After repeatedly sowing fear and doubt about a potential COVID-19 vaccine in an effort to undermine President Trump’s handling of the pandemic, on Friday, NBC’s Today show was suddenly concerned by a new poll showing that many Americans would not trust a vaccine developed under the Trump administration. Of course rather than blame themselves for politicizing the vital medical research, the network hacks instead rushed to blame the President once again.
During a report early in the 7:00 a.m. ET hour, correspondent Tom Costello warned of “new evidence that the public’s trust has been shaken.” He then touted a new poll from a left-leaning group:
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll finds 62% of Americans are worried the President’s political pressure will lead the FDA to rush a vaccine before it’s proven safe and effective. Public confidence in the CDC has dropped 16% just since April. And more than half say they would not get vaccinated if it were approved before Election Day.
Following those statistics, a soundbite ran of National Institutes of Health director Dr. Francis Collins lamenting: “It’s gotten a little political, the coalescence of all of these things with the national election probably hasn’t helped.”
Later in the 9:00 a.m. ET hour, during the 3rd Hour Today show, co-host Al Roker fretted to former Centers for Disease Control director Dr. Richard Besser about the findings: “But polls show that Kaiser – from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 60% of Americans worry the President’s political pressure will lead the FDA to rush a vaccine before it’s safe, 54% say they wouldn’t get vaccinated if it was made available before Election Day....What does this mean that the public doesn’t trust our nation’s public health institutions and won’t get vaccinated?”
Besser launched into a thinly-veiled lecture against Trump:
I think that this points to one of the biggest challenges for the U.S. in responding to this pandemic. Where we have different messages coming from our politicians than we’re hearing from our public health leaders. It leads to a decrease in trust in public health....And that means keep your hands off the FDA, keep your hands off the CDC, let them do what they do best, and that’s protect our public by making sure that any drug, any vaccine that we’re recommending works and is safe. And this poll points to some real challenges, especially as an election’s coming up and concerns that a vaccine being licensed could have some impact on an election.
In reality, the hosts and correspondent at NBC need look no further than their own reporting if they want to know why people are so distrustful of any potential vaccine. Just over the past three days, the morning show has routinely suggested without evidence that Trump would somehow force a vaccine to be approved prematurely to help his political chances in November’s election:
In fact, on Tuesday, all three network morning shows touted the Biden-Harris campaign sounding like anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorists as it tried to exploit the health crisis to smear the President. There was no challenge or fact-check of the irresponsible quackery.
This has become such a predictable pattern with the leftist press, they constantly push a narrative and then are shocked when a poll comes out showing that their intense propaganda push has worked. In this case, the media manipulation is flat out dangerous.
Friday’s hyping of public mistrust was brought to viewers by Liberty Mutual and Walgreen’s. You can fight back by letting these advertisers know what you think of them sponsoring such content.
Here are transcripts of the September 11 coverage:
Today
7:09 AM ET(...)
TOM COSTELLO: That stark warning from the nation’s top infectious disease expert comes amid new evidence that the public’s trust has been shaken. A Kaiser Family Foundation poll finds 62% of Americans are worried the President’s political pressure will lead the FDA to rush a vaccine before it’s proven safe and effective. Public confidence in the CDC has dropped 16% just since April. And more than half say they would not get vaccinated if it were approved before Election Day.
FRANCIS COLLINS [NIH DIRECTOR]: I understand why people may be a little reluctant to say, “Well, I’m ready today for this vaccine.” They want to see the data, so do I.
COSTELLO: NIH Director Francis Collins insists science, not politics, will lead the way.
COLLINS: A lot of it is this concern about maybe they’re going too fast. This term “Operation Warp Speed” may have kind of put people off. It’s gotten a little political, the coalescence of all of these things with the national election probably hasn’t helped.
(...)
3rd Hour Today
9:10 AM ET(...)
AL ROKER: Dr. Besser, we talk so much about the vaccine, of getting a vaccine. Astrazeneca’s phase three trial paused after a volunteer developed severe neurological symptoms. But polls show that Kaiser – from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 60% of Americans worry the President’s political pressure will lead the FDA to rush a vaccine before it’s safe, 54% say they wouldn’t get vaccinated if it was made available before Election Day. So what does this say that – and in fact, the CDC, trust in the CDC has gone down 16% since April. What does this mean that the public doesn’t trust our nation’s public health institutions and won’t get vaccinated?
DR. RICHARD BESSER: I think that this points to one of the biggest challenges for the U.S. in responding to this pandemic. Where we have different messages coming from our politicians than we’re hearing from our public health leaders. It leads to a decrease in trust in public health. I heard an expert say that, you know, “Vaccines don’t save lives, vaccinations save lives.” And if there is not trust that the system that’s being used to determine whether a new vaccine works and that it’s safe, then people aren’t going to get the vaccine and we’re not going to see the benefit. I want to make sure that any vaccine I recommend to my patients is safe and effective. And that means keep your hands off the FDA, keep your hands off the CDC, let them do what they do best, and that’s protect our public by making sure that any drug, any vaccine that we’re recommending works and is safe. And this poll points to some real challenges, especially as an election’s coming up and concerns that a vaccine being licensed could have some impact on an election.
(...)
