Tucker Carlson delivers coronavirus warning as his Fox colleagues attack media's coverage
While some of his colleagues have downplayed coronavirus fears, Tucker Carlson over the last few
weeks has taken a much different approach. And that approach was on full display Monday night
when Carlson seemed to call out both President Donald Trump and some of his colleagues on Fox
News - without naming them specifically - for dismissing what he told viewers is a "very serious
problem." "People you trust, people you probably voted for, have spent weeks minimizing what is
clearly a very serious problem," Carlson said. "'It's just partisan politics,' they say. 'Calm
down. In the end this was just like the flu and people die from that every year. Coronavirus
will pass." Carlson said people who make such arguments may have good intentions, but
they're wrong.
"They may not know any better," Carlson said. "Maybe they're just not paying attention, or maybe
they believe they're serving some higher cause by shading reality. ... And there's an election
coming up. Best not to say anything that might help the other side. We get it. But they're wrong"
Carlson called it a "major event," stressing, "It's definitely not just the flu." At one point in
his monologue, it appeared as if Carlson were speaking directly to Trump. Carlson said the
"surest sign of strength" is to "tell the truth" instead of just "assuring people that everything
will be fine." Carlson added that "tax cuts and lower rates" probably won't revive an economy
if factories, restaurants, and other areas of American life are "shut down to contain the virus."
Of note: While Carlson has taken coronavirus seriously, he also asked a guest about the
conspiracy theory that the virus was created in a Chinese lab. And it's impossible to ignore
the racial overtones in his coverage.
Meanwhile, also on Fox
While Carlson was delivering his monologue, Trish Regan was on Fox's sister channel dismissing
coronavirus as nothing more than an attempt to impeach Trump. "The hate is boiling over,"
Regan said in a truly over-the-top segment. "Many in the liberal media using ... coronavirus
in an attempt to demonize and destroy the President." And in the hour after Carlson's show,
Sean Hannity continued recycling his usual talking points, claiming that the media is engaged
in an "ongoing effort" to use the coronavirus "as a political weapon" to "bludgeon" Trump.
Hannity said people should take precautionary steps, but told viewers that he believed the
coverage of the virus "is beyond despicable." Hannity added later in the show, "I don't like
how we are scaring people unnecessarily." None of it is surprising. When all else fails, pro-Trump
sycophants like Regan and Hannity blame the messengers. They encourage their viewers to
ignore reality. They tell them that the media is just fabricating another crisis to go after Trump.
Unfortunately, actual lives are at risk this time. Worth pointing out: This even occurs when it's
a conservative news organization reporting inconvenient truths. Mark Levin lashed out at the
Drudge Report on Monday, accusing it of "panicking people."
Limbaugh pushes his own conspiracy
Over on radio, Rush Limbaugh pushed his own conspiracy theory. He claimed that Democrats
want Trump to stop holding rallies "not because of public safety, not because of public health"
but to hurt Trump politically. "If you can't beat Trump and if you want to stop the appearance
of excitement about the Trump campaign, then stop the rallies," Limbaugh said.
CNN calls it a pandemic
Starting on Monday, CNN started using the term "pandemic" to describe the coronavirus outbreak.
"It is not a decision we take lightly," CNN chief medial correspondent Sanjay Gupta explained.
"While we know it sounds alarming, it should not cause panic." "I take this shift in language very
seriously," Gupta wrote, "and I spent the last several days speaking to public health leaders,
epidemiologists and clinicians about the terminology. While some were understandably
conservative, everyone agreed that we are now in a pandemic. Now is the time to prepare for what
may be ahead."
Trump admin to announce economic action
Trump said the press will be briefed Tuesday on initiatives his administration will take to combat
the economic toll coronavirus is taking on the United States. Trump didn't go into much detail,
but promised on Monday such steps will be "major." He floated a payroll tax cut and assistance
for hourly workers. According to the W.H. schedule, the coronavirus task force will hold a press
briefing at 5:30pm ET in the briefing room. The announcement of economic action came after
the Dow had the worst point drop on record. Some news orgs referred to it as another "Black
Monday." Drudge referred to it as a "MARKET BLOODBATH." And CNBC analysts noted it was a
"brutal" and "ugly, ugly day on Wall Street." What remains to be seen: Will Trump's economic
announcement calm the markets? Or will stocks continue to plunge?
What media outlets are doing
"Politico, the Washington Post, the Daily Beast, and Mother Jones have asked reporters who
covered CPAC to self-quarantine and work remotely due to concerns that they may have been
exposed to the novel coronavirus," Andrew Beaujon reported Monday for Washingtonian.
"Out of an abundance of caution," Vice Media said in a statement that it was asking its employees
in its S2 Brooklyn office "who can work from home to do so." Vice said it was taking the measure
after one of their employees "may have been exposed" to the virus.
Via Stelter: "A+E Networks and AMC Networks are both canceling the live presentations they had
scheduled in March as part of the industry's annual 'upfront' ad-sales market," Variety's Brian
Steinberg reported Monday. Last week Fox News cancelled its presentation for advertisers, "citing
health concerns." And "Comcast's FreeWheel ad-tech unit did the same." So we might see more
of this. But as Steinberg noted, the biggest presentations don't take place until May, and those
plans are "intact" for now.
NYT regularly runs work from home tests to ensure its staff can work well remotely, a spokesperson
told me, but now due to coronavirus, the newspaper is implementing such practices on a larger scale.
The American Society of Magazine Editors announced it will postpone the annual presentation of
the National Magazine Awards scheduled for Thursday evening and move it to the spring. "Given,
however, the near-certain spread of coronavirus in New York, ASME has concluded that postponing
the awards is the right thing to do," exec director Sidney Holt said in a statement.