NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Jay Varma, who served as the city's senior advisor for public health, leading its pandemic response during mayor Bill de Blasio's tenure, has slammed the release by ultra right-wing commentator and activist Steven Crowder of a secretly-recorded conversation that was "spliced, diced, and taken out of context," in which Varma discusses participation in gatherings during the pandemic involving sex and illicit drugs.
"In those private conversations that were secretly recorded, spliced, diced, and taken out of context, I referred to events that transpired four years ago," Varma, whose specialty as a physician is epidemiology, explained to WINS in a statement Thursday. "Between April 2020 - May 2021, I participated in two private gatherings. I take responsibility for not using the best judgment at the time."
Varma, who attended Harvard University and the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, worked with the Mayor's office from April 2020 to May 2021. "I led strategy, developed programs, and supported innovation for the City of New York’s COVID-19 pandemic response and served as the City’s principal scientific spokesperson. From May 2021 onward, I continued in this role part-time as a consultant," according to his LinkedIn profile." Currently he is executive vice president and chief medical officer at SIGA Technologies.
As for Crowder, 37, Varma said, "Unfortunately, I was targeted by an operative for an extremist right-wing organization determined to malign public health officials and take down the public health system in America. This individual has been highly discredited and he has been banned from numerous media outlets for his homophobic slurs and racist rants."
Crowder, who has worked for Fox News, has had his YouTube channel demonetized twice, first in 2019 after repeated use of racist and homophobic slurs. It was re-monetized after YouTube said he addressed his content, but the channel was demonetized again in March 2021, with uploads even suspended for a week, after violating YouTube's presidential election integrity policy against advancing false claims about the election's integrity. The channel was also suspended again for two weeks in October 2022 for violating its harassment, threats and cyberbullying policy.
Varma also said he stands by his efforts during the pandemic at keeping New Yorkers safe.
"Facing the greatest public health crisis in a century, our top priority was to save lives, and every decision made was based on the best available science to keep New Yorkers safe," he said. "I stand by my efforts to get New Yorkers vaccinated against COVID-19, and I reject dangerous extremist efforts to undermine the public’s confidence in the need for and effectiveness of vaccines."