The internet is enjoying itself the afternoon, laughing at the fact Boris Johnson quoted M People's Search For The Hero during his Conservative Party Conference keynote speech, when talking about fighting coronavirus and subsequently losing weight.
And sorry, because I know we all need a laugh, but the Prime Minister's flippancy in talking about how he battled away coronavirus (under the finest medical care available) and then lost weight (with a personal trainer and chefs) isn't funny, it's insulting - and damaging. And, of course, as ever, a distraction.
In fact, rather than a loveable nod to the 90s, it's close to Trumpian in its tactics. The President of the United States is currently facing huge criticism for the way he's dealt with his own coronavirus hospitalisation, belittling it, removing his mask, mixing with others and shockingly (when 210,000 people have been killed in America by the virus), tweeting 'Don't be afraid of Covid. Don't let is dominate your life.'
Here, the UK death toll has reached more than 42,000. There have been more than 516,000 cases of the virus. Untold numbers of people are suffering with 'long covid' dealing with the aftermath of a pandemic that was catastrophically mismanaged by Mr Johnson's government.
For him to make jokes about how he could easily win in 'arm wrestling, sprint off, you name it', then pull out an M People line with a laughing nod is pretty grim.
The narrative being employed by the two men is close to that people have previously suggested we stop using, when we talk about cancer patients 'battling' and 'fighting' the disease. The idea is that in the face of vile diseases and viruses, there is something people who've 'beaten' them have done that is heroic. The inference of that is always that those who don't 'win the battle' are losers - that they didn't do enough.
To thousands of those still in mourning today, that is an insult.
Speaking about stories that have claimed Mr Johnson is still suffering following his coronavirus hospitalisation, he told the virtual conference: 'This is self-evident drivel' adding it was 'propaganda', before listing the arm-wrestles and sprints he could do to prove otherwise.
'And yet, I have to admit, the reason why I had such a nasty experience with the disease is that, although I was superficially in the peak of health when I caught it, I had a very common underlying condition,' Mr Johnson said.
‘My friends, I was too fat and I’ve since lost 26 pounds. You can imagine that in bags of sugar and I’m going to continue that diet because you’ve got to search for the hero inside yourself in the hope that the individual is slimmer.’
The idea that it's laughable that he might be anything less than fit will be awful to hear for those fainting and still unable to breathe following a long recovery from coronavirus.
And, as many, like Grazia's contributing editor, Stephanie Yeboah, have also pointed out, some studies into the links between weight and coronavirus are not suggesting that weight loss is not necessarily a risk factor as previously claimed.
Further, the fact that Boris suggests those who are carrying weight just need to search for their hero, try a bit harder and 'find the thin person inside' is also disingenuous in his privileged position of personal trainers, private chefs and endless resources. If the government wants to focus on obesity as it's said, they need to do better than that. A policy, rather than a song lyric would help, for instance.
And of COURSE, with his government overlooking scarily increasing coronavirus infection rates, investigation into the contracts they've given and a track and trace system THAT USED AN OLD VERSION OF EXCEL WHILE CHARGING MILLIONS OF POUNDS, Mr Johnson would rather us all have a laugh about Heather Smalls' Twitter mentions blowing up this afternoon.
So maybe, instead of searching for the hero inside yourself, just search for all the new stories about what's really going on out there. It'll probably serve you better.