WATCH: Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade Spar Over Vaccines and TV Anchors ‘Recommending Medical Advice’
Things got a little tense on the curvy couch Thursday morning as Fox & Friends co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade had a spirited conversation about the Covid vaccine and the merits of seeing a doctor over following conventional wisdom.
Doocy has used his powers for good over the past few months in openly encouraging Fox & Friends viewers to get vaccinated. Kilmeade has consistently focused on the “choice” that citizens have, which some might argue, gives room for the vaccine-hesitant to, say, focus more on their freedom to not get inoculated, and greatly increase their chances of getting infected and potentially hospitalized or worse. But hey, freedoms!
The tense moment came after Doocy had just listed some rather discouraging data from the American Pediatric Association that indicates a sharp spike in infections among children. “There are a lot of kids under 12 who cannot currently be vaccinated,” he summed up. “But if your kids are over 12, you probably ought to get the shot.”
Kilmeade, who was on his first day back with the show after roughly a week off, replied “Right. Or see a doctor and decide what you want to do. That’s who usually people go to for medical advice, doctors.”
Doocy pushed back, saying “I didn’t go to a doctor before I got the shot.” The vast majority of Americans got vaccinated for the potentially deadly Covid-19 without seeing a doctor also because they trust the medical and public health experts who deem it to be safe and effective in keeping one healthy.
Ainsley Earhardt then chimed in to say “That’s your choice,” while Kilmeade added, “that’s your decision.” Of course, nearly every adult in America has the free will to choose to see a doctor or not, get vaccinated or not, drunk drive or not. Having a choice to make a bad public health decision doesn’t mean one should make it (though obviously there are medical exceptions.)
Kilmeade then echoed comments made last month by Tucker Carlson, saying “I don’t think anchors should be recommending medical advice,” to which Earhardt agreed with “yeah, I agree.”
“But a lot of people have been tuning in to the show for 25 years to see what we think about different things,” Doocy gracefully replied. “I think if you have the opportunity, get the shot.”
“Right. But shouldn’t you see a doctor to give you expertise to what they are seeing?” Kilmeade stubbornly replied, after which Doocy and Earhardt pivoted to the pregnant women who are opting not to get vaccinated (though it is proven to be safe and effective.)
Doocy and Harris Faulkner appear in a 10-second pro-vaccination PSA that Fox News continues to run throughout the day. A recent poll shows that vaccine hesitancy amongst Fox News viewers has dipped to its lowest level, just a couple of weeks after the network made a notable programming shift in coverage, though that also raises a tough question: what would have happened had the conservative network started a pro-vaccine campaign earlier?
Watch above via Fox News.
