Fox News amplifies anti-vaccine messages after Biden push
Following President Biden's call for "door-to-door" vaccine advocacy, Fox News and other right-leaning media outlets appear to be ramping up anti-vax rhetoric focused on two competing ideas — (1) vaccinations are dangerous, overhyped and shouldn't be required or even encouraged, but (2) they're an important and unrecognized accomplishment of former President Donald Trump, Media Matters reported on Thursday.
On Wednesday, conservative activist Charlie Kirk likened vaccination guidelines to apartheid in an interview with Tucker Carlson, saying inoculation requirements resemble an "apartheid-style, open-air hostage situation."
Fellow right-wing activist and commentator Candace Owens echoed that mentality on Twitter, emphasizing her family's right to abstain from the COVID-19 shot.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Even though Owens and other influential figures have voiced what is a consistently prevalent argument among vaccine skeptics, Newsmax contributor Mark Halperin wants to make sure Trump receives the recognition he deserves for helping develop the vaccine. "President Trump doesn't get nearly enough credit for what he did to unshackle the administration and the regulation and allowed these private-sector companies to go forward," he said.
Perfectly illustrating these conflicting complaints, Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade said Thursday that "the focus of this administration on vaccination is mind boggling," adding that Americans are now being "berated" by Dr. Anthony Fauci.
But Kilmeade, much like Halperin, also wanted to "underline the fact that this vaccine was driven by the Trump administration ... As much as [the Biden administration wants] you vaccinated, they are determined not to let you know who came up with it."
Co-host Pete Hegseth then "cued up a video clip from [Laura Ingraham's] show the night before, in which a guest claimed that 'no one under the age of 30' should get the vaccines," Media Matters writes. Read more at Media Matters.
-
The ‘ravenous’ demand for Cornish mineralsUnder the Radar Growing need for critical minerals to power tech has intensified ‘appetite’ for lithium, which could be a ‘huge boon’ for local economy
-
Why are election experts taking Trump’s midterm threats seriously?IN THE SPOTLIGHT As the president muses about polling place deployments and a centralized electoral system aimed at one-party control, lawmakers are taking this administration at its word
-
‘Restaurateurs have become millionaires’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
NIH director Bhattacharya tapped as acting CDC headSpeed Read Jay Bhattacharya, a critic of the CDC’s Covid-19 response, will now lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
-
Witkoff and Kushner tackle Ukraine, Iran in GenevaSpeed Read Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held negotiations aimed at securing a nuclear deal with Iran and an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine
-
Pentagon spokesperson forced out as DHS’s resignsSpeed Read Senior military adviser Col. David Butler was fired by Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin is resigning
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Hyatt chair joins growing list of Epstein files losersSpeed Read Thomas Pritzker stepped down as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
