Critics rip CNN over late tweet linking obesity to serious COVID cases, death: 'Where have you been?'

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Magazine celebrates obesity despite increased COVID morbidity risk

FOX News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel weighs in on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.'

Liberal network CNN was ripped by critics Monday over a tweet suggesting there was a link between obesity and serious illness or death related to the coronavirus, a connection already well-known from data compiled earlier in the pandemic.

"People who are overweight or obese are at a much higher risk of much more severe disease and even death from Covid-19 -- and one new study suggests that losing weight can reduce that risk," the tweet read, linking to a CNN article headlined, "Can weight loss help protect against Covid-19?" 

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Despite citing a "new study," the article also referenced studies from August 2020, February 2021 and April 2021 that reported hospitalizations from the coronavirus were "robustly linked to cardiometabolic health" and the body-mass index.

Critics quickly took to social media to slam CNN, with some questioning why it took so long for the liberal network to acknowledge the data that was already widely known. 

"A truly shocking development," one critic jokingly wrote, while another thanked the network for finally "catching up."

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Other critics mocked the strict lockdown policies used for a prolonged period of time in many Democratic controlled states, including the shuttering of gyms. Some jokingly argued that keeping them open would have helped prevent people from gaining weight and becoming more susceptible to a serious case of the coronavirus, or even death.

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Some mocked recent pushes by some liberal outlets against the airing of negative views on the body image of those who are overweight, including an op-ed published by NBC News claiming that "coronavirus fat shaming hurts everyone," and a February 2021 cover of Cosmopolitan magazine with the picture of a plus-size model and the phrase, "This is healthy!"

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Others turned their criticism towards Twitter itself, arguing that CNN's tweet contained essentially the same content as a tweet from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., which partially led to her getting permanently suspended from the platform other weekend.

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