On Tuesday night, Fox News host Tucker Carlson attempted to rewrite his lengthy history of undermining confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines.
Carlson speculated on Monday that public health experts still recommend people who have been vaccinated wear masks and practice social distancing because “maybe it doesn't work and they’re simply not telling you that.” The segment went viral on social media and drew condemnation from Dr. Anthony Fauci during a subsequent CNN appearance, in which he said Carlson’s comment is “just a typical crazy conspiracy theory” and that the clinical trials show “an overwhelming signal of efficacy.”
On Tuesday, Carlson suggested that his comments were misinterpreted. “For months now, we have been asking a very straightforward question about the coronavirus vaccine,” Carlson said. “Why do people who take it -- and by the way, why do people who have been previously infected and show high levels of antibodies -- have to live under the restrictions that the vaccines were supposed to eliminate?”
After airing the clip from Fauci’s CNN appearance, Carlson responded:
Wait a second. Who is doubting that vaccines work? For the record, we never for a minute doubted it. We bought all of that stuff completely at face value. We believe in science -- actually kind of probably trust the pharmaceutical companies a little bit too much.
So when they said this stuff works, we never questioned it. We assumed they had detailed studies showing that it does work. We still think that.
The only reason we are asking the question is because the people in charge are acting like it doesn't work.
…
And by the way, this, again, is not a trick question. We are not playing word games here, what is the answer? If the coronavirus vaccine prevents you from catching the coronavirus, why are you wearing a mask? Why can't you eat in a restaurant?
And if it doesn't prevent you from catching the coronavirus, why are we taking it in the first place? Both can't be true. So that is the question. It is not a conspiracy theory.
As is typical for the pressing questions Carlson claims his audience should ask about the coronavirus vaccine, this one can be answered by a Google search. These recommendations are somewhat controversial. But Carlson isn’t arguing that the public health officials are making mistakes in their guidance. He is pretending that they are hiding something -- and insinuating that their purported reticence might indicate that the vaccine is ineffective.
Carlson is also trying to give himself cover by lying about what he has been doing since before the vaccines were even approved. After spending months inculcating doubts in his audience, he now claims to have “never for a minute doubted” that the vaccines work and “never questioned” them. It was all apparently a rhetorical trick!
It is true that the bulk of his commentary has involved cowardly anti-anti-anti-vaccine insinuations rather than direct statements about the vaccine’s effectiveness. But the thrust of his commentary has been incredibly clear, a string of denunciations of the effort to get the public vaccinated and insinuations that they may not be safe or effective. Here are a few examples:
The vaccine rhetoric of Carlson and his Fox colleagues appears to be having an impact. Just hours after Carlson’s Monday rant, a new poll found that Republicans are significantly more likely to say they will not get vaccinated, confirming the results of other surveys going back months.
It’s unclear why Carlson would feel the need to offer an explanation, even a false one, for his past vaccine commentary, or to say that he believes the vaccines work. But even now, he still won’t encourage his viewers to take the shots.
It’s a shocking abandonment of moral responsibility, one that Carlson’s entire network has engaged in for more than a year.
