The U.S. Open is ongoing in New York City, but a notable player is missing due to not being vaccinated. And this apparently makes Novak Djokovic, world tennis champion, non-grata. Our New York-based reporter Jeremy Lafredo tries to make sense of it all.
00:07:50.940And I think when it comes to, for whatever reason, I think this is a screw job.
00:07:55.460Western knows, based on what you just said, a lot of these students have committed to first and last month's rent.
00:08:00.800The time frame makes it impossible for them to switch to another institution.
00:08:05.900It's like we are going to be successful in coercing these kids to get double jabbed plus booster because they don't have much of a choice.
00:08:16.220Yeah. And the sad reality is I can't confirm this myself.
00:08:20.340I haven't had time yet to look into it.
00:08:22.220But I had a student message me on Twitter that I spoke with on Saturday.
00:08:26.320And allegedly the student council of Western University had a vote and they voted basically in favor of the mandate, of the booster mandate.
00:08:39.440So it's not exactly looking great for the students protesting.
00:09:49.620We're now two years into the pandemic.
00:09:54.300People are so, it's like completely changed the world, right?
00:09:58.880Especially North America, Western society.
00:10:01.960You know, people have just been, their mindsets have just been completely distorted and completely changed where they cannot see something that is completely wrong.
00:10:11.020And in their eyes, it seems like it's right.
00:10:14.120You know, things have just been turned upside down, really.
00:10:17.300And it's just sad at the end of the day.
00:10:20.080And now, like I said earlier, we're at the point now where people who are double vaccinated are not able to do things.
00:10:27.360You know, this is what the truckers fought for.
00:10:29.420This is what people have been protesting for, for the past two years.
00:10:33.060And it's funny, people will say now, why are you protesting?
00:12:56.120You know, are these mandates, these booster mandates, are these ways just to keep pushing the vaccines out the door and just to keep things flowing?
00:18:04.240I'm not passing judgments on him, but like, I'm sick of talking about it.
00:18:08.740At the U.S. Open in New York, the Serena Williams farewell tour is getting most of the publicity.
00:18:14.020But with all due respect to Ms. Williams, I think a far more important story is demanding of our attention.
00:18:20.400And that would be world tennis champion Novak Djokovic being excluded from playing at this tournament because he refuses to get jabbed with an experimental vaccine.
00:18:33.900And yet again, folks, so much for the mantra of my body, my choice.
00:18:39.940And joining me now with more on this story is our New York-based reporter, Jeremy Lafredo.
00:18:50.340So, Jeremy, there are so many angles here.
00:18:53.100But what I thought was perversely amusing was the interviewer in that BBC clip that we inserted into your report in which the journalist, he's almost gasping when he says to Djokovic, why, why, why?
00:19:09.880It's almost as though Djokovic was pulling the limbs off a puppy dog.
00:19:15.180And maybe, just maybe, the reason is, as Djokovic explains, is that there are more important things in life than tennis trophies and money.
00:19:26.520And I would say that the most overlooked, underreported story of the year thus far is the number of young, healthy, athletic, predominantly males who are suddenly dropping dead after getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
00:19:54.520But, as I mentioned in the report, it's interesting, the U.S. Open was sponsored by U.S. government partner and mRNA vaccine manufacturer Moderna.
00:20:20.680And a lot of them, they were under – they knew.
00:20:24.900That you didn't have to be vaccinated as a tennis fan to attend the U.S. Open.
00:20:29.060And American tennis players who were competing in the U.S. Open did not have to be vaccinated.
00:20:34.400So, the idea that Novak can't come here to compete because, you know, it's a quote-unquote health risk is just – it doesn't make any sense to not only us, me and you,
00:20:43.840but even your average apolitical tennis player who probably received the jab, even they know that this is not about science and doesn't make any sense.
00:20:54.300Now, another thing is that, you know, Novak is a professional athlete.
00:20:59.560He's among the healthiest of people in the country, in the world.
00:21:04.740So, he doesn't – you know, he's okay from something that, you know, resembles the flu.
00:21:10.880And like you said, there are tons and tons and tons, dozens of athletes, world-class athletes, soccer players, younger, older, just collapsing on the field.
00:21:19.720Just – just – just stopping playing the sport, collapsing on the field, and they have a heart problem or they have, you know, a stroke on the field.
00:21:28.200Young, you would never expect it to happen to someone like that.
00:21:30.960And, you know, obviously, someone who's clear-eyed and sober as Novak sees this and he says,
00:21:37.360there's no reason for me to, you know, put my body at risk and, you know, give up my bodily autonomy and sovereignty just so I can hold the trophy up in the air.
00:21:47.060And that's a lot coming from him because, you know, this is his – this is his sport.
00:21:52.140This is what he's so passionate about.
00:21:54.040He spent his whole life playing tennis and it's something that he's willing to sacrifice to maintain his freedom over his own bodily decisions.
00:22:03.600Indeed, and I'm sure a player of his caliber has earned millions and millions of dollars.
