Speed Reads

'I'm not getting that'

Fox News' Tucker Carlson says he 'skipped' getting vaccinated

Fox News host Tucker Carlson, after repeatedly declining to comment on his COVID-19 vaccine status, now says he is unvaccinated. 

Carlson said as much while recently speaking to the Awaken Church, The Daily Beast reported. In leaked audio obtained by the outlet, the Tucker Carlson Tonight host dismisses the idea of getting a fourth dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and claims he personally has not even received an initial dose. 

"Yeah, I don't think so," he says. "No, I skipped the first three, I'm not getting that one either." 

Carlson's remarks received enthusiastic applause. According to The New York Times, Fox News required office workers in New York City to show proof they have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of last year. 

On his show, Carlson has been critical of COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and last April, Dr. Anthony Fauci criticized him for baselessly floating the idea that vaccines don't work. "Maybe it doesn't work and they're simply not telling you that," Carlson claimed. 

When former Secretary of State Colin Powell died from COVID-19 complications last year despite being vaccinated, Carlson also suggested this proves Americans have been "lied to" about the vaccine, even though Powell was at high risk for COVID-19 due to undergoing cancer treatment. 

But prior to this leaked audio, Carlson has avoided questions about whether he's vaccinated in multiple interviews. When asked by The New York Times if he got the vaccine, Carlson responded, "When was the last time you had sex with your wife and in what position? We can trade intimate details." And when asked the question by Time, he replied, "Do you have HIV? How about 'None of your business'?" 

Per The Daily Beast, Carlson in the audio claims he's not "against vaccines" in general and has "had like a million of them."