​‘Dr. Fauci, give me that ouchie!’: Skepticism over absurd rap reveals who's been the butt of the joke

 After a video went viral of Alex Stein serenading folks at a Dallas City Hall open mic session with his own rap hailing the COVID-19 vaccine, the burning question became: Is this guy for real?

It was a minute and a half of unadulterated cringe, featuring lyrics such as: “Vaccinate me, in my thong. Vaccination, right or wrong. Dr. Fauci, give me that ouchie!”

With people like Francis Collins, who decided to share his own little coronavirus ditty, the nurses invited to sing at the White House, and whatever this is, it's embarrassingly clear why it became a question of whether to take Stein's performance as comedy or as serious messaging to be counted as yet another cringeworthy failed attempt at being relatable to humans with a pulse.

BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales of "The News & Why It Matters" was admittedly unsure of how seriously to take his performance.

“What the hell?!” was Gonzales’ initial reaction, which was not far off from what others were thinking, as well. 

Curiosity plagued Gonzales, so she invited Stein as a guest on her show to get answers.

“This is where we’re at in society,” Stein said. “There’s so many TikTok nurses doing ICU dances, then you see in the White House Joe Biden has a bunch of people in scrubs singing songs, then it’s totally believable,” Stein added, referring to his own comical performance as something that was easily misconstrued as some form of serious message he was trying to sell.

“The world is so absurd, my actions [made people think] ‘oh, somebody WOULD do that,'” Stein continued. “I mean, Francis Collins, the NIH director, the top guy, is playing little songs on his guitar like that. What it is, is it’s mocking US … it’s total mockery from the people in power.”

Adding to the mockery in the past few days, the U.S. Capitol announced it would be lifting its mask mandate just in time for the State of the Union address, the CDC would now be ditching most mask requirements, and Impact Research issued a memo complete with “strategic thoughts” for Democrats that began, "It's time for Democrats to take credit for ending the COVID crisis phase of the COVID war.”

Watch Alex Stein's latest appearance at Dallas City Hall, complete with a puppet, here.

For the full Alex Stein interview on "The News & Why It Matters," watch the video below. Can't watch? Catch the podcast here.