Listen to Matt Gertz explain Fox News’ cynical history of endangering the lives of its “anti-vaccine mandate heroes”
Gertz: “He became disposable once he was no longer useful for their narratives, he was no longer someone that they had to talk about”
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Listen to Matt Gertz explain Fox News’ cynical history of endangering the lives of its “anti-vaccine mandate heroes”
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From the February 1, 2022, edition of SiriusXM's Tell Me Everything with John Fugelsang
JOHN FUGELSANG (HOST): Throughout this past year, Fox News has repeatedly tried to turn working Americans who refuse vaccines into culture war heroes, even though the network itself has voluntarily imposed vaccines and testing requirements for their employees.
We speculate a lot about what it means when vaccinated conservatives keep on celebrating the virtues of being unvaccinated during a plague. But I've been dying to ask, what do you think of the ramifications of Fox's actions?
MATT GERTZ: I think if you look at the sort of broad-strokes narratives that Fox has been telling its viewers, particularly in prime time over the last year, its vaccines don't work, in fact, that they are dangerous.
That being forced to take vaccines through some sort of mandate, either by the government or by your employer is a form of totalitarianism and that refusing to follow that is heroic.
If you refuse to take the vaccine, if you say you're not -- you're going to stand up to the government and not take one you can be a hero. You can go on Fox News and they will interview you and tell you that you're a celebrity and tell you that you're great.
And, you know, sometimes it will work out for you, and sometimes it will not.
The sad story that I returned from leave to cover was that one of those Fox News celebrities, a man named Robert LeMay, who was -- he was a twenty two year veteran of the Washington State State Police, he resigned from the force last year to avoid Governor Jay Inslee's vaccine mandate.
He had himself videotaped signing off to his fellow officers, saying "Jay Inslee can kiss my ass," and he made -- he was -- he became a hero on the right.
FUGELSANG: Fox made him famous.
GERTZ: They did. He was -- that video was all over Twitter. It went viral, and from there he was off to the races through a whole host of talk radio shows and then on to Fox News.
He was in primetime with Laura Ingraham being called a celebrity, being praised for what he did, and on Friday, he died of COVID. He became ill and hospitalized last month. He was ventilated and he lost his fight with the virus. He left behind a widow and four children.
FUGELSANG: But in fairness, Fox News has heavily covered his tragic death after making him so famous for his vulgarities against the mandate and the governor, right?
Fox News has been mourning his passing and treating him as if they were one of the family who has now tragically been taken from us, right? The tributes on Fox News to this man must be overwhelming.
GERTZ: They have not mentioned him a single time. He has not come up. They have moved on to new anti-vaccine mandate heroes. The Canadian truckers have been heavily featured this week in Fox prime time.
That's that's who they care about, the ones who are currently refusing the vaccine and are still alive to do so. He became disposable once he was no longer useful for their narratives, he was no longer someone that they had to talk about.