On Thursday evening, Phil McGraw, AKA "Dr. Phil," went on Fox News to speak out against the ongoing lockdown measures in place because of the coronavirus.
During the appearance, he used numerous false statistics and compared coronavirus deaths to those resulting from automobile accidents, smoking, and swimming pools.
It didn't take long for people to head to Twitter to voice their disapproval:
Hey Dr. Phil -- Tragically dying in a swimming pool accident is not A CONTAGIOUS DISEASE WITH NO CURE.
Dr. Phil says we don't shut down the country for automobile deaths or or cigarette deaths or swimming pool deaths so why do it for coronavirus he asks. 1 of the above is contagious. The 3 others are not.
People also questioned his credentials to speak on a global pandemic:
Dr Phil isn’t an MD, he has a PHD in clinical psychology.
Indeed, Phil is not even a licensed psychologist:
Hi, I'm gonna tell you some stuff about Dr. Phil and save you a trip to Wikipedia. 1) He is not a medical doctor. He has a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of North Texas. 2) BUT, he is no longer licensed to practice in any state. 3) Why? Well...
Subsequently, "Mr. Phil" started trending on Twitter:
From now on his name will be Mr. Phil
So I'm going to strongly suggest that Phil McGraw probably isn't the best source for information about the coronavirus.
I would not trust Mr. Phil with my life
Maybe "Mr. Phil" is here to stay.
y’all took the Dr. out of Mr. Phil’s title in one day 😭 love to see it