I've been studying the Fox-Trump feedback loop since 2017. With coronavirus, it's going to get people killed. mediamatters.org/coronavirus-co…
Fox has been telling Trump that his has been doing a great job responding to coronavirus, that the fears of the disease are overblown, and that the real problem is Democrats and the media politicizing the epidemic to prevent Trump’s reelection.
Trump, in turn, “has undermined his administration’s own efforts to fight the coronavirus outbreak — resisting attempts to plan for worst-case scenarios, overturning a public-health plan upon request from political allies and repeating only the warnings that he chose to hear."
By his own acknowledgement and by a review of his tweets, he has been watching the network's coverage. And he's been responding to it.
It's bad that Fox is telling its audience -- largely older people more vulnerable to the disease -- that the coronavirus situation is overblown. It is worse that the president is among that audience.
As a result, a significant number of Americans are likely to die -- prematurely and unnecessarily -- because Trump is taking advice from Fox News.
What's next?
1) Trump is going to start lashing out at any Fox programs that diverge from happy talk.
2) Network hosts are going to find him scapegoats.
3) Worst case scenario is he purges public health civil servants for insufficient loyalty in response to the coverage.
1) Trump is going to start lashing out at any Fox programs that diverge from happy talk.
2) Network hosts are going to find him scapegoats.
3) Worst case scenario is he purges public health civil servants for insufficient loyalty in response to the coverage.
