A YouTuber has gone viral with a satirical video in which he showed up at Wednesday's open mic discussion at Dallas City Hall and rapped about being a proponent for COVID-19 vaccines.
Alex Stein is an actor/comedian and a one-time villain on a reality TV show, The Glass House–which has been referred to as a rip-off of CBS' Big Brother.
In a performance that left either some people in stitches or conservatives having a meltdown, Stein appeared in front of the panel dressed in scrubs, endeavoring to make vaccines more "hip" and "cool" for kids.
Meanwhile in America: Man in scrubs trolls Dallas City Council meeting with vaccine rap. \n\nAlex Stein, a frequent open-mic speaker rapped a pro-vaccine tune at Dallas City Council meeting Wednesday. \n\npic.twitter.com/R9GUNnGREj— \ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddff The Cynical Hun \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddff The Cynical Hun \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1642077374
Stein is more recently known for his live-trolling of delivering satirical commentary at government meetings.
This is the same dude who spoke to the police oversight board last night claiming to be a Halliburton employee paralyzed in Iraq.pic.twitter.com/2gzwWsrNIq— Andrea Lucia (@Andrea Lucia) 1642005013
"I'm here today because we gotta vaccinate our children," said Stein–who then appeared to struggle with his smartphone to help get things started.
"You know, we really don't have enough vaccines, like they're not mandatory, and that's the problem, we've gotta mandate these vaccines."
He eventually gave up on syncing a music track and said, "I guess we'll just have to freestyle it."
You can watch his full a capella performance, here.
He began by parodying Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady," but plugged in the name of President Biden's Chief Medical Advisor in the lyrics.
"Will the real Dr. Fauci please stand up, please stand up, please stand up," rapped Stein before launching into:
"Vaccinate your mom, vaccinate your dad. Vaccinate the happy, vaccinate the sad. Vaccinate your babies, vaccinate them even if they've got rabies. Vaccinate my life, vaccinate my wife. Vaccinate your DNA. Vaccine created by the CIA."
"Vaccinate your body. Vaccinate me at the party. Vaccination free. Vaccination freak-a-leak. I want the vaccine in my life. I want the vaccine for my wife."
For those who don\u2019t get it, it\u2019s a joke. Satire. A mockery.\n\n\u201cVaccination Rap By Prime Time Stein\n\nPodcaster Alex Stein trolls Dallas City Hall and the covid-crazies.\u201d\n\npic.twitter.com/5AQ3cBaIjR— \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83e\udd63 \u20a6\u00d8\u20a6-\u0e3f\u0142\u0110\u0246\u20a6\u20b3\u2c64\u024e \u20a3\u2c64\u00d8\u00d8\u20ae \u2c60\u00d8\u00d8\u20b1\u20b4 \ud83e\udd63\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83e\udd63 \u20a6\u00d8\u20a6-\u0e3f\u0142\u0110\u0246\u20a6\u20b3\u2c64\u024e \u20a3\u2c64\u00d8\u00d8\u20ae \u2c60\u00d8\u00d8\u20b1\u20b4 \ud83e\udd63\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1642027184
Without anyone from the panel slowing his roll, Stein continued wildly gesticulating and rapping away.
"I wanna vaccinate you all day long. Vaccinate you I'll wear my thong, vaccinate me. Vaccinate who? Vaccinate she. Vaccinate her. Vaccinate them. Vaccinate my friend."
He also used props for his performance and dispensed some hand sanitizer on himself, rapping, "Vaccinate me Purell. I love you what can I say. DNA, I love you. I got the purell, feel the Pure."
Seeing that his rapping showered the mic with his DNA, he pulled out an antibacterial towelette and wiped it down before using the same wet-nap on his forehead.
"Vaccinate me in my dong. Vaccination right or wrong. Dr. Fauci give me that ouchie."
"Vaccinate your mind. Vaccinate your body. Vaccinate your life. It's a vaccination party."
A part of the video was closed-captioned for your convenience.
