Cancel Culture? Alex Berenson Goes on Fox News to Blast the New York Times For Refusing to Cover His Novel
Alex Berenson complained to Fox News that his former employer, the New York Times, has not covered his new novel. He cited the snub as an example of “cancel culture,” of which claims to be a victim.
He made this claim on America’s Newsroom, after having published an opinion piece about the “Orwellian” nature of the alleged censorship on FoxNews.com.
“I feel the pressure of cancel culture every day,” Berenson wrote in the piece.
America’s Newsroom is a news program on Fox, and anchor Bill Hemmer asked Berenson about a number of media stories currently making their rounds, particularly in conservative media circles. He opened by asking about CNN’s Chris Cuomo declining to cover his brother Governor Andrew Cuomo over New York’s nursing home controversy.
“I don’t watch him so I can’t tell you,” Berenson replied. “What I can tell you is that CNN has a terrible conflict of interest here.”
Hemmer then turned to the New York Times correcting their initial reporting on the death of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who was initially reported, based on law enforcement sources, to have died after being hit in the head with a fire extinguisher by rioters. The cause of his death is currently unknown.
“The Times has had a really bad month,” Berenson replied before admitting that he didn’t feel “qualified to say what’s going on internally.”
Hemmer then asked for Berenson’s thoughts on the Never Trump media outlet the Lincoln Project, which is currently embroiled in a number of controversies. “Does it not appear that this is the absolute swampiest of swamp creatures of all?” Hemmer asked. “When you raise tens of millions of dollars to pay yourself and the glasshouse is destroyed?”
“I’m not a political guy,” Berenson demurred. “I’ve been covering Covid the last year or so. That’s not my wheelhouse.” Berenson then tried to pivot to topics better suited to his expertise, which included his new fictional novel The Power Couple.
“I prefer to talk about Covid and if I have a chance to mention The Power Couple,” Berenson said. “Nobody outside of Fox will talk about it because it seems like the mainstream media hates me so much for my Covid coverage that they are punishing my fiction, which I’m grateful to Fox, honestly, for letting me mention it.”
“The media can’t cancel me. I don’t work for the New York Times. I have an independent voice. But they can refuse to cover The Power Couple, and that’s what they’ve done.”
Berenson, a former reporter for The New York Times, has cut out quite an iconoclastic media niche for himself as a contrarian on Covid-19.
While legions of public health and medical experts have recommended the value of mask-wearing, social distancing, and lockdowns, he took the counter position and has long dismissed the coronavirus pandemic as exaggerated. He has been accused of spreading misinformation about the pandemic, and has repeatedly been fact-checked for his claims downplaying it. At one point in April, Berenson boldly predicted that 60,000 people would die of Covid-19.
As of publishing, nearly 500,000 Americans have died as a result of Covid-19.
Watch above via Fox News.
