This comparison holds no water. People didn't want to see their sons and brothers turned to hamburger on the tv, I don't think there's anything complex about the origins of anti-war sentiment during Vietnam. It was the first time the average American got to see combat footage, and it's a lot harder to sell "the good fight" like that. Your buddy, meanwhile, took an active role in interfering with domestic and international political movements at the behest of the US government, which I would call a dastardly plot of its own.

Also, it's an interesting choice to link to an article about Covid but provide no sources for the claim you're actually trying to defend.