There have been plenty of folks on Fox News whose messaging is “it’s your choice” when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines. Or they say things such as “talk to your doctor, get information, find out what works for you.” And while that’s not the same as “don’t get the shot,” it also is not the same as “get the shot.” This wishy-washy approach does send a message that it’s OK if you don’t want to get the shot. Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade is one of those personalities. Others have cast doubts about the vaccine, such as Laura Ingraham.
Or take Sean Hannity, who said on air, “I do believe in science, and I believe in vaccinations.” But then he followed with, “Talk to your doctor.”
But Steve Doocy, one of the co-hosts of “Fox & Friends,” has consistently told viewers to get the vaccine, and he did so again on Thursday, saying, “… a lot of people have been tuning in to the show for 25 years to see what we think about different things. I think if you have the opportunity, get the shot.”
Not surprisingly, Kilmeade kept up the whole “talk to your doctor” message, making for an uncomfortable segment. Washington Post media writer Paul Farhi tweeted, “Kilmeade wasn’t quite as cautious last year in pushing Fauci to say hydroxychloroquine might be a good idea.” (And Farhi linked to this story.)
But credit Doocy for trying to send the right message to viewers. It should be noted, too, that Doocy and Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner have done a PSA encouraging people to get the vaccine, with Faulkner saying, “If you can, get the vaccine.”
Too bad more Fox News personalities aren’t like Doocy when it comes to vaccine messaging. And it can make a difference. A Morning Consult poll this week showed that the share of Fox News viewers who said they probably or definitely won’t get vaccinated fell to 27% this week, an all-time low in Morning Consult tracking.
Simply tragic
Here’s the kind of headline that is not surprising and yet still is incredibly tragic. From The Daily Beast’s Justin Rohrlich: “Texas GOP Official Mocked COVID Five Days Before He Died of Virus.”
You see a lot of these stories — people who refused to get the vaccine and/or wear a mask who then died from COVID. Or those who would not get the vaccine regretting that decision as they clung to life in an intensive care unit. Check out this difficult-to-watch piece from CNN.
Scary interview of the day
On Thursday’s “NBC Nightly News,” Moderna president Dr. Stephen Hoge had some pretty grim comments.
Hoge said, “I think we’re pretty worried now. If you look at the delta variant, it took a surprising step. I don’t think any of us, three or four months ago, were going to predict something that was this many times more infectious.”
As far as updating its vaccine, Hoge told NBC News’ Miguel Almaguer, “One of the most important things we need to do is actually bring the delta variant into the vaccine.”
Carlson’s trip to Hungary
You have to admit, Tucker Carlson hosting his Fox News show this week from Hungary was … odd. Not only is he doing his show there, but he has met with Hungary's authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and will speak at a government-supported conference in Budapest on Saturday.
Vox’s Zack Beauchamp writes, “Make no mistake: Fox’s marquee host is aligning himself with a ruler who has spent the past 11 years systematically dismantling Hungary’s free political system.”
Beauchamp adds, “Despite the increasingly clear evidence that Hungary has abandoned democracy, many conservative intellectuals in America have come to see the Orban regime as a model for America.”
Carlson is apparently among them. And that’s troubling.
In an opinion piece for CNN, Nicole Hemmer, author and associate research scholar at Columbia University with the Obama Presidency Oral History Project, writes, “As he opened his program in Budapest, Carlson told his audience that if they cared about democracy, they should watch what’s happening in Hungary. That’s true, though not the way he means it: if you care about democracy, the blueprint for its destruction is on display there, and right-wing propagandists like Carlson are taking careful notes.”
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