Thread by @franklin_reeder

Long 🧵 here (1/~35) which will expose inconsistencies in the story laid out by a Republican US House member. Very important topic…

To preview, contrast two ~5-minute interviews:

1. cbsnews.com/video/congress…

and…

2. wdsu.com/article/hot-se…

This story might seem obscure and unfamiliar for those outside Louisiana (LA), so some background information follows…

(2/~35)

The 5th district of LA is a rural Republican “red” stronghold.

It is so “red” that Luke Letlow won a runoff over a fellow Republican on Dec 5, 2020 after the incumbent had retired from the US House and the democrat had come in 3rd in Nov 2020.

hbstrategies.us/previous-polit…

(3/~35)

Unfortunately, Luke Letlow died at age 41 prior to taking office.

The timeline (link) was:
5 Dec 2020- won runoff
18 Dec -posted via social media that he had covid
19 Dec- went to hospital
23 Dec- transferred to ICU
29 Dec 2020 -died

thenewsstar.com/story/news/202…

(4/~35)

LA held a special election in March 2021. Luke’s widow, Julia Letlow, was elected after Trump endorsed her.

“‘Julia Letlow is outstanding and so necessary to help save our 2nd Amendment, at the border, and for our military + vets,’ Trump said.”
(5/~35)

foxnews.com/politics/julia…

Julia Letlow wrote an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal in July 2021.

web.archive.org/web/2021072923…

Excerpt: “Luke died 2 weeks before Moderna’s vaccine became available to the public. He was 41. I would have given everything to get him that lifesaving shot.”

But…

(6/~35)

While her statement was technically true, it was *misleading* because…

*Pfizer’s* covid vaccine WAS available in LA on 14 Dec 2020 (link), four days PRIOR to Luke Letlow’s social media saying he had covid on 18 Dec.
🤔

livingstonparishnews.com/coronavirus/th…

(7/~35)

Now… let’s examine closely the interview of Julia Letlow by CBS in August 2021:

Julia Letlow: “We were so excited (the covid vaccine) was coming out. And he missed it by 2 weeks.”

Repeating her misleading statement…
(8/~35)

cbsnews.com/video/congress…

JL: “He said, ‘Honey, I think I’m running a fever’…and my heart sank. He had no pre-existing conditions… By about the 8th day, he said ‘Honey, it’s time to go to the hospital.’”

He was hospitalized on 19 Dec, so her story places Luke Letlow with a fever on 12 Dec.
(9/~35)
🤔

The interview of Luke Letlow in (2), repeated here, was posted on 14 Dec 2020.

The interviewer used the phrase “earlier this month” in describing Luke’s win on 5 Dec. It seems the interview was on 13 Dec.

Like Letlow appears quite healthy.
🤔
(10/~35)

wdsu.com/article/hot-se…

On covid:
LL: “WE’VE GOT TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR ECONOMY IS OPENED THAT WE’RE NOT LETTING OUR ECONOMY COLLAPSE, BUT ALSO MAKING SURE WE’RE SPENDING RESEARCH DOLLARS INTO MAKING SURE THE VACCINE IS SAFE AND THEN GETTING THAT OUT… ACROSS THIS DISTRICT FOR SURE. “
(11/~35)
🤔

Recall that even prior to the runoff (on 2 Dec 2020) the British governmemt had approved the Pfizer EUA. By 11 Dec 2020, the US FDA had also approved it.

Despite the prior approval, Luke Letlow emphasized caution - “ensuring safety” of the vaccine.

(12/~35)

Also note that the timeline suggested by JL would have placed LL with a fever by 12 Dec.

Yet he appeared quite comfortable, it seems, on 13 Dec. If he felt ill, it would have been easy for him to postpone the interview. After all, he had already won the race.
(13/~35)

For an example of a 1-day delay between interview and web posting of it, the same host interviewed LL after her win in March 2021.

She won on 20 Mar, interviewed on 21 Mar, and it was posted online on 22 Mar.
(14/~35)

wdsu.com/article/hot-se…

So we have 3 inconsistencies:
1. “Missed by 2 weeks”
2. Timing of illness
3. Emphasis on safety- or dare I say “hesitancy” expressed by LL- was certainly *not* conveyed by JL in her CBS interview.

