William "Wheat Belly" Davis agreed to interview with David Duke personally

Duke the Deceiver

A major publisher of diet and health books says one of its writers, a Milwaukee cardiologist, was deceived by a controversial ex-Congressman from Louisiana, Dr. David Duke  a man the Anti-Defamation League calls "perhaps America's most well-known racist and anti-Semite"  into appearing on his radio show.

Danielle Lynn, public relations manager for Rodale Books, says Duke contacted the author, Dr. William Davis, in early 2012 and claimed to be a "Dr. Duke" from "Europe." 
Danielle Lynn, public relations manager for Rodale Books, says Duke contacted the author, Dr. William Davis, in early 2012 and claimed to be a "Dr. Duke" from "Europe." Apparently not realizing with whom he was speaking, Davis agreed to tape a segment that aired on Duke's satellite radio show on Feb. 10, 2012, and again on March 12.

Lynn says Davis receives about 20 media-related requests a day, "in addition to other opportunities that we secure for him." But "in this instance, he was contacted directly and intentionally misled about the true identity of the host."
"The substance of the interview that took place was entirely book-focused and did not veer into any other topics," she says.
Dr. Davis needs to make a formal statement about this in my opinion (YMMV).  How does a busy doctor and author make room for a 45 minute interview (estimated, the whole program runs 53 min) with some mysterious "Dr. Duke" from "Europe"?  If he's getting so much media attention, how does this happen?


Comments

Anonymous said…
20+ "media" requests a day and yet somehow "Dr. Duke from Europe" was able to get the guy directly on the phone?

This whole anonymous doctor from Europe thing just reeks.
cremes said…
I keep forgetting why this is such a scandal. Does it undermine the science to be on a white supremacist's radio show? When you are trying to help people and sell your book, do only "right thinking" people deserve to hear your message?
Mike said…
I'm with you. I don't get the racist witch hunt. I don't think Jimmy Moore or Dr. Davis are racists. The worst you can do is prove that they're shameless attention whores but we already know that.
CarbSane said…
Witch hunt? Both granted interviews to a notorious racist and Jimmy Moore lied about how his interview came about. Davis did a long interview on his own with someone who duped him? LOL Why don't you try and call up his office and see if he'll grant you an interview. Sheesh.
CarbSane said…
Hi cremes. No, Wheat Belly's junk science is not undermined by his stupidity of granting a notorious neo-Nazi an exclusive interview.
CarbSane said…
Agreed. But haven't you heard? There's a witch hunt on! LOL
an3drew said…
Mike, my MAIN problem with Moore was how he at first stated that he didn't care that Duke is a racist/KKK guy but then came back later and claimed that he didn't know it was that David Duke. He lied and changed the topic to claiming that people were accusing him of being a fascist/racist. It was a lame effort on his part to shift the focus, but somehow it worked.
Anonymous said…

Honestly, I think it's a case of the cover up being worse than the crime. I'd feel a lot better about it if they came out and said something similar to what cremes did. If they thought their message was so important as to outweigh the detriment, all right. There'd be something noble in that somewhere if you squint.

Instead, they act like they were duped, which call me a hater, I simply don't believe. I don't buy it from Davis or MacGuff. Jimmy Moore was able to determine it was Duke, but these two couldn't? The anonymous doctor stuff just reads like a cover story, IMO.
cremes said…
Evelyn, is this really the best use of your time? As a scientist, why don't you produce some original work instead of poking at (like Mike said) a bunch of attention whores. And "exclusive interview?" That would require that Davis didn't give anyone else interviews, but clearly as an attention whore he give interviews to lots of folks. You are usually more precise with your use of language.

I still don't see the point of your posts on this topic. You don't like these guys. We get it. Now what?
Woodey said…
What I want to know is why David Duke is targeting this niche of people? I guess part of that answer is that he knows these people will talk to anyone to get attention, in so doing potentially broaden his own following.

The whole, "I didn't know" is just pathetic. It's up there with Marion Jones, Lance Armstrong, and Roger Clemons when they said they were "the most drug-tested athletes and always passed the tests", and therefore drug free.

I'm 41 and have lightly (sometimes heavily) followed politics and even a political amateur like myself has heard of David Duke. I'm not sure where to classify Davis and Jimmy now. I was thinking total bozos, but now I might change it to total idiots.
Diana said…
The date of the article is January 7, 2013. This is good. Being a learned cynic I don't think (sadly) anything is going to come of this, but I keep my hopes up. I also think it's important that Rodale Books saw the necessity to distance itself from this trash.

Duke looks like shit in that picture, drawn and worn. Did you know his wife left him for the guy who runs Stormfront? That mob is even more inbred than the Ancestral Health folks. He needs to eat a few carbs but I sure ain't giving him health advice.
Woodey said…
"That mob is even more inbred than the Ancestral Health folks"

Excellent summary.
Ailu said…
Gotta agree with cremes. This is getting tiresome. Let's here something original for a change.
Unknown said…
Has Wheat Belly issued a mea culpa about the interview or has he remained silent?
Woodey said…
@cremes...If you think Evelyn is wasting her time writing something so drab, why are you wasting your time by reading it and then taking additional time to write about it,repeatedly?

