People who don't buy into the left's big-government healthcare schemes are literally . . . killers! That was the essence of an accusation made by Eric Boehlert, a guest on Joy Reid's MSNBC show today.
Reid quoted to Boehlert from a Washington Post column that suggested that Rupert Murdoch should force Fox News to "tell the truth" about coronavirus, and also use his influence with President Trump on the matter.
When Reid asked whether there was a possibility that Murdoch would do such things, Boehlert replied:
"Anyone waiting for Rupert Murdoch to do the honorable thing is going to wait a very, very long time . . . Fox News has been getting people killed for years . . . They are a cancer on this country."
Hypocrisy alert: a bit later, Boehlert accused Fox News of seeking to "vilify, stir hatred and paranoia." You mean, like by accusing your political opponents of "killing people" and being a "cancer?"
Note also that Reid began her dialogue with Boehlert by describing Trish Regan of Fox Business as the lady "with the very large blond hair." That elicited a smirk from Boehlert. So, Ms. Reid, are people's physical characteristics fair game for mocking comments? Who is she to mock large hair on TV?
Another ironic moment came earlier in the show when Reid interviewed Florida Rep. Charlie Crist regarding the coronavirus. Crist had been the target of Reid's homophobic mockery, and of whom she had written: "Miss Charlie, Miss Charlie: stop pretending, brother. It’s okay that you don’t go for the ladies." Somehow, that didn't come up during their dialogue today.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC's AM Joy
03/15/20
11:01 am EDTJOY REID: And so Fox News reportedly benched Trish Regan, who is the lady, for those of you don't watch Fox, with the very large blond hair who was being very serious about saying that it's just an attack on Donald Trump, and it's a new impeachment. So they benched her show.
According to the Washington Post, Rupert Murdoch, there is an op-ed in the Washington Post that says that Rupert Murdoch could actually save lives by forcing Fox News to tell the truth about the coronavirus right now. And this is just a piece of it [quoting]: "And so, so let’s acknowledge the obvious: there is no more important player in influencing Trump than Fox News. And no more powerful figure at Fox than its patriarch. Murdoch might consider, too, that with the median age of Fox viewers around 65, they're among the most vulnerable to the virus's threats."
As a media analyst for a very long time, do you see any possibility that Fox may want to try to save its own viewers by forcing this narrative to change? Because it's true, if they change their narrative, it's not true [clear?] if they follow Trump or Trump follows them, but they will act together.
ERIC BOEHLERT: Right. Anyone waiting for Rupert Murdoch to do the honorable thing is going to wait a very, very long time, after someone who's watched him for 20 years.
Look, Fox News has been getting people killed for years. Just look at their crusade against affordable health care, their crusade against expanding Medicaid. This is not unusual for them. It's far more dire. I mean, I’ve been watching and documenting Fox News for 15 years. I mean, they are a cancer on this country. There's no question about it. So who knows what they're going to do? Their programming is to vilify, stir hatred and paranoia. And if the pandemic is the backdrop, then they're going to do it.
