Phil Valentine Dies Of COVID
• Phil Valentine, the stridently anti-vaccine conservative talk host on Cumulus News-Talk WWTN (Super Talk 99.7 WTN)/Nashville, died Saturday, August 21, at the age of 61 after suffering from COVID-19 for more than a month.
Valentine had openly questioned the use of vaccines on his show and online, going as far as to tweet this hair-raising statement: “I have a very low risk of A) Getting COVID and B) dying of it if I do. Why would I risk getting a heart attack or paralysis by getting the vaccine?” He also mocked national inoculation efforts in a parody song, “Vaxman,” to the tune of The Beatles’ “Taxman.” As Rolling Stone reports, Valentine announced he had tested positive for COVID-19 on July 11, posting to Facebook that he was “doing my patriotic duty for natural herd immunity.” Three days later, he replied to a commenter by saying, “I certainly am not getting the vax now. I have full immunity.”
According to multiple sources, Valentine’s condition had steadily worsened since announcing his diagnosis. Two weeks into his hospitalization, he was placed on a ventilator and, on July 30, his brother Mark Valentine said Phil was going to be transferred to an ECMO machine, which does the work of the heart and lungs.
Sadly, like many families who had resisted the vaccine until a close family member became seriously stricken, once Valentine’s condition became desperately grave, his family took to social media to stress the importance getting vaccinated, saying, “Phil regrets not being more vehemently ‘Pro-Vaccine’ and looks forward to being able to more vigorously advocate that position as soon as he is back on the air, which we all hope will be soon,” adding, ‘PLEASE GO GET VACCINATED!'”
Allison Warren, VP/Market Manager, Cumulus Nashville echoed those sentiments in a statement that reads, in part, “We send our heartfelt condolences and prayers to Phil’s family and wish them peace during this difficult time. If you aren’t yet vaccinated, we fervently hope that you will honor Phil’s memory by taking to heart the urgent plea he made in the last weeks of his life and ‘PLEASE GO GET VACCINATED!'”
