're, like, you, you know what I mean? Yeah. Like,

I, I was just watching the Super Bowl, the COVID Super Bowl. I think we had one or two of them, like, Kansas City, half the players had masks on. Like,

the sideline, but they're around their chins. Yeah. The crowd with an outdoor stadium, sort of half capacity or something, half capacity, but then you'd get in line at the hot dog stand and everyone was bunched up. You know what I mean? Like, it wasn't really, it's, it's, it, people were scared through propaganda, but they didn't really act as if on, on many, this. Second, something would reopen a restaurant or movie theaters.

Everyone was just out in full force. You know what I mean? Orange County was just packed. You know, the restaurants were packed. People weren't really that fearful of it. The people that attacked everyone vis-a-vis COVID were attacking them for political reasons. Otherwise, it would have been, you know, live and let live. Think about vaccinations.

Do I give a shit whether my neighbor's kid gets vaccinated for whooping cough or smallpox? I don't give a fuck. Why all the concern? Where did the crazy concern come from? The concern was political. It was all political. Otherwise, who gives a shit? I got vaccinated.

You're saying if I get vaccinated, I can't get it. And I can't spread it at the beginning. okay good then you're done then what do you give a fuck whether your neighbor gets vaccinated it's a fact that's of the pandemic of the unvaccinated no that was all political because the person that said I don't want to get vaccinated was making a statement and you were reacting to them being on the other side of the aisle

but remember they'd have been indoctrinated for months on if one person isn't saved no one is safe no one is safe unless everyone's safe I know, but this was, this was, I was saying it to August the other day, I was very proud of myself. I said, COVID impacted seniors and it impacted people with preexisting conditions and impacted the obese. But the one group that it really hit the hardest were narcissists. They had to become the police of the world. they had to imbibe all this stuff.

They had to be moved to, you know, narcissists were severely impact. That group, which is an ever-growing group and a very large group were devastated by COVID because they had to make it not only am I in charge of myself with COVID, I'm in charge with everybody's COVID. Yeah. So narcissists got vanquished by COVID. And the reason COVID didn't affect me is because I'm not a narcissist. I didn't care.

You're not a narcissist. But on that subject, which is I brought my phone in the studio, Drew, which I never do. Because I wanted to break down this game film for a while. I like to go back and look at these things. And this was the Newsweek article about me. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And what I said about COVID. You're insane, insane rantings.

Right. So next time Newsweek comes out with an article about anything and you're reading it. Think about this. I want you to think about this. Yes. Because this is. Please don't have Gilman amnesia. This is from the very beginning of September 2020. So this is. 9 to 20.

That's when this article came out. And it was by, I'm trying to think how to pronounce this name. A-L-S-L-A-L-A. Huh. A-I-L-A. Is that a name? How would you say that? A-L-A-L-A-L-A-L-A?

Slisco. It's not A-L-A-L-R. We think we think it's ALA. Ala, Slisco. It's Slisco. Yeah, Slisco, L-S-C-I-Founder, S-C-L-I-S-C-O. Right. So here's the thing that I've found about this article.

I'd like to go back and look at it once a year. All right, so this is three years old. All right. We're right in the middle of COVID. I mean, we're just getting, we're really hitting our stride. in terms of, now, the reason they wrote this article is not because of my accurate COVID thoughts, but I'd outed myself to them as a MAGA. Yeah.

That's why they write these articles. Otherwise, it's just a comedian with thoughts that happen to be correct. Okay. So it says, so a couple things you really have to think about. radio host Adam Carolla was blasted on Twitter after falsely suggesting only the old and sick die of COVID. All right. So let's break down that sentence. Radio show host.

Right. I haven't hosted a radio show in over a decade at this point. Yeah. Over 10 years, I've not been the host of a radio show. So why didn't they use the more accurate? term podcaster. This is ostensibly a younger person who wrote this article, I'm assuming. Podcasting's all the rage and ubiquitous.

