Media

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) warned Republicans who refuse to get vaccinated that they are playing "the death lottery."

During an interview on ABC's This Week program, host Martha Raddatz noted that people in states with Republican majorities are less likely to get vaccinated.

According to a report from the Daily Beast's Justin Baragona, the great majority of cable news shows have taken a hit in the ratings now that Donald Trump is not providing daily fodder for their hosts, and Fox News is going out of the way to point out the viewership decline of their liberal competitors in an effort to hide their own plummeting numbers.

While it has previously been reported that Fox saw a drop in viewers after Trump railed at the conservative network for being the first to report that he lost Arizona in the 2020 election -- a vote total the ex-president is still contesting over six months after the election -- the Beast notes things have gone from bad to worse for Fox.

A CNN doctor is fed up with Fox News' Tucker Carlson's seemingly reckless coverage where the COVID-19 vaccine is concerned. Now, he's pushing back against the conservative news anchor.

On Friday, July 2, CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner took to Twitter with an assessment of Carlson's coverage as he posed a question to him, reports HuffPost. He tweeted, "Carlson seems hellbent on letting COVID go on as long as possible. He's "questioned" the safety of vaccines. Now he says masks are unsafe. Somehow he never seems to have an actual expert on his show to discuss."

Because the right-wing media are so competitive, countless pundits are resorting to increasingly over-the-top rhetoric in the hope of juicing their ratings or traffic. The conservative pundits of the 1970s and 1980s — most famously, George Will and the late National Review founder William F. Buckley — were downright tranquil compared to the far-right extremism one finds on Newsmax TV or One America News on a daily basis. And journalist Adam Gabbatt, in an article published by The Guardian this week, reports that critics of this inflammatory rhetoric fear it will lead to violence at a time when political tensions are extremely high in the United States.

According to Gabbatt, "The extremist rhetoric from right-wing news networks and some elected Republicans is 'intensifying,' experts have warned, after a Republican congressman compared Democrats to Nazis and a hard-right news host suggested tens of thousands of Americans should be executed. Right-wing TV personalities, including Fox News' Tucker Carlson, and Republican politicians have seized every opportunity to rail against Democrats and liberals in recent months, with race increasingly coming to the fore."

On Thursday, Fox News' Tucker Carlson devoted several minutes to an attack on First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, taking special umbrage at a fashion magazine piece on her in which she promoted vaccines — and likened the whole thing to cult behavior at Jonestown, or worship of the Kim family in North Korea.

"In one scene from the Vogue piece, Dr. Jill cradles the arms of nervous women who get the jab," said Carlson. "'Look at me,' she coos reassuringly. 'It doesn't hurt.' That's right. It's only Kool-Aid. Drink the whole cup. As Dr. Jill puts it with her signature modesty, you try to lift up other people."

Fox News contributor Lara Trump asserted on Thursday that former President Donald Trump had taken control of the United States southern border because he staged a photo op in Texas earlier this week.

Lara Trump made the remarks while appearing on Fox & Friends.

Lara Trump on Wednesday complained that former First Lady Melania Trump had been snubbed by Vogue magazine despite being the "most beautiful first lady" in history.

During an interview on Fox Business, host Stuart Varney noted that First Lady Jill Biden is expected to be featured on the magazine cover even though Melania Trump never appeared there.

Fox News has agreed to pay $1 million in fines for a pattern of "willful and wanton violations" of New York City's Human Rights Law — including ongoing workplace sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation, the Daily Beast reported Tuesday.

The settlement reached last week amounts to the largest-ever financial penalty in the six-decade history of the NYC Human Rights Commission, which enforces the law.

Fox News host Harris Faulkner suggested on Tuesday that victims of the building collapse in Surfside, Florida are part of "God's plan."

Following a press conference about the latest rescue efforts for dozens of missing people, Faulkner connected the tragedy to accusations that Democrats are trying to "defund the police."

New York gubernatorial candidate Andrew Giuliani on Tuesday boasted about his "early success" in the race despite receiving zero votes in a recent Republican straw poll.

Giuliani was asked about the straw poll during an appearance on Newsmax, where he avoided disclosing details of the humiliating loss.

Many QAnon supporters believe that deceased tech entrepreneur John McAfee is the "whistleblower" who revealed that the NSA is spying on Fox News host Tucker Carlson in an effort to get him kicked off the air, according to a report from Newsweek. However, some say it wasn't McAfee himself who revealed the alleged NSA surveillance — but rather a computer that reactivated following his death, in a phenomenon known as a "dead man's switch."

Carlson outlandishly claimed during his show Monday night that the Biden administration, via the NSA, is monitoring his text messages and emails. Carlson's conspiracy theory has been widely mocked as "nuts even for Tucker."

On Monday, Fox News' Tucker Carlson raised eyebrows by claiming on air that the National Security Agency was spying on his communications with the intent to leak damaging information and get his show pulled off the air — and that an anonymous "whistleblower" within the government proved it by sharing Carlson's own communications back at him.

Commenters on social media, however, were not at all convinced by the evidence that Carlson provided, and accused the controversial Fox News host of promoting a conspiracy theory.

Fox News co-host Tomi Lahren on Monday suggested that a building collapse in Florida has been a "shining moment" for Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).

Lahren made the remarks following a press conference where DeSantis appeared with other officials like Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL).