Yesterday I wrote about Josh Shapiro’s deceptive press conference that drew false headlines, unnecessarily scared parents, and most of all — and this was the point — stroked the egos of liberals who want to believe that they are the pro-science heroes fighting the conservatives who live in ignorance and endanger us all.
It’s the COVID strategy all over again, and just as happened with COVID, the Left is once again determined to undermine trust in public health authorities in order to whip up their own base and the declining number of non-partisan people who are still susceptible to the fear tactics being used.
Shapiro dramatically held a press conference at, I kid you not, a hospital named “Women & Babies Hospital,” to announce two “measles-related” deaths in “unvaccinated” individuals in Lancaster County, PA, an area with a strong Republican partisan lean.
He released no details about the deaths, leaving the media and others to make a large number of assumptions that have turned out to be, as far as we can tell, completely wrong, since Shapiro is still withholding information.
The news reports were filled with hyperbole about the “first measles deaths in PA in 35 years!” And the venue, a hospital for “women and babies,” implied that a child was rushed to the hospital and died of measles.
None of that happened. The baby died in an out-of-hospital childbirth, wouldn’t have been vaccinated until a 12-15 months later, and did not die of measles, but from a burst spleen that seems to have occurred during the birthing process.
We still know nothing about the other death because Shapiro won’t release even the barest details. All we do know is that no coroner in Pennsylvania has recorded a measles death, and coroners, not the governor or state officials, make these determinations.
Josh Shapiro was just asked why he claimed a newborn infant who died of a spleen rupture died due to being unvaccinated for measles:
“I don’t think it serves the interest of public health for me to get into a back and forth about conspiracy theories showing up online.”
I’m… pic.twitter.com/Stm7KiCihy
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 28, 2026
Josh Shapiro was just asked why he claimed a newborn infant who died of a spleen rupture died due to being unvaccinated for measles:
“I don’t think it serves the interest of public health for me to get into a back and forth about conspiracy theories showing up online.”
I’m pretty sure what actually doesn’t serve public health is a politician lying to score political points because he wants to run for President.
Shapiro refuses to release more information because he “doesn’t want to feed conspiracy theories,” and we all know that withholding all information is the best way to keep people from speculating or doubting what you say. And Shapiro has already been caught in what amounts to at least one lie: the newborn did not die of the measles.
Jay Bhattacharya, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, is not amused. Or, rather, he is absolutely furious.
🚨 JUST IN: NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya OBLITERATES PA Gov. Josh Shapiro for manufacturing measles deaths to scare the public
“The governor said the kids were not vaccinated — of course, babies are NOT vaccinated for measles until they’re at least 15 months old. So of COURSE… pic.twitter.com/ZoIYcyF1iS
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 29, 2026
“The governor said the kids were not vaccinated — of course, babies are NOT vaccinated for measles until they’re at least 15 months old. So of COURSE they’re not vaccinated, right?!”
“What the governor is doing is he’s playing this out over the airwaves for political purposes, just like what happened during COVID!”
“But they’re not going to release any other information.”
“And this is why there’s such deep distrust in public health.”
“What Secretary Kennedy’s been doing is to try to restore that trust at the NIH.”
Yesterday I trashed Shapiro, but refrained from calling him an outright liar; he practiced a form of sophistry, making claims that appear to mean one thing when they actually mean another, thus creating an impression that is false. That is still true, and the media took his deception and ran with it because it fit their priors, their ideological disposition to hate RFK Jr., blame every bad thing on him, and take some swipes at vaccine skeptics.
Today, though, I think I was wrong to give him even that much credit: his refusal to correct the record or release any information turns his sophistry into a lie in my book.
He’s sacrificing public health and public trust to score political points, hoping it will help his run for president. That is scummy and dangerous.
Trust in public health is low and dropping, and Shapiro just confirmed to every skeptic that officials will lie for their own benefit. It confirms every suspicion they/we have.
Jay Bhattacharya is spot on. Shapiro is doubling down on all the worst evils of the COVID era. Sacrificing the needs of the public, undermining the electorate’s ability to make rational decisions based on true information, and alienating every person who might need to be convinced to vaccinate their children against a dangerous disease.
“Moderate” Democrats are looking for an alternative to the party’s Bolshevik wing. Shapiro wants to be that guy. To get there, he is willing to sacrifice Americans’ trust in government by lying to them.
Verdict: Shapiro is a liar.
Editor’s Note: The Democrat Party has been infected by socialism, and it’s spreading FAST. Democrats are claiming there’s nothing to worry about, but we know the truth.
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