What does it say about a person willing to take the time to read something that they feel is a waste of time and of little to no value? LOL not to mention someone who thinks Davis is about the "science". I'm having Fathead FB page flashbacks.
Puddleg said…
I've heard of David Duke even in lil' ole' Noo Zillan', I've seen him on TV, read about him in books.
But, until I read this particular muck-raking expose, had he rung me up and asked to interview me about diet, or music, or my views on vacuum cleaners, there's no way I could have connected him with "that" David Duke.
If he skyped me wearing his Grand Dragon or Kleagle or whatever costume, I might have tumbled to it eventually.
Falling for a telephone hoax isn't worth killing yourself over, and obviously Davis's first choice was to ignore it and make it go away. That would be my default option too. I'd be thinking "I'm not the frickin' Grand Dragon of the KKK, I acted in good faith as a media whore (you would too if you had something to say), so leave me alone and go solve a crime or find a cure already."

Next you'll be going through Jimmy Moore's rubbish and telling us about how many empty booze bottles you counted. There might indeed be better uses of your time and talents.

cremes said…
Woodey, I have no pretense about what I am doing. My "job" right now is to comment on web sites, particularly those that are posting inane takedowns like this one. I see that you have the same job. Congratulations. We should compare notes.

LOL, OMG and all sorts of other nonsense.

What's the point of this again? And if you comment about this comment let me just throw a little wisdom your way. "What does it say about a person willing to take the time to read something that they feel is a waste of time and of little to no value?" I bet Woodey will oblige us by responding yet again.
cremes said…
Aside from you, Evelyn, and a few other sycophants, does anyone else care? Why should he apologize for marketing his stuff?
cremes said…
George, stop talking sense otherwise you will be attacked for wasting your time posting here by others who are clearly wasting *their* time posting here.
Giuseppe said…
I noticed from early on that pretty much all of the big paleo bloggers were right-wingers, and even those whose blogs had no particular political slant still linked to questionable sites (that Limbaugh-wannabe attention whore Nikoley is the first that comes to mind). It seemed like you were never too far away from climate-change denialists, creationists, conspiracy theorists and the like when following those blogs. I'm not qualified to judge about the science, but from reading this blog it would appear that a lot of them are the nutrition field's equivalent of the aforementioned tinfoil hat brigade.
I mean, I don't follow those sites anymore, but just by digging a little in the past few
days I discovered:

- Paul Jaminet routinely links to far right nutters' websites:http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2012/02/around-the-web-happy-valentine%E2%80%99s-day/
I found his "defense" of why he does that very unconvincing, your mileage may vary.
- Anthony Colpo published his research article in a far right faux-academic journal, alongside climate denialists, creationists, peddlers of ex-gay therapies and the like. http://www.plantpositive.com/blog/2012/3/27/anthony-colpos-confusionist-mind.html
- I though Masterjohn's was not among "those kind" of sites, although there were some weird references to economics and abortion in some of his nutrition posts. Apparently I didn't look very closely:
http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/Federal-Reserve-System-Created-History.html

Is there something about those kind of diets that tends to attract this kind of people?

Those recent episodes with Duke remind me that Ron Paul also used to court white supremacists in his infamous newsletters in the past, it's not like there's no precedent for this sort of thing.

Having said that, I'm not sure about Dr. Davis. He probably liked the idea of being invited for the first time to speak on a (supposedly) European show and didn't realize in what context his interview would appear.
Craig said…
I vaguely remembered the name as someone bad/disreputable. If you had asked me what happened to the guy, I probably would have guessed "deceased", since I hadn't seem seen him in the news lately (before this most recent 15 minutes of fame).

I did a little bit with google and found that there are at least 599 people named David Duke in the US. There are 214 David Dukes to be found on linked in. I guess all those folks are professionally ruined, cursed from from the day they were given the name. Sad for them!
Ev Barney said…
I suspect Duke is really into low carb paleo-esque eating. That part doesn't have to be complicated. Even racist scum-bags aren't one dimensional.
Vaclav K. said…
Ah the religion of climate change. Were never too far from left wing nuttery.
Unknown said…
Paleo gurus getting into the supplement business

http://180degreehealth.com/2013/01/danny-roddy-on-robb-wolf-and-chris-kressers-paleologix-supplements
Unknown said…
Looks like the supps cost $124 for a 30 day supply.
Anonymous said…
You care or you wouldn't be here. MacGuff cares or he wouldn't be disgusted. Rodale cares or they would not have issued a statement. Moore cares or he wouldn't have changed his story.

There you go. Three non-sycophants who care.