Including CC for accessibilitypic.twitter.com/TAR30783Ei— Jasmine D. Lowe \u270c\ud83c\udffe (@Jasmine D. Lowe \u270c\ud83c\udffe) 1642082120
On Wednesday after his City Hall performance, Stein told The Daily Dot:
“I went up there and played the buffoon. I was really trying to be cringe and trying to be stupid…I didn’t know it would go super-viral that fast.”
It appeared he successfully achieved coming off as a "buffoon."
Many people were left in stitches after watching the video, which racked millions of views.
I.can't.breathe!!!!!!!!pic.twitter.com/bRJC8kvoV8— AshTruth1723\ud83c\udf4a\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83d\udc38 (@AshTruth1723\ud83c\udf4a\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83d\udc38) 1642027663
"The fact he had the courage to do this I applaud him I want to see the people's reaction while he was doing that lol," wrote one commenter on his YouTube video.
Another said:
"I started watching this in it's entirety and had to stop. I'm laughing too hard and my husband is trying to sleep. I will resume tomorrow for the ensuing hilarity. This is the best thing I've seen in a long time."
His satirical schtick even fooled conservatives like Amy Tarkanian, the former chair of the Nevada Republican Party, who thought Stein was a real nurse pushing vaccines on people.
She tweeted:
“The TikTok nurses have taken to doing routines at City Council Meetings. Here’s a nurse in Texas giving a performance that is one-of-a-kind.”
"I wonder who he voted for..."
The TikTok nurses have taken to doing routines at City Council Meetings.\n\nHere\u2019s a nurse in Texas giving a performance that is one-of-a-kind.\n\nI wonder who he voted for\u2026pic.twitter.com/8OTpupYgtm— Amy Tarkanian (@Amy Tarkanian) 1642008408
Conservative commentator Ian Miles Cheong appeared to have lost all hope in humanity.
"Everything is wrong with the world," he lamented.
Everything is wrong with the world.pic.twitter.com/Z25OyAgRl2— Ian Miles Cheong (@Ian Miles Cheong) 1642009491
Others who also missed the joke completely questioned his mental stability.
The amount of normalized mental illness in the U.S. is becoming concerning— The Magnificent Mongo Slade, BS, MPA (@The Magnificent Mongo Slade, BS, MPA) 1642009419
Texas doesn\u2019t claim this one— Eliza Leggatt (@Eliza Leggatt) 1642012607
Scrubs or is that a failed straight jacket he is wearing?— Tired of it all! (@Tired of it all!) 1642011213
Get your vaccine, and you can act like this too..— Glenn Harris (@Glenn Harris) 1642014711
This is the end stage of Mass Formation Psychosis.\n\nFinal Boss.pic.twitter.com/wo6cT5V00t— Benny (@Benny) 1642010589
The problem with this is now I cannot unsee this. The next time somebody tells me that demon possession is not real I will refer them to watching this video. God help us all!— PaPa PaPa (@PaPa PaPa) 1642021473
And one Twitter user struggled with the blurred lines of reality.
I can't tell what isn't satire anymore.— Julia (@Julia) 1642014478
Stein said of people falling for his gimmick:
"That's my favorite part. The true satire is you don't know if it's real or fake."
Joking aside, Stein–who lost his 60-year-old mother to COVID-19 in October–added that "this virus is real, people are dying."
His performance may have been inspired by something he initially frowned upon witnessing. Stein recalled visiting his ailing mother in the hospital and seeing a nurse do a TikTok video.
“It’s a little insensitive people are dancing around the floor in the hospital while bodies are being wheeled out," said Stein.
He also addressed how social media users are trying to determine where he stands politically. “The right is just as crazy as the left," he said.
He also said people should be able to make their own medical decisions and that the United States should socialize medicine.
“Why does insulin cost $200 in Texas and $2 in Mexico?” he wondered.
Though he had technical difficulty at the start of the rap, he hinted at an encore performance sometime in the future.
“Next time I’m going in there with backup dancers and a huge boombox…It will be way better," he promised.