Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro was widely mocked on Friday after appearing to struggle with the concept of population density.
In a tweet about the coronavirus, Shapiro compared a map of infection hot spots in the US alongside a map of where people wear face masks.
“Map of mask use in the US vs. map of total case count in the US See if you can spot the pattern,” Shapiro tweeted.
Ben Shapiro / Twitter
Shapiro’s suggestion seems to be that wearing masks somehow leads to higher infection rates, although science points out the exact opposite.
The obvious explanation is that areas with a higher population density will likely see higher infection rates and more people with masks.
Shapiro’s comments quickly led users to scoff at his comparison by making their own absurd correlations.
“I don’t want to alarm anyone, but someone has realized that the more cheese you eat, the more likely you are to get tangled up in the sheets and die,” asked @SlivdrazilHerald. “Someone has investigated this yet.”
@ SlivdrazilHerald / Twitter
Another user made a false correlation between the number of people who have drowned in swimming pools and the number of movies that actor Nicholas Cage has appeared each year.
“See if you can detect the pattern,” wrote @Ad_Inifinitum.
@ Ad_Inifintitum / Twitter
Others were more direct to the point in their criticism of Shapiro’s tweet.
“Yes, the densest cities where people are closest to each other have higher infection rates,” wrote @ChrisRGun. “A truly baffling concept.”
@ ChrisRGun / Twitter
@ WeMightAgree / Twitter
@ JimMFelton / Twitter
Someone even managed to find a way to playfully blame the Subway food franchise for the coronavirus outbreak.
“Ben, I think I have found out and I don’t know why no one is dealing with this,” @Jellyra_ said. “The metro (owned by the globalists) is putting COVID in the food. It causes people to put on masks and shoot each other, presumably to erode faith in the Second Amendment. This is big.”
@ Jellyra_ / Twitter
Shapiro eventually responded to criticism by stating that he apparently never intended to suggest that there was a connection between wearing masks and the coronavirus.
Despite their attempts at clarification, Twitter users were not buying it.
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* First post: July 18, 2020 1:14 PM
Mikael Thalen
