In the latest instance of Republicans spouting bizarre political fantasies, hosts of Saturday’s edition of Fox and Friends appeared to make the case that the Democrats are behind coronavirus variants.
The comments came a day after the World Health Organisation labelled the B.1.1.529 strain, first identified in South Africa, a “variant of concern” and gave it the name omicron – the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet.
Presenter Rachel Campos-Duffy started the discussion by saying Pete Buttigieg, the transport secretary, warned the “supply chain problem” can’t be fixed “until the pandemic is over”.
“And now we see these new variants,” she continued. “So that’s the answer: more lockdowns, more lockdowns, more fear and therefore [Buttigieg] doesn’t have to do his job of fixing the supply chain because ‘we’ll keep this whole thing going’.”
“Always a new variant,” added co-host Will Cain, while Pete Hegseth said “you can count on a variant about every October”.
Following up on Michael Flynn’s comments that “global elites” will be releasing a new variant soon, Fox hosts now suggest Biden will create and release new variants “every October” because he loves covid restrictions. pic.twitter.com/4OrldM4Zz5
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) November 27, 2021
Needless to say that the comments are a load of nonsense.
Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter
The only harmful thing we’ve seen former presidential candidate Buttigieg release into the world is a cringeworthy campaign dance to Panic! At the Disco.
We still haven’t recovered.
Meanwhile, Twitter users have reacted with shock to the broadcasters’ “grotesque” insinuation:
The idea that these people are some of the most viewed “journalists” not just terrifying. It shows that our society’s distribution of respect and status are broken.
— Steven Arxer (@sarxer) November 27, 2021
Fox! pic.twitter.com/t1P58yEw22
— Northern Happy Camper. (@mardic123) November 27, 2021
Fox News scares and controls viewers by telling them that Democrats are using covid variants to scare and control them.
— 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓔𝓪𝓻𝓵 𝓸𝓯 𝓡𝓪𝓶 (@The_Earl_of_Ram) November 27, 2021
Wut
— Dr. Sarah T. Roberts (@ubiquity75) November 27, 2021
Still boggles the mind that they’re allowed to do this…
— Doris the Freakasaurus 〽️ (@vacca23) November 27, 2021
This is far from the most important element here, but I don’t get how a new variant helps the Dems? https://t.co/g3B42Ewl0O
— Jason Abbruzzese (@JasonAbbruzzese) November 28, 2021
This is grotesque. https://t.co/BhpNF09jDm
— Anshel Sag (@anshelsag) November 28, 2021
This is the kind of Fox News propaganda that deeply damages public health efforts against the virus. It seems to me deeply irresponsible of companies to run commercials on Fox News and underwrite this. https://t.co/m7nQdtTef8
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) November 28, 2021
Fox News — where stupidity reaches infinity nightly. JFC. https://t.co/W67gaxkz3g
— Mikko Alanne (@MikkoAlanne) November 28, 2021
To reiterate, it's hard for me to understand how any @FoxNews employee with kids doesn't wake up in an icy sweat every night at 3am, knowing they're sentencing them to live in a hellscape. They should back away from you with visceral terror and repulsion. https://t.co/ELrWzIx0Zq
— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) November 28, 2021
Sloppiness like this undercuts Fox’ claim to be news more than its propaganda
— Robert E Kelly (@Robert_E_Kelly) November 28, 2021
Its hosts and guests are almost never checked or contested, so it’s easy for them to just wander recklessly into bats*** like this, corona as a Chinese bioweapon, Obama as a Kenyan, & so on. It’s lazy https://t.co/GUoHEl6Nbs
It isn’t the only wild comment made by a Republican about coronavirus in recent days, with ex-Trump aide Stephen Miller claiming the US would “already have modified vaccines” for new variants if the businessman remained president.
