Television psychologist Phil McGraw said that he made an inappropriate comparison when he contrasted the deaths from the coronavirus to car accidents and drowning incidents.
The self-help television host made the juxtaposition during a Thursday night appearance on The Ingraham Angle, which went viral shortly thereafter. McGraw addressed the backlash Friday in a live video on YouTube.
“I just wanted to be really clear and really transparent,” he said. “My position last night, at least, was intended to be the same thing that I’ve been saying in these chats and on shows for, I don’t know, at least two weeks now. And, that being said, I am concerned that the deterioration of the physical and mental health can be substantial from enduring prolonged quarantine while also worrying about being infected with a dreaded virus in the midst of a crashing economy, lost jobs, and an inability to feed your family.”
He also said that he was not implying that the economy and businesses should reopen in a manner that would suggest the pandemic didn’t happen. He also said that he “100%” supports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s quarantine guidelines and on shutting the country down.
“Last night, I said we, as a society, have chosen to live with certain controllable deadly risks everyday — smoking, [car] accidents, swimming, and yes, I know those are not contagious, so probably bad examples,” McGraw. “Probably bad examples, and I referred them as number of deaths we apparently find acceptable because we do little or nothing about them. And I get that they’re not contagious, so they’re probably not good examples, I probably could’ve used better examples.”
McGraw later corrected himself, saying that one of the statistics he said on-air regarding the number of drowning-related deaths was inaccurate.
McGraw, in the controversial segment on Fox News, recited the estimated annual death totals from car accidents, drowning, and smoking and said out that “we don’t shut the country for that.”