Why not call me a podcaster, which is what I am and not a radio show host? Because talk radio is... Talk radio is Republican. Talk radio is right wing. So you would describe me as a radio show. You sure as fuck wouldn't describe. me as a comedian, because comedians get to say what they want. And they're not right wing. So she could have described me as a podcast host, but that wouldn't fit as well, because

we're shaping something here. And we're doing it bits and pieces, right? Yeah, of course. So she could have called me a podcast host, but she didn't. And she could have called me a comedian, but she didn't. I am currently and was currently a comedian. I am currently a comedian. And was currently a media and a podcast host. I've not been a radio show host for over a decade. Yeah. But yet that was my title. Yes.

All right. Interesting. Yes. I was blasted on Twitter after falsely suggesting. And by the way, that's unnecessary in this discussion because the discussion is what did I do? And what I did is I suggested only, old and sick dive COVID. You don't have to put falsely.

Right. In front of it. You can just say what I said. Right. She doesn't have to have her opinion imprinted on the reporting. Right. Also, they will use the word only in this article multiple times. I never said only.

My quote was, turns out the people dying from COVID are old or sick or both, how many you pussies got played and who's getting played the next time? Yeah. Now, obviously, saying prostate cancer kills old people is an accurate statement, but it's not you saying there's not a 27-year-old male who didn't die of prostate cancer. Correct. Right.

You don't, obviously not only old people and sick people are dying. It is now just the overwhelming majority to a point where it's statistically almost impossible to find a 10-year-old boy without pre-existing conditions who died of COVID. But I wouldn't say only. I would never say only because you're not making your point that way. Of course, people have died. of COVID that have been not elderly and didn't have pre-existing, pre-existing conditions. But anyway, that's, so it's all in the wording. While insulting, and here's the other part I do, like, so I'll read the whole thing.

Radio show host, not a radio show, blasted on host, blast on Twitter for falsely suggesting only the old and the sick die. those are both inaccurate of COVID-19 while insulting those who got played by believing medical experts. All right. Drew, are you up or is your bandwidth bad again? It's hysterical. Believing medical. That's so manipulative.

Yes. Suggesting those who got played by believing medical experts. That was their whole fucking argument. Hey, bitch, who turned out to be right about this three years ago? Right. You or I. You were the good folks at Newsweek. Come on the show and defend it.

How about that? We got to get her on the show. She'll never do it. Turns out, all right, so you got my, you got my quote. Although, the article continues, although the sick and the elderly are more susceptible to serious. complications or death due to COVID-19. Isn't that what I said?

Yes. They are far from the only groups that the virus kills. Far? Far. Although the sick and the elderly are more susceptible, they're far from the other group. Yeah. Is that a lie? How false is that statement three years on?

That's part of the insanity of this whole situation. Back then, they would use these hyperbolic. terms. And, you know, if it was a 3% different, they'd say, oh, nowhere near. Or if it was a 90% difference, they'd go, it wasn't nothing to see here. Still people die. If one's not safe, we're all not safe. Yeah. So, although the sick and the other, they're more susceptible to serious complications or death of COVID, through COVID, they're far from the only groups that the virus kills. No, I would say that's about the only group the virus kills. Yeah. Yeah. Statistically. Yeah.

Data from the centers of disease control and prevention, the CDC, indicate that over 35,000 out of the more than 170,000 U.S. COVID deaths were in those aged under 65. Well, remember, I said old and sick. Yeah. I had two groups. You cherry picked one of them and gave a number. I'm dubious about 35,000 out of the 170 COVID deaths were under 65. But they had pre-existing conditions.

Not only that, there's a guy named John Bowdoin right now who's going around and analyzing that data. And that group in particular highly suspect in terms of actually dying of something COVID-related. Yes. All right. We need to take a quick break. I'll continue with this article that we all see through the lens of three years on now. And we'll do that right after this.

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Although the sick and the elderly, blah, blah, blah, blah, 35,000, but they're picking old people now, and I said old and sick. In addition to many of those who survive bouts with COVID may suffer from potentially long-term damage caused by the virus, regardless of their age or previous medical history. So someone who's young and healthy got COVID and has suffered long-term damage. Remember, we had to listen to that pediatrician talk about end organ damage and destruction. Remember that? Mm-hmm.

Ridiculous. That was ridiculous. But the very people like this Solisco lady who were touting the incidents of long COVID have now become skeptics that it even exists. Yes. They've just flipped teams on that one. Yes. So what part of this article's accurate so far? So in addition to many of those who survived out of COVID-19, they may suffer from,

potentially long-term damage caused by the virus, regardless of their age or previous medical history. All right. That's all bullshit. Many who overcome the illness are left, are left with damage to organs, including the heart and lungs, along with other issues like persistent neurological systems. All right. This is all bullshit.

This entire article is inaccurate. It's in Newsweek. These are the people that are constantly talking. about fake news and false information and a doctor so-and-so has got to be taken off at Twitter because he's spreading false and inaccurate and dangerous statement. This is Newsweek. Everything they've said has been wrong thus far. Yeah.

Now we shall continue. Corolla 56 may have been referring to apparently deliberate misinterpretations of the CDC data, which have been recently shared online by those CERC. seemingly seeking to minimize the serious health impacts of the pandemic. There was a 10 qualifiers in that sentence. Yes. Yeah. Oh, my God.

All right. But here's where it really gets good. No, I wasn't misinterpreting CDC data. I was looking around at my son and his friends and my daughter and their friends. I live in a community. It's pretty tight. If some kid bought the farm because of COVID, we would hear about it. I didn't hear any of it.

I didn't see any of it. Now, here's the interesting one, Drew. There's a picture of me. And it's a picture from a movie premiere. Adam Carolla attends the premiere of the film No Safe Spaces. I've done a lot of movie premieres. There's lots of pictures of me floating around the internet, but you pick the one that has no safe spaces and a step and repeat behind me.

Yeah. Signaling that I'm making a movie with conservative talk show host, Dennis Prager, and a conservative movie about free speech. Right. Extreme mega, right. So I'm a radio show host,

and I'm known for this movie that I never talk about. I did once, right? Okay. All right. Let's see. All right. See, now, Drew, I'm getting emails. Okay.

President Donald Trump on Sunday shared a tweet from an inherent, sorry, an adherent of the QAnon conspiracy theory, absurdly claiming that only 6% percent. of CDC's deaths attributed to COVID-19 counted because the virus needed to be listed on the death certificates as the sole cause of death and otherwise as an otherwise healthy people. All right. So now here's the Donald Trump part. Yeah. Here's Trump.

Ooh, you're ultra maga. You got to bring that out. By the way, that is turning out to be pretty accurate. Yes. Well, of course. If you want to know what's right, you just read this Newsweek article and then just the opposite of everything is right. Now, you're doing an article on me and sending a tweet out. Now it's a long paragraph on Trump in the middle of this, right? So you don't, remember we're

talking about it's only political? COVID is only political. This whole article is just a political article, right? Yeah. Yeah. All right. Death certificates often list multiple causes of death, despite one cause being chiefly to blame. In the case of COVID-19, some death certificates list underlying conditions as contributing factors, which can include common conditions such as obesity or high blood pressure. Complications that result from contracting the virus are also sometimes listed as causes, such as organ failure leading directly to death. Yeah, or not related to the COVID.

That is the most convoluted, wild sentence. Yes. Although Corolla has made similar claims in recent weeks, while repeatedly insulting those who express concern about the pandemic as cowards that are hiding under their bed. Well, that's accurate. Monday's tweet had inspired substantial backlash by the next day, including from several prominent figures in the entertainment industry. Oh, yeah.

Well, they should have an opinion about medical misinformation. Would you like to hear who the prominent, would you like to hear who the prominent figures are? I can't wait. Celebrities criticize Corolla's tweet for both the grammatically incorrect insult. I spelled pussies with a why. And the dubious medical claims. I said old people and sick people got killed by COVID.

