Fox News hosts and contributors have made many shocking claims about vaccine mandates and testing requirements in recent months, even while the network’s parent company, Fox Corp., has enforced these same policies. Reporting on the “Fox Clear Pass” details that employees must submit their vaccination record or show a negative COVID-19 test every day to move throughout the office, a requirement which is even more stringent than the Biden administration’s weekly testing policy for businesses with more than 100 employees.
Vaccination mandates have a long legal history in the U.S., yet Fox News personalities have consistently undermined vaccines and claimed that any policy requiring them is “immoral” -- all while downplaying or ignoring their personal adherence to Fox’s own strict mandate. When questioned about Fox News’ own vaccine mandate, primetime darling Tucker Carlson bumbled his response and refused to give a straight answer: “I’m not qualified to speak for the company on this because I don’t run the company. I’m just an employee of the company.”
These outrageous claims include comparing the choice to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to actual oppression based on race or ethnicity, such as Jim Crow-era exclusion policies and segregation. Fox host Will Cain went a step farther and compared vaccine passports to Nazi Germany, while Fox contributor Raymond Arroyo compared vaccine requirements to a conservative proposal that those affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis should have to get tattoos identifying their medical status. Hosts Tucker Carlson and Jesse Watters even launched unhinged attacks claiming that vaccine requirements were examples of eugenics, akin to forced sterilization.