Even meth dealers are more concerned about keeping their customers alive than Fox News appears to be. After all, dead patrons tend to throw a wrench into the operation, and diminish profits.
Of course, Fox has been feeding the nation toxic nonsense for years—like the notion that Donald Trump is somehow “presidential,” and not just an insensate midden of pureed sheep brains folded into a yam casserole. But their anti-vax shit has really pushed the envelope … into the sewer.
They’re a comical bunch over at Fox, though, even while shrieking from the gutter. Tucker Carlson kills every day, and Sean Hannity just slays.
We knew this, but Media Matters for America has the receipts, and they’re simply jaw-dropping. The left-leaning media watchdog has monitored Fox over the past six months and found that the network undermined our nation’s critical vaccine push on all but two of the days spanning that period.
In other words, they appear to be trashing vaccines to squeeze ratings from their soon-to-be-teats-up viewers and to make Joe Biden look bad. They’re patriots … though not for this country, unfortunately.
Media Matters for America:
Fox’s efforts to undermine the coronavirus vaccines really kicked into gear following President Joe Biden’s inauguration. According to a Media Matters analysis, in the 254 days since Biden took office (from January 20 through September 30), Fox undermined the vaccination efforts at least once on 238 of the days (94%). The network’s efforts to undermine inoculations increased as we got further into Biden’s presidency; from January 20 through March 31, Fox undermined the vaccine effort at least once on 80% of the days (57 out of 71), but from April 1 through September 30, the network undermined the vaccine efforts at least once on 99% of the days (181 out of 183).
There’s been plenty of commentary on Daily Kos and elsewhere about MAGAs’ oddball efforts to put themselves in mortal danger, just to own the libs, but at least they’re just killing themselves. Fox News, which has implemented strict vaccine and testing mandates for its own employees, appears to be A-OK with deliberately endangering its viewers.
Throughout the pandemic, Fox News has consistently undermined public health efforts to protect people from COVID-19. Despite some highly publicized support for vaccination from select Fox hosts and a vaccine mandate for the network’s staffers, Fox’s coverage has continued to undermine public health officials, calling for “civil disobedience” to vaccine requirements, pushing unsubstantiated claims about deaths from vaccines, and pushing dangerous alternative medical treatments to the coronavirus. As unvaccinated COVID-19 patients continue to push hospital capacity to the limit in many areas of the country, Fox’s war on vaccines has had terrible consequences for its viewers, who have been less likely to get vaccinated.
Needless to say, Fox’s shambolic, deadly, and seemingly vindictive vaccine coverage is way, way, way beyond the pale—and yet it persists. Because, like a white nationalist’s Facebook feed, it has a way of stirring pig-ignorant people up, and that means ratings. When they’ve shut down more eyeballs than they can reasonably be expected to attract with their grotesque hot takes, I assume Rupert Murdoch will finally make a call to the control room.
That day appears to be a long way off, if it ever comes at all. COVID-19 has been burning through red staters like they’re kindling, and eventually those brush fires will be contained. Unfortunately, there’s still no vaccine for the Fox News virus—but that doesn’t mean we should stop looking.
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