A mainstay in Florida’s conservative talk radio world who dubbed himself “Mr. Anti-Vax” died of COVID-19 on Saturday. Marc Bernier, 65, is the third right-wing radio host to succumb to the virus after expressing opposition to the life-saving vaccines.
On July 30th, Bernier tweeted that the “the US Government is acting like Nazi’s” in their effort to get as many people inoculated as possible.
It would be his final tweet. He was admitted to the hospital on August 7th. He had been employed at WNDB, in Daytona, for over 30 years.
In December, Bernier was asked on his show if he’d get vaccinated: “I’m not taking it,” he replied. “Are you kidding me? Mr Anti-Vax? Jeepers.”
Earlier this month, another conservative Florida radio host, Dick Farrel, also died of COVID-19. Farrel, 65, had called Dr. Anthony Fauci a “power tripping lying freak” and posted on Facebook, “why take a vax promoted by people who lied 2u all along about masks, where the virus came from and the death toll?”
Farrel apparently had a change of heart in the hospital. Amy Leigh Hair, a close friend of Farrel, wrote on Facebook, “COVID took one of my best friends! RIP Dick Farrel. He is the reason I took the shot. He texted me and told me to ‘Get it!’ He told me this virus is no joke and he said, ‘I wish I had gotten it!’”
Similarly, Phil Valentine, a 62-year-old radio host based in Nashville, Tennessee, was an outspoken critic of vaccines before he contracted the virus. In July, his radio station posted a statement saying he “regrets not being more vehemently ‘Pro-Vaccine.’”
He died last week.
