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Matthew Gertz

@MattGertz

Mar 1

Fox has pushed COVID propaganda for two years. The cost has been staggering.

Here's my look-back at Fox's deadly influence on the coronavirus debate.
mediamatters.org/coronavirus-co…

Fox has lied to its audience throughout the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic – first for partisan political gain, then for ideological reasons, and finally for ratings and money.

There is no way to avoid the conclusion that the network has been killing its viewers.

When the pandemic struck, Fox’s propagandists could have used their coverage to help their viewers protect themselves from the deadly virus, and their influence to keep an erratic president on track in a moment of crisis. Instead, they betrayed their audience and inflamed Trump.

Read 13 tweets

Matthew Gertz

@MattGertz

Feb 28

Fox News' promotion of the Canadian truckers protest ultimately came to more than 27 hours (!) -- but the network still hasn't told its audience the PM Trudeau relinquished the emergency powers its hosts said made him a "dictator" mediamatters.org/coronavirus-co…

Trudeau was an elected leader acting under statute granting emergency powers for a limited period, and those powers had to be confirmed by a vote of the House of Commons within seven days (and they were, with the backing of another party). But Fox hosts went wild.

The last thing Tucker Carlson's viewers heard was on Feb. 22, when Carlson said Trudeau’s “allies extended martial law” and that a member of the PM's party had “argued that a permanent state of emergency is absolutely necessary.” Trudeau revoked the powers the next day.

Read 4 tweets

Matthew Gertz

@MattGertz

Feb 26

https://twitter.com/NPR/status/1497291026347835394

I think I'll make a narrow point in response to this: As someone professionally required to stay plugged in to the news -- including during horrific events -- I really would not recommend that a normal person do that.

https://twitter.com/NPR/status/1497291026347835394

It ain't fighting Russians, for sure, but watching three days straight of Sandy Hook coverage or George Floyd die a few dozen times a day is not great for you.

It really is ok to recognize that some things are a little bit bad, and you can acknowledge that and suggest steps to deal with that without it being an implicit insult to people dealing with things that are obviously worse.

Read 4 tweets

Matthew Gertz

@MattGertz

Feb 22

Under Democratic presidents, Republicans have both a strong interventionist wing and a strong isolationist wing, which attack any foreign policy action from both directions. No matter what Biden announces, you can expect the former to say it's not enough and the latter too much.

(Under Republican presidents there's a little hemming and hawing but they generally just get on board with what he wants.)

And here we go, Fox goes directly from Biden's speech to Tom Cotton complaining that these are "quarter-measures" and that Biden's speech started late which shows a lack of resolve.

Read 5 tweets

Matthew Gertz

@MattGertz

Feb 22

You can see why Mitch McConnell didn't want to roll out a specific policy agenda, this Rick Scott document is fucking nuts politico.com/f/?id=0000017f…

"Socialism will be treated as a
foreign combatant which aims
to destroy our prosperity and
freedom" is either pure bluster or a call to imprison or assassinate a wide swathe of Americans based on their political beliefs.

The plain reading of "No government assistance unless you are disabled or aggressively seeking work" is the termination of Social Security -- or it's bullshit.

Read 17 tweets

Matthew Gertz

@MattGertz

Feb 21

https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1495812809019568131

Cavuto was likely fighting for his life when Alex Berenson told Tucker Carlson's audience the "mRNA COVID vaccines need to be withdrawn from the market now. No one should get them. No one should get boosted. They are a dangerous and ineffective product." mediamatters.org/tucker-carlson…

https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1495812809019568131

And when Charlie Kirk told Tucker Carlson's audience that "COVID vaccines have caused “a 40 percent increase in death amongst the supposed healthiest portion of the American population" mediamatters.org/coronavirus-co…

And when Peter McCullough told Laura Ingraham's audience that children should not be given COVID vaccine “under any circumstances” mediamatters.org/laura-ingraham…

Read 6 tweets

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