"Bunch of people" doesn't seem like a good characterization considering he's at least partially responding to Martin Kulldorff, a professor of medicine and biostatistician at Harvard and a co-author of the GBD.
It would be less egregious if it has been a bunch of random people. It was someone who really should have known better. Instead, it provides more evidence that Kulldorff is seeking to confirm an ideological position and tossing his medical and biostatistical accomplishments aside to do it.
Nobody is immune to this. It’s just more frustrating when their ideological position is opposed to yours.
Especially since he happens to be in the thick of a position that is easily accused of being anti science. One would think that makes it doubly incumbent not to make such trivial errors.