The View's Sunny Hostin cites Media Matters study to criticize Fox News for pushing anti-vaccine propaganda
Hostin: “They're still pushing this propaganda, and that is really, really ghoulish. and pretty harmful”
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From the July 19, 2021, edition of ABC's The View
SUNNY HOSTIN (CO-HOST): Well, I don't know if the question is who do I blame. I think you just have to look at the facts. I mean, the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, on Thursday, labeled health misinformation an urgent public health threat.
And when you look at the stats, Fox News has played a key role in disseminating anti-vaccine propaganda. Fox has undermined vaccination efforts in nearly 60% of all vaccination segments in a two-week period. That is where this misinformation is coming from. Specifically, Media Matters found that between June 28th and July 11th, Fox News aired 129 -- 129 segments -- about coronavirus vaccine. Of those, 57% included claims that either undermined or downplayed immunization efforts.
And I think the goal here, to Joy's point, why are Republicans doing this? Why is Fox News doing this? Well, I think that they believe that hurting the Biden administration's vaccination efforts will lead to big wins for the Republicans in the midterms. And so this is really just all about politics, and I think it's despicable, and I think they're harming their base. It's just very sad when you think about it because I would bet my bottom dollar that every single of those Fox News hosts like Laura Ingraham, like Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity - I bet you they're vaccinated. Yet they're still pushing this propaganda, and that is really, really ghoulish. and pretty harmful.