Thread by @MattGertz

Republican leaders spent decades telling their supporters to ignore the mainstream press and patronize the avowed ideological media they created in its place. They succeeded. That right-wing media is opposed to or apathetic about the vaccine, even if it kills their audience.

https://twitter.com/igorbobic/status/1415015915884879879

Conservative vaccine hesitance is evidence of the victory of the GOP media project. Their supporters are in a bubble of right-wing social media, radio, digital, and TV, none of whom carry a message that getting vaccinated is a good idea.

These are all from the last few days. That's the message conservatives get from the TV hosts they've been told they should trust. Mission accomplished.

Fox’s ongoing assault on the coronavirus vaccination campaign is going to kill its viewers. The brass and most of the on-air talent don't seem to care. mediamatters.org/fox-news/foxs-…

Fox and the rest of the right-wing press have a unique moral responsibility specifically because they tell their audiences to trust no one else. They've failed in that responsibility throughout the pandemic, with vaccines just the latest example. mediamatters.org/coronavirus-co…

There's surely a way for these people to remain reflexively anti-Biden while also encouraging their supporters to get vaccinated. They've made their choice not to try that though.

To be fair (and I am nothing if not fair), there are some media figures on the right who behave more responsibly, but they tend to be the least influential within the right-wing cohort. See this thread from earlier:

https://twitter.com/MattGertz/status/1414956976031809539

McConnell is “perplexed” about opposition to vaccination. Meanwhile:

I wrote about this:

Mitch McConnell claims he's “perplexed” by vaccine opposition. His party's propagandists are fomenting it. mediamatters.org/coronavirus-co…