Dick Durbin Torches ‘Anti-Vaxx Quacks’ Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham in Senate Floor Speech: ‘I Hope Fox Will Come to Its Senses’

Senator Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) name-checked Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham in a floor speech on Monday in which he called the two Fox News hosts “anti-vaxx quacks.”

After reading part of a New York Times article about vaccine skepticism among certain Fox News hosts, Durbin called them out:

There are two hosts of programs on Fox primetime that can only be characterized as anti-vaxx quacks. I’m referring of course to Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham. They have been spreading what I consider to be irresponsible information about vaccines across America, and about the effort of this nation to deal with them. Here’s the reality. We have millions who’ve died across the world by this vaccine [sic]. We may never have an accurate count. We have hundreds of thousands who have died in the United States, and now it is said repeatedly that those who are headed to the hospital with the most serious strains of Covid-19, 99.5% of them were not vaccinated. So the facts are obvious here.

The senator added that he hopes that Fox News management “will caution Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham” against making skeptical comments about vaccines. “I hope Fox will come to its senses,” he said.

Durbin, citing a New York Times article, gave a nod to other Fox News talent including Sean Hannity, Steve Doocy and Harris Faulkner for various pro-vaccine comments they have made. Yet the senator seemingly cited the remarks from those notable Fox News personalities largely to underscore what he believes to be grave irresponsibility on the part of Carlson and Ingraham.

Carlson has said he is pro-vaccine, stating in April, “We are not against it on principle. Like every American, we are grateful.” However the host has also engaged in wild speculation about the risks, often highlighting the highly suspect Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System to suggest the vaccine can be deadly for some people.

Ingraham has also lauded the development of the vaccine, but she has routinely slammed vaccine mandates, calling mandates for children “disgusting” in one instance.

Carlson has refused to publicly state whether he’s been vaccinated.

Watch above via C-SPAN2