CNN star John King reveals he has multiple sclerosis live on air while discussing COVID vaccines

CNN host John King revealed live on air that he has multiple sclerosis while urging Americans to get their COVID vaccines to protect immunocompromised people like him, saying: ‘Man up or shut up.’ 

‘I’m going to share a secret I have never spoken before,’ King, 58, said in a segment of Inside Politics on Tuesday. ‘I am immunocompromised. I have multiple sclerosis.

‘So I am grateful you are all vaccinated,’ he said in a panel discussion on former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s passing from COVID-19 on Tuesday at the age of 84. 

‘I am grateful my employer says all of these amazing people who work on the floor, who came in here in the last 18 months when we are doing this, are vaccinated now that we have vaccines,’ King said.

‘I worry about bringing it home to my 10-year-old son who can’t get a vaccine,’ King continued, noting: ‘I don’t like the government telling me what to do. I don’t like my boss telling me what to do.

‘In this case it’s important.’ Those are all treasures, that’s somebody’s mother, brother, father, sister, co-worker, colleague, friend, teammate. Focus on the science. Man up or shut up.’

CNN host John King on Tuesday revealed on air that he has multiple sclerosis and is immunocompromised as a result

He said he is grateful for vaccine mandates and urged all eligible Americans to get vaccinated against the coronavirus to protect those who are immunocompromised

He said he is grateful for vaccine mandates and urged all eligible Americans to get vaccinated against the coronavirus to protect those who are immunocompromised

Children under 12 are not yet eligible to receive COVID shots, although Pfizer’s shot is widely expected to be approved for youngsters aged between five and 11 years-old. 

The comments came amid a panel discussion on FOX News’s coverage of former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s death, with a chyron that read: ‘Right wing media use Colin Powell’s death to question vaccines when unvaccinated face 11x higher risk of dying from COVID.’

Powell died early Monday from complications of the coronavirus, despite being fully-vaccinated.

But he was also immunocompromised, with a form of blood cancer called multiple mylenoma, which made him vulnerable to the virus. 

And, he had Parkinson’s disease, which does not increase the risk of COVID, but ‘does make it harder for you to recover if you contract it,’ according to the nonprofit Parkinson’s Foundation.

Still, on Monday night’s show, FOX News host Tucker Carlson said Powell’s death proved Americans had been ‘lied to’ about the effectiveness of the vaccines, according to Deadline.

He conceded at the end of the show that he ‘left out that Powell was suffering from a number of different health problems.’ 

The comments came during a discussion on the death of former Secretary of State Colin Powell (pictured) who died Monday from complications of the coronavirus despite being fully vaccinated. He was immunocompromised with blood cancer

The comments came during a discussion on the death of former Secretary of State Colin Powell (pictured) who died Monday from complications of the coronavirus despite being fully vaccinated. He was immunocompromised with blood cancer

In his show Monday, FOX News host Tucker Carlson claimed Powell's death proved Americans had been 'lied to' about the effectiveness of the COVID vaccines

In his show Monday, FOX News host Tucker Carlson claimed Powell’s death proved Americans had been ‘lied to’ about the effectiveness of the COVID vaccines

The CDC maintains that vaccines are effective in preventing serious injury and death due to COVID, but some deaths are possible as no vaccine is 100 percent effective

And in the segment on Tuesday, King suggested that Powell’s death from the virus proved that more people should be vaccinated against COVID to protect the immunocompromised, as America’s death toll from the virus exceeded 725,000 people.

‘Now and then something big comes along, forgive me FOX News,’ he began, saying what makes America truly exceptional ‘is when we all decide to set down our personal principles or our personal preferences for the good of the team.

‘The good of the team here is to come together and not spread that.’ 

On Monday, there were 51,249 new COVID cases reported nationwide, with 929 reported deaths, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control.

Meanwhile, 66 percent of all eligible Americans have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, and 57.1 percent are fully vaccinated.  

The CDC maintains that vaccines are effective in preventing serious injury and death due to COVID.

But, it notes: ‘Some people who are fully vaccinated against COVI-19 will get sick because no vaccine is 100 percent effective.’

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