CNN anchor Brianna Keilar declared Fox News guilty of “the ultimate moral crime” with regard to COVID-19, arguing that the network had allowed the propagation of misinformation in order to drive ratings.
“Yes, we are tired of the pandemic. That may be the one sentiment people can actually agree on,” Keilar began, playing a clip of the now-viral conversation between former New York Times editor Bari Weiss and comedian Bill Maher — during which both expressed frustrations with the continued restrictions and paranoia associated with COVID-19.
WATCH:
Why is Rupert Murdoch, one of the first to get vaccinated, allowing anti-science BS on the air? It is killing people. #RollTheTape pic.twitter.com/aaoly6AwyK
— Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) January 26, 2022
Keilar first responded by saying that while she understood the frustrations that Weiss and Maher were expressing, she wasn’t sure that they were being directed in the correct way.
“Sure would be nice if COVID were done with us too. Done with hospitals, done with the doctors and the nurses who are stretched to their breaking points in many cases. We are not, though, done. We’re not back to normal. And that is because so many people are still actively choosing not to be vaccinated,” Keilar said. “So I get her outrage. I’m not sure I get the direction of it.”
Keilar then turned her ire on Fox News, criticizing the network for allowing popular host Tucker Carlson to host “clowns” like Alex Berenson, who argued that no one should be getting the mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna.
“It is completely clear now that the vaccines don’t really work at all against Omicron. In these highly vaccinated and highly boosted countries, rates of infection are incredibly high. And rates of serious disease and death are also rising. The mRNA COVID vaccines need to be withdrawn from the market now. No one should get them. No one should get boosted, no one should get double boosted. They are a dangerous and ineffective product at this point,” Berenson said.
Keilar noted that Twitter had already banned Berenson for “spreading misinformation,” adding, “He’s lying about the vaccine and the protection it provides. But Fox, Fox had this mad nonscientist on all pandemic.”
She went on to share some statistics about the impact of COVID-19 on vaccinated people compared to unvaccinated people, arguing that the vaccine reduced the number of people who had severe disease or died after contracting the virus. She also argued that the highest case rates and hospitalization rates were in red states, run by Republican governors — which she equated with also having a large number of Fox News viewers.
“The network spent the past 24 hours up in arms over the Biden administration’s decision to restrict the use of two monoclonal antibody treatments, treatments that are proven not to work against the Omicron variant, according to the FDA,” Keilar added. “None of that coverage at Fox Entertainment, of course, is aimed at the real and most urgent issue, which is people not getting the protection of the vaccine. Also strange, that anti-vaxxers are just fine getting COVID treatments, amazing miracles of science, once they get COVID and they are staring down the odds — but they don’t want the vaccine, also a miracle of science. And, again, the daily double question is why is Rupert Murdoch, who was one of the first to get vaccinated, allowing this anti-science BS on the air? Because it is killing people. But, you know, ratings, and that is the ultimate moral crime.”
