Chris Hayes slams Fox News hosts for anti-vaccine mandate stance while Fox News has vaccine mandate
On All In With Chris Hayes Tuesday, Hayes called out Fox News hosts for repeatedly pushing an anti-vaccine mandate narrative while failing to mention that Fox News itself has a vaccine mandate and mask requirements, along with stricter testing guidelines than those proposed by President Biden for federal workers. Hosts like Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, among others, have railed against such mandates for the military, healthcare workers and federal employees.
“Their own human resources department said earlier this month, 90 percent of full-time employees reported they are fully vaccinated after the company, wait for it, mandated everyone to report their vaccination status,” Hayes said. He added, seemingly mocking Carlson with his tone, “Oh, my God, that's a private decision. How dare they?”
Hayes went on to spell out how much more restrictive Fox News’s policies are than Biden’s before saying, “Notice, by the way, they don’t call out their own employer. They could if they had any courage. If you think it’s tyranny, you could do that on air. But you won’t.”
A recent article by The Daily Beast detailed how the GOP is effectively fundraising off of fears of vaccine and mask mandates, as well as other COVID policies. In the article, Fox News insiders, including a current employee, were quoted as saying the anti-vaccine and anti-mandate commentary is “great for ratings,” and that these segments get viewers “more excited and engaged” than other segments. Hayes believes ratings are what drives hosts to push this narrative.
“They kind of know what they’re doing over there, the issue rates, so that’s why they’re leaning into it, despite the fact that it might get their own viewers sick or killed,” Hayes said, later adding, “I am willing to bet you that all those people who go on air every night and rail against it, they are vaccinated, their loved ones are vaccinated. They are selling this poison because it is profitable for them.”
And Hayes made it clear that he does not believe the hosts at Fox care about the human cost.
“They truly do not care — I mean, I don’t know what’s in their hearts but their revealed preference, all I can judge is their actions — do not seem to care if the people who watch them get killed as a result,” Hayes said. “And, yes, there are actual human beings taking their last breaths with a plastic tube down their throat while they say goodbye to their loved ones over an iPad, entire universes of memories and life experience snuffed out forever. But guess what, it's great for ratings.”
All In With Chris Hayes airs weeknights at 8 p.m. on MSNBC.
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