Fox knew they were lying about the election, what about Covid?
Emails included in reports from the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis worth reviewing
The Dominion lawsuit against Fox News over their spread of election lies revealed that Rupert Murdoch’s company knew it was lying for Trump. Incredibly damning emails and texts from network personalities show the extent of their awareness of their spread of propaganda that fueled the attack on the US Capitol. Plans made ahead of the Insurrection to issue a joint statement by network stars that Trump had lost and Biden had won the 2020 election went unrealized out of fear. Tucker Carlson was revealed to have called Trump a “demonic force” and expressed concern that he could ruin their show business/company.
In addition to fueling the fire of a deadly physical attack on January 6th, 2021, Fox has been central to the spread of a deadly attack on public health through their spread of political Covid disinformation. Pro-Trump, pro-hydroxychloroquine AFLDS’s front woman Simone Gold MD JD became a pandemic era recurring guest on Fox News, a badge of honor in MAGA circles. (She was not their only disinformation doctor.)
This is after she was discovered by Jenny Beth Martin of the Tea Party Patriots, placed in her position at AFLDS by a partnership between the TPP and the Council for National Policy, and launched on the world via a staged Supreme Court steps video live-streamed by Brietbart and tweeted out by Tump and Trump Jr. New to the spotlight and seemingly loving it, Gold would prove herself to be an extremely loyal Trumper. She participated in the Insurrection Fox new was over a lie, but that a frightening many still believe is a badge of honor too.
She is finally being held accountable for this lapse in professionalism by the California Medical Board but there has been no accountability for her Covid lies. Gold has played a central role in a deadly political Covid disinformation campaign disinformation for her party and personal benefit. Instead of facing consequences, she’s been supported by right-wing lobbying efforts and lawsuits against accountability laws.
Emails from Fox News stars, disinformation doctors, and corrupt politicians are featured in reporting from the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. They don’t always paint an encouraging picture of their fight against public health, either. Senator Ron Johnson admits in August 2020 no one wants “to touch HCQ with a 100’ pole.” AFLDS would go on to promote ivermectin, promoted by Johnson.
The work of the Select Subcommittee got little press (save for Rachel Maddow) and was largely outshadowed by the blockbuster January 6th Hearings. But as we have argued time and again there is significant overlap between the J6 and Covid conspiracies. Dr. Simone Gold and Senator Ron Johnson are involved in both and have been given a huge platform to spread their deadly lies by Fox News.
Despite what many on Fox have claimed throughout the past three years, Covid isn’t over. The fallout from its peak damage is something we cannot just sweep under the rug now because we are tired of talking about the pandemic as the left has done. The right’s increasingly hostile rhetoric towards doctors is a sign of their desperation and we know this movement is capable of violence when provoked. Please pay attention. Haven’t enough people died unnecessarily for GOP politics? Do we really need to add public health experts to the list of casualties?
If there is internal discussion of the risk the anti-vax movement poses over at Fox (whose employees were vaccinated), it doesn’t appear like they will be backing down anytime soon. The anti-vax movement has proven incredibly powerful to the GOP. Fox News, an extension of the party, is in this too far to get out and so we won’t see their stars issuing any sort of clarifying statement on this Big Lie either.