🔬 Dr. Robert Malone Spreads Vaccine Conspiracy Theories on Oro Valley Mayoral Candidate's Podcast
Dr. Robert Malone spreads unfounded vaccine claims while Congressman Schweikert reduces immigrants to economic units on "Wake Up Live."
This is based on Wake Up Live with Chris DeSimone, a MAGA-conservative podcast in Southern Arizona, which was broadcast by Live The Dream Media on 4/24/25.
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
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This 🎙️ from 🌵Tucson had people saying things that aren't true about 💉vaccines, blaming 🏕️homeless people for 🔥fires, and talking about immigrants like they're just numbers instead of real people with families 👨👩👧👦. The host didn't question these wrong ideas and even agreed with them 🤦. The speakers also attacked programs that help people who don't have enough money 💸. This kind of talk can hurt our community by making people afraid of vaccines that keep us healthy 💪, treating immigrants unfairly 🤨, and not helping homeless people who need support 🤝.
🗝️ Takeaways
💉 Dr. Robert Malone promoted unfounded claims about COVID vaccines causing cancer and alleged Anthony Fauci has "decamped" to Italy to work with pharmaceutical companies
🗣️ Host Chris DeSimone failed to challenge any misinformation, instead reinforcing and amplifying questionable claims
👨👩👧👦 Congressman Schweikert advocated for reducing family-based immigration in favor of "talent-based" immigration focused solely on economic contributions
🏠 Both host and "fire expert" Dr. Neil repeatedly dehumanized unhoused people as "crack heads" and "fentanyl heads" while discussing brush fires
📈 The podcast used conservative economist Thomas Sowell to attack social safety net programs, blaming welfare for family breakdown
🌉 The show demonstrated clear double standards on immigration, praising Sweden's program to pay immigrants to leave while criticizing media coverage of U.S. deportations
Morning Brew: Conservative Voices Amplify Dangerous Narratives in the Desert
The air is windy in Tucson and still carries a hint of coolness as I settle in with my coffee to dissect the April 24th, 2025, "Wake Up Live with Chris DeSimone" podcast. As your progressive sentinel in the borderlands, I've once again ventured into the MAGA echo chamber so you don't have to expose yourself to the increasingly alarming rhetoric emanating from this conservative platform.
The episode featured a particularly potent blend of vaccine misinformation, xenophobic immigration rhetoric, and the dehumanization of our most vulnerable neighbors. The lineup included Dr. Robert Malone (the self-proclaimed mRNA vaccine expert whose claims have been widely disputed by the scientific community), U.S. Congressman David Schweikert (calling in from the Grand Canyon while advocating for treating immigrants as economic units rather than human beings), and "fire expert" Dr. Neil, who joined DeSimone in a troubling conversation that quickly devolved into scapegoating unhoused Tucsonans.
Sipping my coffee while thinking: How is it possible that in 2025, with all the suffering we've witnessed, these voices still get platforms to spread such harmful narratives without challenge?
Let's peel back the layers of this onion—and fair warning, it might make your eyes water.
Dr. Robert Malone: Vaccine Skepticism Served with a Side of Conspiracy
DeSimone opened his show by introducing Dr. Robert Malone, who is scheduled to speak at the Mises Institute (a libertarian think tank) in Phoenix. The conversation immediately took a troubling turn as Malone celebrated Trump's recent executive order removing diversity requirements for academic accreditation.
"What's fascinating," Malone declared, "Trump's forcing academia to change their terms and conditions for accreditation... He's declared that they're not allowed to do that anymore," referring to DEI qualifications for academic institutions.
DeSimone enthusiastically nodded: "But again, it's something where you have this window of three and a half years now of President Trump's under this order, right?"
Internal dialogue: Ah yes, because ensuring educational institutions make efforts to welcome people from all backgrounds is apparently such an oppressive burden that needs immediate executive intervention. Meanwhile, actual educational barriers facing marginalized communities? Crickets.
