No, Unvaccinated Tucker Carlson is Not Breaking The Fox News Vaccine Policy

Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s recent admission that he is not vaccinated has caused some controversy, but he is not in violation of his employers’ requirements, as some have tried claiming in the wake of his revelation.

While speaking at the Awaken Church earlier this month in San Diego, Carlson mocked booster shots and said, “I skipped the first three, I’m not getting that one either.”

Carlson’s vaccination status was previously not known, but has been called into question by critics in light of his many segments questioning their effectiveness.

Leading the claim that Carlson could be in violation of Fox’s vaccine mandate was Jon Cooper, liberal activist and former national finance chair for political action committee Draft Biden. He also served on former President Barack Obama‘s National Finance Committee and served in the Suffolk County Legislature in New York.

“BREAKING: Tucker Carlson told a group of churchgoers he is NOT vaccinated against Covid,” Cooper tweeted on Tuesday. “If he violated Fox News’ policy that

EVERYONE be vaccinated to work there, shouldn’t he be FIRED?” Cooper retweeted the question himself later on Thursday.

Cooper’s tweet got plenty of mileage, but it’s simply not true. One of the first people to inform him of this was CNN’s Brian Stelter, arguably one of the more vocal critics of Fox News.

Stelter is not the first guy you would expect to defend Carlson, but it’s a cut-and-dry case. If it is true that Carlson is not vaccinated, he is not violating any policy. Fox News’ headquarters are located in New York City where employees are required to have a vaccination against Covid to work in-office. This would put the company in compliance with New York City’s mandates for inoculations. Previously to this, the company offered a test-out option for those wishing to avoid the vaccine, which at the time was in compliance with New York City law.

Tucker Carlson, however, is not based in New York and has regularly been hosting his show remotely. He frequently broadcasts from a custom-built studio near his home in Maine.

This would not put him in violation of any known company policy. Carlson ditched Washington D.C. for the slower pace of Maine after a group of Antifa activists showed up at his D.C. home in 2018, vandalizing it and harassing his family.

The personal vaccination status of Fox News employees has

kicked up controversy in the past. Some questioned Pete Hegseth, who had said in November he was not vaccinated, hosting Fox & Friends in-studio in February. The network would not comment on the private employee matter, though Hegseth could have since been vaccinated or received an exemption from the mandate.