00:22:08.460He can live comfortably for the rest of his life for sure.
00:22:12.000But, you know, you said a lot of things that were very interesting there, Jeremy.
00:22:14.680First and foremost, we've been told since day one of this pandemic, follow the science.
00:22:21.480And you just told me that the tennis players at the U.S. Open have to be vaccinated, even though tennis by its nature, social distancing is observed.
00:22:33.440It's not a contact sport, but the fans going into the stadium, they don't have to be vaccinated and they're being shoehorned in.
00:24:45.200So the fact that, like, you know, you have to be vaccinated to commit a crime, that's really not that's a nonstarter.
00:24:50.340Um, but really that line of thinking saying that, you know, it kind of manufactures, you know, consent for let's let's say, OK, everybody needs to be vaccinated.
00:25:00.100If you come across the border, like I don't support any illegal aliens coming to our country undocumented.
00:25:04.400But I also don't think that they should be if they do make if they do like, you know, try to come across the border illegally.
00:25:13.800I don't think anyone should be jabbed, whether you're illegal, whether you're not illegal.
00:25:17.980I don't think anyone should be forced to be vaccinated.
00:25:20.400But that is a great point that they don't need it.
00:25:23.140Although champion tennis player Novak needs it.
00:25:26.720It is. It's a great it's a great analogy.
00:26:45.900You know, they have influence over, you know, what other people do.
00:26:49.740You know, if they that's why they're on TV selling everything from Gatorade to televisions, they they are influencers and they're used to sell products.
00:27:01.800Aside from sports, how they make money is selling other people's products.
00:27:05.640And if someone if a company is sponsoring this event and someone is vehemently against their product, it would be best if they weren't at that event.
00:27:16.000And also, it's kind of like the I believe it was the Oscars where the sponsor of the Oscars was Pfizer.
00:27:24.440And normally you have about a minute long tribute to everyone who has passed this past year and anybody in the entertainment industry.
00:27:32.840And this year it was sponsored by Pfizer.
00:27:35.700They didn't even have enough time to go through all of the older celebrities that have passed.
00:27:40.620And they spent a lot of time on just a few people and left some people totally out of it because we don't know what they died from.
00:27:45.580You know, they died suddenly, quote unquote.
00:28:27.600Well, it's perversely amusing, I should say.
00:28:29.960If you put in the search engine, brought to you by Pfizer, it's like this seven and a half minute long clip of every major American newscast and entertainment show where it kicks off with brought to you by Pfizer.
00:28:48.720But one last angle I want to touch upon with you, Jeremy, because this year, once again, Roe v. Wade is very much in the news.
00:28:58.540And we know from the pro-abortion camp for decades, the mantra has been my body, my choice.
00:29:06.040And I'm just wondering, Jeremy, educate me, if you will, my body, my choices that only pertain to ending the life of an unborn baby, because it sure doesn't seem to apply to those who say, I don't want an experimental vaccine going into my body.
00:29:26.800And it's the it's the biggest hypocrisy of the year.
00:29:29.900I mean, I was at the Roe v. Wade protest here in New York City, and it was wild.
00:29:36.580I asked, you know, protester after protester after protester if they support people who don't want to get the shot because they want to respect their bodily autonomy.
00:29:45.200I mean, there was there was hundreds of female teachers in New York who were fired and who still don't have their jobs back because these women respected their bodily autonomy and said, no, I don't want that shot.
00:29:57.840But these these these these are not important, you know, victims to these protesters.
00:30:04.360These are not these are that they're hurting other people, public health, et cetera, et cetera.
00:30:09.380It's it's a it's a giant glaring hypocrisy of what's happening right now.
00:30:13.760You have these people who, you know, they're all my body, my choice.
00:30:17.660They're willing to take off work, hit the streets with their signs.
00:30:20.120But it's only for this one topic, abortion.
00:30:25.680It's when it comes to any other decision.
00:30:27.460It's really what the prevailing, you know, ruling narrative is regarding that.
00:30:32.540And it's pro vaccine. So they're pro vaccine.
00:30:35.180Unbelievable. One last question, Jeremy.
00:30:37.680We had a smattering of streeters where you asked people about this and it was probably evenly split, at least what made it there.
00:30:45.940But I'm sure you talked to more people than what made it to your final cut of your video.
00:30:51.100What was the percentage in terms of those being pro Djokovic versus anti Djokovic in terms of his vaccine stance?
00:31:00.920Well, these are these are tennis fans.
00:31:03.360And, you know, as you know, like like if you're a diehard basketball fan, you respect Michael Jordan, whether you like his team or not.
00:31:09.520And whether, you know, whatever he says, you know, that he is a fixture of the game and these were diehard tennis fans.
00:31:15.900So overwhelmingly people supported Novak and said he should be here.
00:31:20.800It's crazy what they're doing to him. He should be here.
00:31:22.800He needs to be playing in this because if he's not competing, we don't really know who the best tennis player is.
