The vaccination rollout had a rough start, but it’s been going well. Millions are getting dosed a day, and the director of the CDC recently said those who’ve received both should not only be immune but shouldn’t be able to spread it to others who haven’t. There are still people standing in its way. Others in conservative media, such as Tucker Carlson, have been sowing doubt in the rollout. But while most on the network won’t call him out, on Tuesday one emphatically did.
On Tuesday, token liberal contributor Christopher Hahn — who occasionally loses it over his colleagues — had a nuclear meltdown when a guest tried to defend Carlson’s antics. Earlier in the day on Fox & Friends, Carlson called the “passports” — the Biden administration’s proposed way to verify whether or not people have received both doses and won’t infect others — “Orwellian,” suggesting that people should be free to make others sick with a highly contagious disease.
Anchor Gillian Turner floated the topic to her guests, Hahn and former Trump White House adviser Mercedes Schlapp. The former agreed with Carlson. Hahn did not, and how.
Mercedes Schlapp: “You’re not going to call Tucker Carlson a conspiracy theorist!”
Chris Hahn: “He is and you are!”
Schlapp: “I stand for freedom!”
Hahn: “No you don’t. You’re a grifter!”
Fox News host Gillian Turner: “Let’s not do name-calling. Let’s keep it civil.” pic.twitter.com/xLqkgoInfn
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) March 30, 2021
“Republicans, like everything else they’ve done during this horrible crisis we’ve been through, are pushing these conspiracy theories that the government is trying to control you, which is causing some of their followers not to get vaccinated,” Hahn said. “People like Tucker Carlson, like Jim Jordan, like Mercedes right here now casting doubt on the fact that the government—or trying to convince people that the government is somehow watching you. That is very irresponsible!”
After Hahn accused Republicans of “spreading lies,” Schlapp jumped in. “You are not going to call me a liar!” she shouted. “You are not going to call me a conspiracy theorist! You are not going to call Tucker Carlson a conspiracy theorist.”
Hahn snapped back: “He is! He is and you are!”
“I’m not going to put up with this!” Shlapp retorted. “I stand for freedom! I stand for the freedom of the American people every single day.”
“No, you don’t. You’re a grifter!” Hahn replied.
Their host eventually got them to calm down, but not before Hahn accused Republicans, Carlson and Schlapp included, of “damaging the effort to get this under control.”
You can watch their tête-à-tête in the tweet embedded above.
(Via The Daily Beast)