And the rest of you, Pussies got played. That's the most accurate 17 words that could ever be composed. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. True. With many pointing out that younger people with no underlying conditions had died from COVID.

Many, many younger people with no underlying conditions died of COVID. So says the prominent celebrities. Except for they didn't. I don't know where they got that information. Now, would you like to hear a prominent celebrity? I love it. I'm 60 and have asthma. Actress Valerie Bertnelli tweeted,

thanks for thinking it's okay that I die. Well, first off, would you think of it? If I gave you 250,000 guesses, I just said, here's a, here's a notepad with 500 pages blank. Here's five pens. I want you to write down the names of prominent celebrities. Would you get to Valerie Bertnelly? I don't think so. But by the way, her fatality rate, even with moderate to severe COVID, is about 1% at the age of 60.

Yeah. But that's where the narcissism kicks in. Thanks for thinking it's okay that I die. Right. Okay. You want me to die. I could have no effect over Valerie Bert and Ellie. Right.

All right. Then, oh, God, there's some more here. Oh. Corona karma is real, Adam. Star Trek actor George Taked. and you just tempted it to grab you by your pussy ass. George Decay is the Angers Man, 91-year-old on the planet,

which is funny. And also, he was in a short-lived series from the fucking 60s. He's never done anything else. It's so comical. All right. But you said prominent celebrities, and then you did.

dug up Valerie Bertnelli and George decay. I don't call those prominent celebrities. There's a little bit more, Drew. Soterical news outlet, the Onion, also quickly shared a previously written article headline, Parasite Regrets Choosing Adam Carolla's host, which is, I remember as an old article, but I can't even remember what inspired it. But there was one other comedian I'd never heard of as well. Oh, so one last one.

Comedian Dan Telfer joked that the president had just named Adam Carolla, the Secretary of Health and Human Services. So again, back to president. You know, try to connect it to. Trump. Number one. Number two, have you heard of comedian Dan Telfer? Never. So you said several prominent Hollywood celebrities have weighed in and then right under it, you mention a comedian who I've never heard of. Right. And I'm not saying that to be a slight. He may be a great comedian. I just have never heard of who Dan Telfer is. All right.

weird. Yes. Well, it's funny because when they, when they, obviously this person can't write. You can't say several prominent, whatever, and then mention, start your list with Valerie Bert and Lerner. You start your list with a comedian no one's heard of and then go to Valerie Burtnelly from one day at a time, 1977, everybody. Like, all right.

So, Alas, let's go, is an idiot. and probably should apologize to me. Well, interesting, right? Also, what was the purpose of this article? Really, what was the purpose of it? Well, probably somebody, an editor in Newsweek, put her up to it, right? Yeah, just to make fun of me? By the way, it might not have been so convoluted when she originally wrote it.

It might be the editors at Newsweek that really took it all the way to where it's present state. But in terms of their readership, what was it? Is it to inform them or is it just to make fun of me and kind of, it's basically, I told you, Drew, all political. I'm now perceived as a Republican and I must be smacked around. Yeah. That's what this is. That's all it was. Including tweets from Trump in it.

Right. Right. So now. what I told you the other day that this was all political. Yeah, you did. Look, no, this article is from the very beginning of September 2020. Yeah. And they had an election to win.

Yeah. And that's where we were. Yeah. It's really breathtaking when you think about it. Interesting, right? I don't know about interesting. I guess interesting in the sense that it, it highlights it but it gives me the creeps when you really dismantle like that it's very disturbing

yeah was there any part of that article that was inaccurate i mean in terms of what i said were they just wrong they were just wrong about every single point yeah okay maybe magnitude a little bit uh you know in terms of how many young people without pre-existing conditions maybe there was a little more of that than you implied, but the, the, the, the, certainly overwhelming trend was that it was either mischaracterized on the death certificates or somebody with obesity or preexisting conditions, big ones. And coral for Dr. Drew saying, Mahala.