Establishment media outlets went to great lengths to highlight a man who died from COVID-19 after he announced on social media that he would not take the vaccine.
34-year-old Stephen Harmon died from the virus at Corona Regional Medical Center, a Los Angeles area hospital, according to the reports. He had posted on social media asking for prayers shortly before his death. Several outlets made a point of printing Harmon’s comments about the vaccine when writing about his death and centered the story around him being an anti-vaxxer.
“Before his hospitalization, Harmon had made fun of vaccination efforts on social media,” The Associated Press (AP) wrote. The AP article was also printed by NBC News.
Harmon, whose Twitter account is now private, tweeted, “I got 99 problems but a vax ain’t one,” and publicly disagreed with President Joe Biden’s vaccination efforts when he promised to send local volunteers door-to-door to push vaccination, according to the reports. (RELATED: Press Secretary Jen Psaki Says Criticism Of Door-To-Door Vaccination Campaign Is A ‘Disservice To The Country’)
34 y.o. anti-vaxxer Stephen Harmon died from COVID on July 21. On June 3rd he posted a tweet saying “I got 99 problems but a vax ain’t one.” Please #GetVaccinated and wear a mask. #SoulsLostToCovid https://t.co/BkWV1DTSrd pic.twitter.com/i2ZW2MHhU7
— Cleavon MD 💉 (@Cleavon_MD) July 23, 2021
Business Insider reporter Ashley Collman wrote that Harmon “made another reference to being unvaccinated” when he posted that he would “identify as vaccinated.”
“Harmon also made a joke about the widespread trust in Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious-disease expert,” Collman wrote.
“When you can’t trust the Bible cause it was written by man, but you trust the CDC/Fauci guidelines cause they were written by man. Makes total sense,” read Harmon’s tweet referenced in the article.
“Anti-vax Hillsong Church member Stephen Harmon, 34, dies of Covid after posting ‘I got 99 problems but a vax ain’t one’,” read the California News Times headline.
Daily Beast reporter Blake Montgomery wrote about Harmon’s dislike of Fauci and pointed out that “he made memes about trusting the Bible over Dr. Anthony Fauci.”
“But in late July, Harmon wrote that he was ‘on max oxygen’ and ‘struggling to function,'” Montgomery wrote. “His final tweet July 21 asked supporters to pray for him as he was about to be intubated.”
Harmon was a member of Hillsong Church. The church’s president, Brian Houston, called Harmon “one of the most generous people I know,” according to the reports.
“He had so much in front of him,” Houston said. “He would always turn up to our grandkids soccer games and he will be missed by so many.”