Jake Paul has called the coronavirus a 'hoax' and says it's time for the US to 'go back to normal', before back-tracking and adding that 'obviously, the coronavirus has killed people'.
The 23-year-old YouTuber turned boxer hit headlines back in July after he threw a huge party at his Calabasas mansion where guests failed to wear masks.
Calabasas Major Alicia Weintraub told Fox 11 at the time: "They're having this large party, no social distancing, no masks, it's just a big, huge disregard for everything that everybody is trying to do to get things back to functioning."
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Adding that guests were 'acting like Covid doesn't exist'.
At the time, Paul remained defiant, telling Insider: "No one has answers, our leadership is failing us, and everyone kind of just doesn't know what to do.
"But I personally am not the type of person who's going to sit around and not live my life."
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Now, in a recent interview with the Daily Beast, Paul has said he thinks the virus is a 'hoax' and also incorrectly claimed Covid-19 has only killed as many people as flu.
He told the news outlet: "I mean... it's time for us to open up.
"Obviously it's a controversial subject, but it's time for our nation to open up and go back to normal."
He went on to say that closing things down had meant that people had lost their jobs and gone bankrupt leaving 'millions unemployed'.
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He also claimed that people were turning to alcohol and drugs to cope with the way things were.
He then added: "This is the most detrimental thing to our society. Covid cases are at less than one percent, and I think the disease is a hoax."
When pushed on if he really believed the disease was a hoax, despite the US having around 260,000 Covid deaths - he said: "Urgh. Yeah, and so has the 'flu."
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According to the Centre for Disease Control, the 'flu was responsible for 22,000 deaths in the 2019-2020 influenza season. When presented with these facts, Paul replied: "OK."
He then asked if we had a vaccine for Covid.
Later in the interview he appeared to go back on what he said, admitting: "Obviously, the coronavirus has killed people.
"I think if you're at-risk, be careful. If you're around people who are at-risk, be careful. Quarantine, do everything right, and live in a bubble, essentially.
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"But I think if you're young, healthy, and don't have any health issues, I don't think anything should be different."
Featured Image Credit: PA