But then, that's your whole problem, isn't it?
Diana said…
@Giuseppe, There is a strong right wing streak among the guys, and among the women it's all very soak-and-sprout hippie mama fertility goddess. Haven't you noticed that?
Dustbunny said…
I think this story has aged past caring. Hardly anyone brings it up anymore. Life has gone on and nothing has changed.
Unknown said…
I just wanted to lose weight and get fit, didn't know at the time that I was signing up the other stuff.

Vaclav K. said…
You should have read the fine print! If you dont eat low O6 grassfed beef and organic veges,that means you are a right wing climate change denier. Don't make me explain the connection.
Diana said…
@cremes, I think you should look up the meaning of the word "sycophant."
Caution is to be advised when placing your name on a supplement range - it could be a passport to the land of woo.
Simon Carter said…
It can also be a passport to a lot of money! Such is the way of the world.
Diana said…
" There might indeed be better uses of your time and talents."

As Evelyn's unofficial life coach, I deeply resent this shameless attempt to poach my territory.
Anonymous said…

As if further proof was need that they're full of it.

Cavemen didn't need pills to get their nutrition. I'm sure they'll claim later to being duped, though.
Simon Carter said…
What about Flintstones vitamins? Yabba Dabba Doo!!
CarbSane said…
LOL Simon! I wonder if they'll make a gummy version!

Flintstones contain sugar and don't have that 1/3rd gram (less actually) paleo blend of dried kale and seaweed.
Unknown said…
That explains Colpo's last post about how modern women whore it up.
Unknown said…
Having a hard time deciding where I should allocate the $124 a month, toward the supplements or towards health insurance.

On the one hand, the health insurance will help me if I ever get sick. On the other hand, if I buy the supplements, chances are I will never get sick.
Sanjeev said…
I wonder if they designed the supplements via genuine paleo epistemic methods - reading chicken entrails & sacrificing virgins.
cremes said…
@diana, I did! It was a wonderful eye opener. What's your opinion on all of this? Or are you trying to avoid soiling yourself in the (fake) controversy?
cremes said…
@diana, apologies. But I must admit that you are failing by the numbers here.
cremes said…
If you don't toe the line, then...

I love how folks can read such conspiratorial ideas into a fuckin' diet.
fr said…
Fruitarians are way crazier than paleo low-carb types. Lack of protein is serious stuff and make people into raging maniacs. Whereas merely denying yourself tasty carbs isn't truly unhealthy though it does cause psychic splits because you are denying yourself something you want for no good reason.

Vegans in general tend to be mentally ill, but fruitarians, raw foodists, juicers and whatnot are the worst of the lot.

Every diet type tends to attract a different personality. The obsessive compulsives are attracted to Weight Watchers, for example, because of all the calorie counting. Fanatics go for fad diets: cabbage soup, etc. Ascetics go for the low-fat diets and intermittent fasting (I'm in this category). Lazy people are attracted to Atkins and other low-carb plans because they promise effortless weight loss and quick results (though of course the results don't last, as most of us know).
Diana said…
@cremes,

I misunderstood your use of the word "sycophant" because your usage was unclear. Now I understood what you meant by it.

Regarding my opinion, I've made it totally clear on this subject in a previous post, but I'm happy to make it again: I think Jimmy is a liar in general, a great role model for a failed diet program, doesn't understand anything about the physiology of fat loss, lied about the Duke podcast, blew off people who questioned him (I was one) in a way that made him look terrible, when he realized that he scrubbed his website of the questions and his answers.

He should be shunned because he's a weight loss fraud. He should be shunned because he appeared on a neo-Nazi's podcast.

"I keep forgetting why this is such a scandal. Does it undermine the science to be on a white supremacist's radio show? "

There is no science to Jimmy's N=1 shenanigans so the question is moot.

If a true scientist had appeared on Duke's podcast, it would not undermine his scientific credentials, but it would undermine any moral authority he had outside of science. Since Jimmy has no scientific validity, not even as an amateur tinkerer, it's irrelevant.

I have to say that your nonchalance about the whole matter makes me wonder whether you agree with Duke about anything.

I am going to assume that you do, especially his paranoid anti-Semitism.
Jane said…
I once searched Davis's site for 'copper', and was astonished to find nothing. He is a heart doctor, right? Copper deficiency is implicated as a major cause of heart disease. So I posted a comment about it. I included the following quote from Klevay.

'.. the Western diet is frequently low in copper. Copper deficiency is the only nutritional insult that elevates cholesterol (7), blood pressure (8), and uric acid; has adverse effects on electrocardiograms (7, 9); impairs glucose tolerance (10)... and which promotes thrombosis and oxidative damage. More than 75 anatomic, chemical, and physiologic similarities between animals deficient in copper and people with ischemic heart disease have been identified. Copper deficiency is offered as the simplest and most general explanation for ischemic heart disease.'

My comment appeared, but the following day I looked and it was gone. If you do a 'copper' search you will find nothing, as before. WTF is going on.
Anonymous said…
Do you have any video of that? I'd like to find out more details.

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