CNN anchor Don Lemon tried to help out Dr. Sanjay Gupta following his disastrous interview with podcast host Joe Rogan, where he got Gupta to admit it was misleading for CNN to solely label Ivermectin as just "horse de-wormer" when Rogan was diagnosed with COVID-19.
In the podcast interview, Rogan pressed Gupta for why CNN would call Ivermectin "horse de-wormer" when there is a human version to be used for legitimate circumstances. Gupta said he did not know why the network did it and did not question it.
"Listen, I think it’s also very important, I know it’s in large part a tongue-in-cheek interview because it’s Joe Rogan and there’s lots — you’re jockeying back and forth. But he did say something about Ivermectin that I think wasn’t actually correct about CNN and lying. Okay? Ivermectin is a drug that is commonly used as a horse de-wormer. So, it is not a lie to say that the drug is used as a horse de-wormer. I think that’s important. And it is not approved for COVID. Correct?" Lemon asked.
"That’s right. That’s correct," Gupta replied. "It is not approved for COVID. And you’re right, I mean, the FDA even put out a statement, saying, you know, basically reminding people — it was a strange sort of message from the FDA, but that said, ‘You’re not a horse, you’re not a cow, stop taking this stuff,’ is essentially what they said, referring to Ivermectin."
"When Joe got sick, he took Ivermectin. He also took monoclonal antibodies, which is an infusion of these antibodies. So, he took both those things. It’s very likely it was the monoclonal antibodies that made him feel better so quickly," Gupta added.
Before ending the interview, Lemon told Gupta "you held your own, though. It was very good.”