Dr. Phil apologizes for coronavirus comment, but Twitter users still roast ‘Mr. Phil’
Phil McGraw, better known as television personality Dr. Phil, has a new moniker after comments he made Thursday night: Mr. Phil.
Dr. Phil is being chastised on social media after appearing to downplay the coronavirus when appearing as a guest on Fox News’ ”The Ingraham Angle.”
“Forty-five thousand people a year die from automobile accidents; 480,000 from cigarettes; 360,000 a year from swimming pools, but we don’t shut the country down for that,” he said. “But yet we’re doing it for this? And the fallout is going to last for years because people’s lives are being destroyed.”
While many people ridiculed him for understating the virus that has killed more than 32,000 Americans since February, some of his numbers were inaccurate. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said an average of 3,536 die each year in unintentional drownings. Around 32,000 people die each year in car crashes, according to the CDC.
Twitter users couldn’t help themselves, as “Mr. Phil” became a trending topic on Twitter after users downgraded his credentials.
“While I am normally OK with any Ph.D. being called ‘Dr.,’ I think Phil McGraw not being licensed to practice anywhere, and actively pushing harmful notions, loses the right. Henceforth, I will refer to him as ‘Mr. Phil,’” one user wrote.
“I didn’t think I’d wake up to the news that Dr. Phil thinks car accidents are contagious. This simulation is wild,” another person said.
McGraw appeared on a Facebook Live video Friday and clarified the comments he made the previous night. He said he misspoke about the number of drowning deaths and said he supports CDC guidelines for quarantining
“Last night, I said that we as a society have chosen to live with certain controllable risks every day: smoking, auto crashes, swimming,” he said. “Yes, I know those are not contagious, so probably bad examples. I referred to them as numbers of death we apparently find acceptable because we do little or nothing about them.”
As he clarified himself, comments flooded his page about his inaccurate comments and him speaking on infectious diseases despite his credentials. McGraw is a former licensed psychologist in Texas, according to his television biography.
“You are not an expert on coronavirus. You are not a scientist and you are not a medical doctor, you are not an epidemiologist,” one woman said. “You are talk show host!!!! That’s what you do! That’s who you are!!”
“He flat out gave WRONG statistics ... not to mention completely unrelated!! He has no credentials or expertise to discuss infectious diseases,” another person said.
McGraw’s comments Thursday to Laura Ingraham came the same day Dr. Mehmet Oz said on Fox News that “the opening of schools may only cost us 2-3 percent in terms of total mortality.” He has also apologized since his comment.
This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Dr. Phil apologizes for coronavirus comment, but Twitter users still roast ‘Mr. Phil’."