So…Let’s look more closely at JL’s background.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Let…

(15/~35)

Julia (maiden name Barnhill) Letlow’s PhD was attained in Communications at USF.

Her dissertation is titled
“Giving Meaning to Grief: The Role of Rituals and Stories in Coping with Sudden Family Loss”

🤔
Isn’t that like her CBS interview?
(16/~35)

digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewconten…

“I also found that survivors… worked to construct storylines that tie events together by showing how they are meaningfully, and sometimes causally, connected… (The) stories showed how survivors ‘find benefit’ by reframing painful events as positive and growthful.”
(17/~35)
🤔

JL’s advisor (Prof. Jane Jorgenson) does not show any papers with JL as a coauthor in her CV.

But there is:

“Cultural discourses and discursive resources for meaningful work: Constructing and disrupting identities in contemporary capitalism.”

(18/~35)

usf.edu/arts-sciences/…

That paper coauthored by JJ included Prof. Patrice Buzzanell, whose career is distinguished by many awards, such as a Best paper award in 2009 from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU).

Dr. Buzzanell remains an “Endowed Visiting Professor” at SJTU.

usf.edu/arts-sciences/…

“She previously served (prior to 2018) at the Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans as the director of education, director of resident patient safety and quality improvement, and a clinical instructor of anesthesiology.”

letlow.house.gov/about

(20/~35)

Did JL help with this (2017)?

“MOMENTUM will provide nursing students training in counseling first-time mothers aged 15-24 and the fathers of their babies on family planning, birth preparedness, newborn care, and gender-equitable attitudes.”
(21/~35)

sph.tulane.edu/news/48-millio…

Let’s return to JL’s CBS interview:
“I had to take the phone away. He wasn’t resting… It all happened very quickly… I started to see the color drain.”
(22/~35)

cbsnews.com/video/congress…

While with LL in the hospital:

“I was washing his feet. And for Christians, that can be really symbolic. And I had no idea I was preparing him… and how special that moment was.”
🤔
(23/~35)

CBS host: “Vax rates are below 30% in your district. People are listening to everybody but the doctors.”

JL: “People don’t want to be forced into anything. What can I do to help with the misinformation, confusion, and fear?”…

(24/~35)

CBS host: “What would you do to convince someone on the fence (for covid vax)?”
JL: “I’d tell them about Luke. There’s power in stories. I would’ve given anything… everything for that shot to be available. And for someone to turn it away? That’s heartbreaking to me.”

(25/~35)

CBS host: “If the vaccine were available to your kids (ages 1 and 3), would you get them vaccinated?”
JL: “On the first day. We have the answer. Let’s use it.”

🤔
(26/~35)

CDC estimates show that from Feb 2020 through Sep 2021, there were 75 million infections and 60,000 deaths for those aged 18-49.

Based on this data alone, Luke Letlow’s odds at age 41 of dying with covid was less than 1 in 1000.
🤔

(27/~35)

cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…

Moreover, recent data shows:

“In the US from March 2020 to March 2021… a whopping 99.1% of the patients who died had at least one pre-existing condition.”

Recall that LL had no pre-exisiting conditions.
🤔
(28/~35)

israelnationalnews.com/news/310003

Recall that LL was treated with Remdesivir. I found no references of JL calling into question the safety and/or effectiveness of Remdesivir- despite LL’s rather quick demise.

🤔

(29/~35)

Perhaps an interesting side point: Dr. Ghali, the LSU Shreveport Chancellor who announced LL death to the media, spoke faborably about Operation Warp Speed at the Republican National Convention in August 2020 (Link)

(30/~35)

May 2022: Julia Letlow named to the House Appropropriations Committee:

“Letlow will serve on the Subcommittee for Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and related agencies and the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and related programs.”
(31/~35)

kalb.com/2022/05/11/con…

So… that’s where we are. All I have done is to lay out facts and shed light on stories told by others. I express (here) no opinions or judgments.

But I will add a couple of comments.
1. Those who come after our children… will have to go through me…

(32/~35)

Ecclesiastes Chapter 4, verse 3:
“Better off than both the living and the dead is he who has not yet been born and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.”

//Fini//