Alex Berenson

[[File:Alex Berenson (cropped).jpg|thumb|165px|Berenson in 2022.]]
{{cquote|There has been no surge.|||Berenson on 9 Apr 2020 talking about the coronavirus in New York City<ref>''Vanity Fair'' 10 April 2020.https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/04/ex-new-york-times-alex-berenson-coronavirus-skeptic </ref>}}{{vax}}
'''Alex Norman Berenson''' {{lived|1973}} is an [[United States|American]] ex-''[[New York Times]]'' writer, spy novelist, and the American right's go-to coronavirus "[[pseudoskepticism|skeptic]]". But his career in pseudoscience dates back at least before the [[Covid-19 pandemic]] when in his 2019 book ''Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness and Violence'' he claimed, without evidence, that [[marijuana]] use causes "sharp increases in murders and aggravated assaults".<ref>Carl L Hart and Charles Ksir [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/20/marijuana-cannabis-health-effects-issues-mental-health-disorders-science/ "Does marijuana use really cause psychotic disorders?"], ''The Guardian'' 20 January 2019.</ref>

==Early life==
Berenson grew up in the [[New York]]-[[New Jersey]] area<ref>[https://alexberenson.com/?page_id=25 "Alex Berenson Biography". Archived from the original on 2010-02-01. Retrieved 2025-01-18.]</ref> and graduated from Yale University with a degree in [[history]] and [[economics]].<ref>[https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/04/ex-new-york-times-alex-berenson-coronavirus-skeptic "Interview with Alex Berenson".]Interviews with Max Raskin. Retrieved 2025-18-01.</ref>

==Opposition to marijuana legalization==
In his 2019 book ''Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness and Violence'' and in its accompanying op-eds in ''The New York Times''<ref>Berenson, Alex (January 4, 2019) [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/04/opinion/marijuana-pot-health-risks-legalization.html What Advocates of Legalizing Pot Don’t Want You to Know] New York Times</ref> and ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'',<ref>Berenson, Alex (January 4, 2019) [https://www.wsj.com/articles/marijuana-is-more-dangerous-than-you-think-11546527075 Marijuana Is More Dangerous Than You Think] Wall Street Journal</ref> Berenson makes various unsubstantiated claims about the dangers of marijuana use. His work has been largely denounced by scientists who characterized his findings as a misrepresentation of the studies he references by [[cherry-picking]] data and attributing cause to mere associations.<ref>Drug Policy Alliance [https://archive.ph/B6AZy Archive.ph] Retrieved 2025-18-01.</ref> Ziva Cooper, a UCLA researcher whose study was heavily referenced by Berenson, disputed Berenson's claims saying, "we did NOT conclude that cannabis causes schizophrenia."<ref>Twitter @zivacooper (January 9, 2019) [https://archive.ph/sJJva archive.ph] Retrieved 2025-18-01.</ref>

==COVID-19 pandemic==
After spending time on [[Fox News|Faux News]] downplaying the COVID-19 pandemic at its very early stages,<ref>[https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/04/ex-new-york-times-alex-berenson-coronavirus-skeptic "Interview with Alex Berenson". Interviews with Max Raskin. Retrieved 2025-18-01.]</ref> the network announced in May 2020 that Berenson would be hosting a show called ''COVID Contrarian'' (no, really!) on its streaming network, but then appeared to have deleted the announcement only months later.<ref>Alexander Nazaryan [https://www.yahoo.com/news/as-coronavirus-surges-fox-news-shifts-its-message-on-masks-200834996.html/ "As coronavirus surges, Fox News shifts its message on masks". news.yahoo.com. 2020-07-02]. Retrieved 2025-01-18.</ref> Fox News later invited Berenson back on the [[Tucker Carlson|Tucker Carlson Tonight]] show to talk about the COVID-19 vaccines. The Fox News host did not challenge Berenson when he declared that mRNA vaccines are "dangerous and ineffective" against COVID-19 and demanded that they immediately be withdrawn from the market.<ref>Bump, Philip (2022-01-26).[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/26/tucker-carlson-airs-his-most-dishonest-dangerous-pandemic-segment-yet/" Alex Berenson tells Fox viewers: "Tucker Carlson airs his most dishonest and dangerous pandemic segment yet"] The Washington Post. Retrieved 2025-01-18.</ref>

==Climate change==
Like many other pseudoscience pundits and conspiracy theorists, Berenson may not directly dispute the science of [[climate change]], but he doesn't seem to shy away from opportunities to take pot shots at climate science. In true [[tu quoque]] fashion, his February 2023 tweet with a photo of a ski resort reads: "Current status: 11000 feet up and enjoying the incredible hypocrisy of any wokester who claims to think  climate change is a real problem and skis. I love skiing but there’s nothing more ecologically disruptive or carbon heavy."<ref>Twitter [https://archive.ph/4WSwT Archive.ph] Retrieved 2025-18-01</ref> (It's unclear if Berenson knows anything about cruise ships or air travel.)

==Political views==
In 2024, Berenson penned an op-ed for Fox News in which he declared that he will be voting for [[Donald Trump]] despite that Trump's, "Rhetoric is vicious. His unwillingness to promise to abide by the results of Tuesday’s election is dangerous. His friendly attitude toward dictators like [[Vladimir Putin]] disheartens me." True to his conspiratorial thinking, he cited the July 2024 Trump assassination attempt as being, "under circumstances that remain somewhat murky".<ref>Berenson, Alex (2024-11-02). [https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/alex-berenson-why-im-voting-donald-j-trump "Why I'm voting for Donald J. Trump"]. Fox News. Retrieved 2025-01-18.</ref>

==References==
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[[Category:Authors]]
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[[Category:Internet kooks]]
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[[Category:Political pundits]]

Categories: Authors, Conspiracy theorists, Internet kooks, Journalists, Leftists who turned right with age, Living people, Political pundits