The conversation rapidly descended into vaccine misinformation territory, with Malone claiming: "Pete Hegseth's statement last night... in which he is acknowledging that the DoD mandated illegally an experimental vaccine product. That is a bomb."
He continued unchallenged: "The mandates were for an experimental vaccine, a new technology untested that had side effects that include severe disease, damage, and death. And they were mandated illegally on people without providing informed consent."
Not once did DeSimone interject to question these extraordinary claims or mention the mountains of peer-reviewed research demonstrating the safety and efficacy of COVID vaccines. Instead, he offered encouragement: "I was watching the interview with Tucker with Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong. To me, that's one of, you know, since you're, you know, all the stuff that you blew out with Joe on the Rogan interview, to me, this is like part two, right?"
Malone also made the stunning claim that "cancer is blowing up in areas they've never seen before since the COVID-19 vaxes," again without a shred of scientific evidence or pushback from the host.
Internal dialogue: Every credible medical organization worldwide has confirmed the safety of these vaccines, but sure, let's just casually suggest they're causing a cancer epidemic without offering a single peer-reviewed study. Meanwhile, actual cancer patients are having their genuine concerns drowned out by this dangerous noise.
Perhaps most bizarre was Malone's assertion that Anthony Fauci has "decamped to Italy," claiming: "Fauci has decamped to Italy. That's what he's hanging out in Vienna working with GSK and BioNTech... living the good life." He added, "Apparently, he was started working with them very actively. I'm told by whistleblowers in Italy in about 2022. So while he was still a government employee."
DeSimone's response? "The idea that that bastard's in Vienna, Italy while he's working with more pharmaceutical companies is just, it's wild."
Internal dialogue: Not a single source cited. Not a single piece of evidence offered. Just dropped like established fact to an audience that's being trained to accept these claims without question. This is how misinformation metastasizes.
When discussing RFK Jr.'s announcement about banning certain food dyes, Malone praised the action while casually acknowledging that the ban wouldn't take effect until 2026—a convenient timeline that allows the administration to claim action while delaying actual impact for long enough that many will forget the promise was even made.
Congressman David Schweikert: Immigration as an Economic Spreadsheet Exercise
The second guest, Congressman David Schweikert, called in from the Grand Canyon to share his views on immigration policy from a distinctly dehumanizing perspective.
Schweikert advocated for a "talent-based" immigration system rather than "family-based sponsorship," claiming: "We're the only one that does familial family-based sponsorship... you'd like us to be able to pay for Social Security and Medicare. Okay, great, you've got to give us people, but they have to be people with levels of skills where they add to economic growth, so we can tax them."
Internal dialogue: Because apparently the primary value of human beings is their taxability. The farm workers, construction workers, home health aides, and countless others who keep our economy running while being paid poverty wages? Apparently not "talented" enough to deserve a place in Schweikert's America.
This framing fundamentally misrepresents both American immigration policy (which already includes significant merit-based components) and the reality of family-based immigration, which research consistently shows creates stronger, more stable communities and integrates immigrants more successfully into American society.
Schweikert offered a peculiar theory when discussing declining birth rates: "The actual answer... the best answer I've ever read... it turns out it looks like it's prosperity. Yeah, you look as countries get wealthier... the fertility rates crash." He continued by suggesting the "high quality child theory," where "If I have one child or two children, I can spend a lot more money on them for their piano lessons for their lacrosse games."
Internal dialogue: Interesting how there's no mention of skyrocketing childcare costs, housing prices that have outpaced wages for decades, or crushing student debt that prevents millennials and Gen Z from starting families when they'd like to. Nope, it's just that we love prosperity and lacrosse too much!
What went completely unaddressed was the systematic dismantling of family support systems that might actually help everyday Americans afford to have children if they want them—paid family leave, universal childcare, and affordable housing policies. These structural solutions are invisible in Schweikert's prosperity narrative.
"Dr. Neil": Fire Management or Homeless Scapegoating?
The show's final segment featured "Dr. Neil," introduced as a fire management expert, discussing brush fires in Tucson washes. What could have been an informative conversation about climate change and environmental management quickly devolved into dehumanizing rhetoric about unhoused people.
