CNN’s Dana Bash Asks Surgeon General: Do You Think Media Outlets Like Fox News Are ‘Killing People’ With Anti-Vaccine Commentary?

CNN’s Dana Bash asked Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy on Sunday if he thinks that Fox News is “killing people” with covid-19 misinformation.

Murthy and other top officials have been very vocal about the spread of such misinformation on Facebook, and President Joe Biden himself even said social platforms like Facebook are “killing people.”

Bash asked Murthy about “disinformation being spread on the right,” showing clips of anti-vaccine commentary from Laura Ingraham, Tucker Carlson, and Newsmax’s Rob Schmitt.

Some Fox News hosts have encouraged vaccines and shared their own vaccinations. Last week Sean Hannity told viewers they should talk with their doctors and other medical professionals they trust. But hosts like Carlson have engaged in irresponsible anti-vaccine commentary over the past few months.

Bash posed this question to the surgeon general:

President Biden did accuse social media platforms of killing people. Do you think conservative media, like Fox News, are doing the same? Are they killing people too with rhetoric like you just heard?

Murthy did not address Fox directly, but said, “I think all of us, including the media, including individuals, health professionals, have a responsibility to share the truth about health as science dictates, as science informs us.”

“Unless we are honest about the consequences of our communication with people, unless we are rigorous about ensuring that what we communicate is actually sourced from science and not from opinion on critical issues like the vaccine, then we are going to ultimately put people at risk. And that is my great worry, Dana,” he added.

You can watch above, via CNN.