“The Five” co-hosts Greg Gutfeld and Geraldo Rivera enter yet another heated exchange as the panel was discussing COVID-19 vaccine mandates and in particular, the case of the NBA’S Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets, a point guard who has essentially been benched because he won’t get a COVID-19 vaccine.
New York City requires vaccines for indoor entertainment venues, including the Barclays Center, where the Nets play. Fans must provide proof they’ve been vaccinated.
On Tuesday, however, the team announced that Irving is not going to play and cannot practice with his team until he surrenders to the city’s vax mandate. So far, however, Irving hasn’t budged, maintaining he won’t be forced to get the vaccine or push others to take it.
Gutfeld, who lives in the city, is opposed to the mandates, and on The Five said they are an example of “how disconnected our actions are from risk.”
“It doesn’t matter that a healthy, lean athlete has a different risk than an elderly, obese person,” he argued. “We know the risk factors. The key risk factors are age – the older you are – and weight, if you’re obese. But we can’t even broach these topics, so instead, we have these blanket mandates that are just completely wrong.”
But Rivera disagreed.
“When people make a stand like this, and it’s costing him and his family and his children $400,000 a game, there’s something else going on besides his repugnance over the vaccines,” he said.
“It’s called bravery,” replied Gutfeld. “Maybe money isn’t the issue.”
“Bravery?” asked Rivera responded incredulously.
“The worst thing about this, we now have created an artificial division,” said Gutfeld. “A couple of years ago, it was race versus race – thank you, CNN – it was gender issues. But now, Geraldo, you’re mad at this guy.”
“I am mad at him,” replied Rivera. “He’s not just hurting himself. He’s hurting everybody!”
“You are being played! You are being played!” replied Gutfeld.
“You are being stubborn! You’re being block-headed!” Rivera shot back.
“You are being manipulated to disagree with somebody,” Gutfeld said in response. “This is an artificial division, and we shouldn’t play into this. This is what the mandate did.”
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This is an excerpt from Conservative Brief.
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