DeSimone repeatedly referred to unhoused individuals as "crack heads" and "fentanyl heads," stating: "I'm telling you when I had literally I put when I put this picture up on Wastebook, right? I said that it was probably, you know, it was, you know, probably done by crack heads, fentanyl heads."
He continued: "That's my assumption from now on. When things like this happen, it's going to be a fentanyl head until proven otherwise."
Dr. Neil, rather than challenging this dehumanizing characterization, pivoted to discussing property values: "First get the crack heads out of the washes."
Internal dialogue: Who are the "crack heads" and "fentanyl heads" in DeSimone's world? They're our neighbors—people struggling with addiction, mental health crises, housing insecurity, and often all three simultaneously. People who have been failed by our systems. People who need compassion and resources, not demonization.
DeSimone later cited a statistic that "33%, 32.97% of all fires are started by the homeless drug people," without any source for this suspiciously precise figure. This conversation perfectly exemplifies how conservative media transforms public safety issues into opportunities for scapegoating vulnerable communities.
Rather than discussing the need for increased mental health services, affordable housing, or addiction treatment programs that might actually address the root causes of homelessness, the conversation exclusively centered on property protection and vilification.
The Thomas Sowell Segment: Cherry-Picking History to Attack Social Safety Nets
The show wrapped up with a segment featuring clips from conservative economist Thomas Sowell discussing the "Great Society" programs of the 1960s. DeSimone used this as a launching pad to claim that welfare programs have "been a failure" and caused family breakdown rather than helped communities.
"Think about this," DeSimone said. "You had the blowing up of welfare benefits, sexual revolution, birth control, Roe v Wade. Right. And there was, and part of that was too, that it was... we now have mother government can now step in for the absentee father."
He continued, "Unearned wealth most of the time doesn't pay off well spiritually for anybody or for their life, their life outcomes... you're living in Pima County. I mean, to this day, we're, you know, we're giving out taxpayer dollars for preschool."
Internal dialogue: The audacity of providing early childhood education! Next they'll be wanting children to have adequate nutrition and healthcare too!
This ahistorical analysis conveniently ignores the devastating impacts of redlining, mass incarceration, and systemic discrimination that have targeted Black and Brown communities for generations. The transparent attempt to use Sowell—a Black conservative—as a shield for attacking programs that have helped millions of Americans escape poverty reveals the intellectual dishonesty at the heart of this narrative.
A Tale of Two Borders
Perhaps nothing better illustrates the show's double standards than the juxtaposition of two immigration stories. DeSimone enthusiastically shared news about Sweden offering payments to migrants who leave the country:
"Sweden's center-right coalition government, supported by the National Conservative Sweden Democrats, is set to roll out a sweeping new plan that will dramatically increase financial incentives for immigrants who voluntarily live in the United States... offering up to 61,000 equivalent of the Swedish Krona."
He quoted a Swedish official who framed this as "about giving people who feel excluded who haven't found a place in Swedish society the opportunity for a dignified return and new beginning elsewhere," to which DeSimone sarcastically responded: "That's a spin and a half, baby."
Internal dialogue: When Sweden pays immigrants to leave? A policy worth reporting on with barely disguised approval. When America tries to create pathways to citizenship for people who have built lives here? Suddenly it's an invasion that must be stopped at all costs.
Meanwhile, when discussing deportations under the Trump administration, he complained about "the media" and "Democrats" criticizing the deportation of an MS-13 gang member: "So then we have the media. So James Carville calls on them to make returning the MS-13 member their top agenda."
This selective outrage lays bare the xenophobic underpinnings of the MAGA approach to immigration: celebrating the removal of immigrants from other countries while demanding even more aggressive removal from our own.
The Real Impact on Our Community
As I sit here in Tucson, a borderlands community with deep multicultural roots and a long history of solidarity, I can't help but worry about the real impact these narratives have on our neighbors.