00:31:28.780And, you know, it's a very tennis oriented answer.
00:31:32.480And, you know, I would say it's about 80-20 in support of Novak and the 20 percent were like, we don't like, you know, talking about him so much.
00:31:41.460There's so much else going on in the world of tennis.
00:31:43.820But overwhelmingly people supported Novak and his decision not to get the shot.
00:31:50.360And they were against the idea that he couldn't be there to compete.
00:31:53.820Well, I'm happy to hear that, that sanity is prevailing, Jeremy.
00:31:58.780And I think at the end of the day, this just shows how this decision is so lose-lose.
00:32:05.180You're preventing one of the best tennis players, maybe the best tennis player, from competing.
00:32:11.240And you are depriving the tennis fans in New York from seeing this man compete.
00:32:17.420And, again, it's not based on any science I can tell from this.
00:32:22.620So just a sad state of affairs overall.
00:32:26.960Hopefully this policy gets knocked out of bounds in the weeks and months to come when we don't have to go through this again.
00:32:35.040Jeremy, thank you so much for weighing in.
00:32:37.060And you have a great weekend, my friend.
00:33:26.140I wish it was a better subject matter.
00:33:27.840But, Gary, what, pray tell, did you do that made your local Scotiabank determine that they no longer want to do business with you any longer?
00:33:39.200Well, I just tried to get online with an app to do some banking online.
00:33:50.160And basically, there was a rainbow app.
00:33:56.580So I said, is there any way to get this rainbow app off my phone?
00:33:59.560And he responded in quite a shocking way that kind of surprised me.
00:34:06.920And when you say, hey, are we speaking now?
00:34:49.860Gary, Scotiabank strives to provide an inclusive environment for all members of the LGBTQ plus community.
00:34:59.380And during Pride Month, like every other financial institution, we have chosen to show our support in a variety of ways, including visual signs such as rainbows on our app.
00:35:11.100Your request slash complaint will not be entertained as it does not align with our principles.
00:35:19.100Your comments are not appreciated, nor will they be tolerated, which is why we have chosen to terminate our relationship with you.
00:35:27.700You may gather the funds from your account and a termination notice will be mailed to you advising the date you have until to retrieve any funds.
00:35:38.380Any funds in the account upon the date of closure will be put into a bank draft and mailed to the address we have on file.
00:35:50.320I mean, right away he went to the nuclear option just because you complained about a rainbow illustration on the app.
00:36:00.340Why do you think he responded this way?
00:36:05.620Well, I think it's the culture in general that we have right now.
00:36:09.480You know, you know, given the benefit of the doubt, he might have thought I was a troll and possibly testing him to kind of keep up the standard that they're trying to promote nowadays out there and the woke, kind of woke-ism.
00:36:27.720So that could be that he was concerned that if he didn't say the right thing that he would be, you know, he would be attacked from his end.
00:36:38.860So I understand that and that's the fear a lot of us have for not even wanting to speak out nowadays is that whole thing, right?
00:36:47.960Wow. Remember when Canada's big banks were all about, you know, banking?
00:36:53.360But today, Canada's big banks are becoming increasingly political.
00:36:58.360Case in point, we looked on in revulsion last February when some Canadians actually had their bank accounts frozen for the egregious crime of making monetary donations to the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa.
00:37:11.960And even before that took place, we experienced political interference here at Rebel News last December.
00:37:20.080That's when the Royal Bank of Canada declined to approve our mortgage application pertaining to a Calgary property.
00:37:28.960This had nothing to do with our financial wherewithal.
00:37:31.880Rather, the Royal Bank apparently doesn't like our editorial stance.
00:37:39.020And as you just saw, along comes yet another example of a bank carrying out a jihad against a client for the egregious crime of wrongthink.
00:37:49.040Yes, apparently having a politically incorrect and non-woke mindset is sinful in the eyes of Scotiabank,
00:37:57.320which is why longtime Scotiabank client Gary Duke of Grand Prairie, Alberta, was essentially fired as a client by the bank,
00:38:07.180not for defaulting on a loan, mind you, but rather for asking an impolite question.
00:42:23.260If Scotiabank operated in Muslim countries, I'll warrant there's no rainbows on the app used in those locales.
00:42:30.720Oh, Eddie, that is a very safe bet indeed.
00:42:34.400Indeed, and it's not just speculation.
00:42:37.200In June, Fortune magazine reported that for Gay Pride Month, BMW updated its logo on its main Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts,
00:42:47.400as well as regional Twitter profiles, including South Africa, the UK, India, and Mexico, to a colorful rainbow-clad palette.
00:42:59.560Every account was updated, except for one.
00:43:03.880And that country would be, drumroll please, Saudi Arabia.
00:43:07.920So thank you, BMW, for proving that when it comes to the human rights totem pole, radical Islam trumps the alphabet soup community.
00:43:19.060Well, that wraps up another edition of Rebel Roundup.