Take one celebrity chef with a paranoid streak. Sprinkle in a host who encourages people to believe the absolute worst about President Trump. And you’ve got yourself the perfect recipe for a conspiracy theory regarding the coronavirus.

Joy Reid had celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern as a guest on her MSNBC show today. Back in February, our Brad Wilmouth caught Zimmern engaging in the worst kind of warmist fear-mongering regarding food supply and production. 

Today, Zimmern was discussing the alleged lack of anti-virus protective gear on US farms, and said:

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“is it ineptitude, or is it a cabal of conspiracy? And you know, I’m praying that it’s ineptitude because we can get people in there, as Dr. Zeke said, who can run different aspects of this and solve the problem. And I pray that it’s not — that I’m not being a delusional paranoid, but something tells me there is something else going on.”

Reid egged, excuse the pun, Zimmern’s paranoia on: “I said when Donald Trump first got elected that what all of Americans have to learn to do is use your lurid imagination, because there’s almost nothing they wouldn’t do.”

Zimmern didn’t spell out just what that “something else” is that he believes is going on. A Trump-Big Agriculture cabal intentionally plotting to harm farmworkers, perhaps? You’d think that would be counterproductive, but who knows what bizarre notions lie in the fevered minds of the Zimmerns/Joy Reids of the world?!

MSNBC
AM Joy
5/2/20
10:19 am EDT

ANDREW ZIMMERN: We hear reports from the field, I’m talking to my friends on farms in California and six other states who are saying that not only is there not testing going on on farms, but they don’t have the — they’re telling the same stories we hear from meat plants, that there’s hot water, but there’s not enough soap. There’s masks, but there’s not shields. There’s gloves, but there’s not enough protective headgear. I mean, it’s absolutely dumbfounding to me. 

It goes back to that, you know, that same old song, is it — is it ineptitude, or is it a cabal of conspiracy? And you know, I’m praying that it’s ineptitude because we can get people in there, as Dr. Zeke said, who can run different aspects of this and solve the problem. And I pray that it’s not — that I’m not being a delusional paranoid, but something tells me there is something else going on.

JOY REID: Yeah. Well, I said when Donald Trump first got elected that what all of Americans have to learn to do is use your lurid imagination, because there’s almost nothing they wouldn’t do at least to mess things up.