It wasn't being "smeared for political reasons"; people were actively taking Ivermectin in preference to vaccines and therapeutics we knew worked on COVID. Whatever else Ivermectin might do, it was not a meaningful therapeutic for COVID.
Of course it was (and is.) When properly dosed the risk is absolutely minimal. This is in stark contrast to the mRNA vaccines. (Paxlovid has value and is much safer than molnupiravir, which is deliberately mutagenic.)
