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Tucker Goes Full Vaccine Conspiracy Theorist in Dangerous, Delusion Rant
Fox News propagandist Tucker Carlson has been growing more emboldened, making conspiratorial and sometimes racist comments that lead to left-wing backlash but ultimately no consequences. It’s no surprise then that Tucker’s character has morphed into someone who now promotes coronavirus vaccine conspiracy theories. Last week, Tucker encouraged his supporters to accost people they saw wearing masks outside. Now, he’s moved onto the vaccination program, which thanks to voices like Tucker’s, has been less successful in recent weeks. Last night, Carlson ran a segment with a graphic next to him that read “mandatory vaccinations,” suggesting there’s a government effort to forcibly inoculate people, which there isn’t.
Tucker opened his commentary by saying he’s “telling the truth” and said it wasn’t a conspiracy to point out there could be long-term effects from the vaccines including harm to female fertility. There is simply no evidence that the vaccines impact female fertility but Tucker argued they might. Carlson relayed some partial statements by public health researcher Katherine Lee about some women getting heavy periods after getting the vaccine. While this is a known side effect of the vaccine, they have nothing to do with reduced fertility. Once again, Carlson was able to pull off his clever style of propaganda, which is not to say he’s against vaccines, followed up with an unscientific vaccine-skeptical monologue. It is people like Tucker who could prevent the United States from reaching herd immunity and may extend the timeline of this pandemic.
Facebook To Decide Whether Trump Is Allowed Back On
Tomorrow at 9:00 am ET, the Facebook Oversight Board will announce its decision on whether to allow former President Trump back onto the platform. Trump was kicked off Facebook, along with dozens of other social media websites, in the days following the January 6th Capitol riots. The logic of the ban was that the ex-president was able to incite insurrection in part with the help of his social media accounts and so he presented a danger to the nation in his final days as president. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at the time, "we believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great.” Now that it has been a few months, some social networking sites are considering allowing him back on. Facebook’s board said it received over 9,000 public responses to Trump’s suspension.
If not tomorrow, Facebook will most likely eventually allow Trump back onto the platform, At the end of the day, this is about making money and having the former president posting on their site is highly profitable. It would be especially lucrative if Facebook brings back Trump before Twitter and other direct competitors reinstate his accounts. But Facebook also has to assess the inevitable backlash from some on the left when they decide to have him back on. If the Facebook board is convinced they can bring Trump back onto the site with only little blowback, they will do so. Trump’s suspension was never about a moral stance, it was then and is now a business calculation. We’ll see what the Facebook board decides tomorrow morning.
From yesterday’s show:
Fox Host Leaves Mush-Brained Republican Speechless with One Question
One of the most remarkable on-air confrontations of a Republican delusion took place the other night on Fox News. The moment came during an interview with Fox host Neil Cavuto and former Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler. Cavuto asked about Loeffler’s continued claims that there were irregularities in the 2020 election in Georgia that may have changed the results of her race against Raphael Warnock and Donald Trump’s loss in the state to Joe Biden. During the interview, Loeffler alleged wrongdoing by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who was the subject of great ire from former President Trump. Cavuto correctly pointed out that Raffensperger is a Republican who supported Loeffler during her race so the allegation really doesn’t make sense. The former senator did not know how to respond to this and eventually walked it back by saying Raffensperger “took actions that led to a lack of confidence.” If this is going to be the GOP’s strategy going forward they don’t really have much of a chance of turning the state red again.
--More on the show:
--Daniel Goleman, author and science journalist, joins David to discuss emotional intelligence, the psychological impacts of the pandemic, meditation, and much more
--Fox News runs a segment asking whether the American economy is doing so well that Joe Biden is wrong to be doing things economically
--Republican Senator Mike Braun devolves into nonsense talking points under the most basic questioning about Joe Biden's proposals during an interview with Fox News host Chris Wallace
--Kansas Republican elected official Mark Samsel is arrested after an abortive substitute teaching day at a local school which included allegedly kicking a student in the genitals
--Voicemail caller asks what happened to the Andrew Cuomo scandal
--On the Bonus Show: WaPo fact-checkers give up on recording Joe Biden's lies, Kroger will start drone deliveries this week, US starts reuniting some separated migrant families, much more...
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