When influential voices like DeSimone's uncritically amplify vaccine skepticism, how many listeners might decide to skip vaccinations that could protect themselves and vulnerable community members?
When immigrants are dehumanized and reduced to economic units, how does that affect the way our Latinx neighbors—documented or not—are treated in everyday interactions?
When unhoused people are branded as criminals and addicts by default, what happens to the community's will to fund the very solutions that might actually address homelessness?
These aren't abstract concerns—they're questions about the fabric of our community and who deserves to be treated with dignity within it.
A Pathway Forward: Building the Tucson We Deserve
Despite the discouraging narratives amplified on shows like "Wake Up Live," Tucson remains a community with deep progressive roots and a commitment to social justice. Our city continues to elect leaders who prioritize human dignity over dehumanizing rhetoric, and grassroots organizations continue building power to create change from the ground up.
The path to a more just Tucson isn't through scapegoating our most vulnerable neighbors or amplifying conspiracy theories—it's through solidarity, mutual aid, and a commitment to seeing the humanity in everyone who calls our desert home.
As the temperature rises in our beautiful Sonoran Desert, let's ensure our compassion rises with it. Let's continue organizing for affordable housing, meaningful immigration reform, environmental justice, and healthcare access for all. Let's challenge narratives that divide us and build ones that unite us.
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Together, we can ensure that progressive voices remain strong in the borderlands and that narratives that harm our community don't go unchallenged.
What do you think about the way unhoused Tucsonans are portrayed in local media, and how can we shift the conversation toward compassionate solutions?
How has the spread of vaccine misinformation affected your personal conversations with friends and family, and what strategies have you found effective for countering it?
Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Quotes
"Pete Hegseth's statement... acknowledging that the DoD mandated illegally an experimental vaccine product. That is a bomb." - Dr. Robert Malone, making unfounded claims about COVID vaccine legality
"The mandates were for an experimental vaccine, a new technology untested that had side effects that include severe disease, damage, and death." - Dr. Robert Malone, spreading misinformation about vaccine safety
"Fauci has decamped to Italy. That's what he's hanging out in Siena working with GSK and BioNTech... living the good life." - Dr. Robert Malone, claiming without evidence that Anthony Fauci has moved to Italy
"We're the only one it does familial a family-based sponsorship..." - Congressman David Schweikert, incorrectly claiming the U.S. is the only country with family-based immigration
"You've got to give us people but they have to be people with levels of skills where they add to economic growth so we can tax them." - Congressman Schweikert, reducing immigrants to economic units
"That's my assumption from now on. When things like this happen, it's going to be a fentanyl head until proven otherwise." - Chris DeSimone, dehumanizing homeless people when discussing brush fires
"Unearned wealth most of the time doesn't pay off well spiritually for anybody or for their life, their life outcomes..." - Chris DeSimone, using Thomas Sowell's arguments to criticize welfare programs
People Mentioned and Quotes
Dr. Robert Malone - Self-described mRNA vaccine expert and skeptic: "The mandates were for an experimental vaccine, a new technology untested that had side effects that include severe disease, damage, and death."
Chris DeSimone - Host of "Wake Up Live": "That's my assumption from now on. When things like this happen, it's going to be a fentanyl head until proven otherwise."
Congressman David Schweikert - Republican U.S. Representative for Arizona: "You've got to give us people but they have to be people with levels of skills where they add to economic growth so we can tax them."
Dr. Neil - Described as a fire expert: "First, get the crack heads out of the washes."
Dr. Thomas Sowell - Conservative economist cited throughout the show
Anthony Fauci - Former NIAID Director, claimed by Malone to have "decamped to Italy"
Pete Hegseth - Secretary of Defense under Trump, mentioned regarding military vaccine mandates
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong - Mentioned in relation to claims about cancer and vaccines
Donald Trump - Current U.S. President, referenced regarding immigration policy and executive orders
RFK Jr. - Current cabinet member, discussed regarding food dye regulations
James Carville - Democratic strategist, mentioned critically regarding MS-13 gang member deportation
Regina Romero - Mentioned as Tucson Mayor
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