Republican Debate Cutting Out Vaccine Question Sparks Conspiracy Theories

A stream broadcasting the fourth Republican presidential debate on video sharing platform Rumble briefly cut out on Wednesday during a discussion about coronavirus vaccines, sparking irritation and some conspiracy theories on social media.

Four Republican presidential hopefuls took to the stage in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where they clashed over immigration, transgender rights and Donald Trump, the GOP frontrunner who once again chose not to attend.

After Megyn Kelly, who co-hosted the debate with NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas and The Washington Free Beacon’s editor-in-chief Eliana Johnson, asked about Covid-19 vaccines and the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed, which was designed to hasten their development, the Rumble stream cut out for several minutes.

Jenna Ellis, a former Trump lawyer who has since endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, posted a photo of the screen on X, formerly Twitter, showing a message stating “we’ll be right back” rather than the debate. She asked: “Why did Rumble pause just when Megyn Kelly was asking about Operation Warp Speed and the Covid ‘vax’?

Without providing any evidence, a number of other X users suggested this was deliberate, with one, a self-described DeSantis supporter, writing “Gotta protect the ‘father of the vaccine'” in apparent reference to the former president.

A second replied: “Come on Jenna. We all know why that happened.”

Eric Abbenante, a filmmaker who co-produced The Trial of Anthony Fauci documentary, which is sharply critical of the former chief medical adviser to the president, wrote: “After Megyn Kelly asked ‘Through Operation Warpspeed, the Trump administration and private industry created a covid vaccine in record time.’ Then the stream cut to commercial via technical difficulties [rolling on floor laughing emoji].”

However, Chris Pavlovski, Rumble’s CEO, insisted the issue came from a third party rather than his company. He wrote: “The stream on our end did not go down at all, but the feed coming in (the source feed from a 3rd party) failed for a few minutes when sending to us. This is a different source that the TV channels got and we are unsure why the source to Rumble went dark for a few minutes.”

Newsweek has reached out to Rumble for comment via email.

Rumble, which brands itself as being “immune to cancel culture,” had partnered with the Republican National Committee to stream the GOP debate live. The broadcast was also aired by NewsNation on its website and streaming platforms which did not suffer an interruption during the debate.

A Public Religion Research Institute poll released in December 2021 found that 19 percent of Republican voters were refusing to get a coronavirus vaccine, with another 18 percent saying they were hesitant about being vaccinated.

Covid vaccines have been authorized by the federal Food and Drug Administration and received a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In addition to DeSantis, those taking part were former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, business tycoon Vivek Ramaswamy and ex-New Jersey Gov, Chris Christie, who has developed into a trenchant Trump critic.

During the debate, Ramaswamy held up a sign reading “Nikki = corrupt,” in reference to Haley, who he accused of practicing “identity” politics.

Ramaswamy came under fire in turn from Christie who called him an “obnoxious blowhard in America,” leading the business tycoon to say he should “get the hell off the stage.”