Ohio Family Cancels Funeral Livestream for Father Who Died from Coronavirus Weeks After Downplaying Pandemic

An Ohio man who died from Covid-19 weeks after describing the coronavirus as a "political ploy" on social media was laid to rest by grieving family members who faced backlash from strangers online.

John W. McDaniel, 60, died on April 15 after contracting the disease in late March. A series of since-deleted posts McDaniel made to social media before getting sick quickly went viral due after his death, due his downplaying of the pandemic. His widow said negative posts had been hurtful for the family as they prepared to hold McDaniel's funeral in Marion, Ohio on Wednesday.

"This news has opened the flood gates for people to share their own misguided anger and unfounded assumptions about a man they didn't know," McDaniel's widow Lisa W. McDaniel wrote in a statement posted on Facebook. "Wanting to protect my family and John's legacy, we have decided not to live stream his funeral services via Facebook today."

It is unclear whether there was any direct harassment or threats to the family or funeral home that may have played a role in the family cancelling the livestream. Newsweek reached out to the funeral home for additional information but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Lisa McDaniel's statement said that the family would be recording services instead and sharing the video with friends and family privately.

The statement went on to say that despite McDaniel's early skepticism, he had ordered employees at the industrial manufacturing company where he served as president to work from home on March 16 and immediately self-isolated when he learned he had been in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus.

The widow said that intervening early to stop the "invisible enemy" of the virus had proven to be "indeed the right action to take." She also stated that her husband would have likely retracted the sentiment present in his social media posts if he had survived the illness.

"We know if John was still here with us he would acknowledge the national crisis we are in, abide by the stay-at-home order, and encourage family and friends to do the same," she wrote. "But sadly he is not with us and we will forever have to live and cope with how his life ended far too soon."

"Further, we will never be able to erase from our hearts and minds the negative posts that have been made and shared about John this past week," she added.

News of McDaniel's death was widely shared online after his obituary was published on April 16. Images of social media posts he had made were juxtaposed in sharp contrast with the reality of his death.

The posts included McDaniel calling Ohio Governor Mike DeWine's early order to close restaurants and bars "bullshit" while suggesting people concerned about contracting the virus were "paranoid." He also suggested that the virus might not be real.

"Does anybody have the guts to say this Covid19 is a political ploy? Asking for a friend. Prove me wrong," McDaniel wrote in one of the deleted posts that would later accompany his death notice in posts online.