President Donald Trump and his administration have scrambled to dismiss the threat posed by the rapidly-spreading novel coronavirus—even if that dismissal comes at the expense of public awareness.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Fox News and Fox Business hosts have followed the President's lead, claiming that Democrats are deliberately overblowing the coronavirus threat in an attempt to undermine Trump's presidency.
Some recent screenshots posted by Media Matters Senior Fellow Matthew Gertz indicate just how outrageous some of the President's more unflinching allies at Fox News are willing to get in order to protect his reputation against a looming pandemic.
Check these out.
Screenshots from last night's Fox News and Fox Business coverage of coronavirus heavy on Dear Leader-ism and media… https://t.co/UZDbkDPkXx— Matthew Gertz (@Matthew Gertz) 1583930151.0
Some of the segments like Sean Hannity and Fox Business's Trish Regan railed against journalists for accurately covering the Trump administration's response to the virus—contradicting messaging, botched testing kits, and all.
For them, that was too partisan.
Fox News
Fox Business
Regan's segment came just hours after she trended on Twitter for a bizarre diatribe in which she accused the left of making coronavirus the new "impeachment scam" at the expense of the President and Americans as a whole.
Others, like Lou Dobbs and Laura Ingraham, fell over themselves to shower the President with praise for "protecting Americans" and "holding [the] nation together."
Fox Business
Fox News
And—of course—somebody inevitably brought up Hillary Clinton and Benghazi.
Here's Ingraham explaining that Hillary Clinton would have handled "the Wuhan virus" worse as president "if her han… https://t.co/Rr9bPzAaoY— Matthew Gertz (@Matthew Gertz) 1583930834.0
People had some strong reactions to the samples.
This channel is evil and if you use it as your source of information then you are irresponsible. https://t.co/blkxg2UNRs— Adam (@Adam) 1583931835.0
America is broken, part 2847374 https://t.co/6dLldmxy6q— Jon Liedtke (@Jon Liedtke) 1583932855.0
This is terrifying. This is what Fox "News" viewers are hearing -- that COVID-19 preparations are "partisan manipul… https://t.co/O4U5nfmf8p— Dr. Leigh VanHandel (@Dr. Leigh VanHandel) 1583932214.0
In the face of a growing public health crisis, misinformation like this could be harmful.
At this point Fox News is complicit in the spread of #Coronavirus. Is there NO ONE at Fox who will say, "we can't… https://t.co/nwqB7nASjK— Warren(Wash Your Damn Hands) Leight (@Warren(Wash Your Damn Hands) Leight) 1583932384.0
This is going to get people killed. https://t.co/9nfPxZoi4s— Corrine Gunning (@Corrine Gunning) 1583935574.0
If there was ever a perfect illustration of self-imposed threat to national security, it would be @FoxNews &… https://t.co/OGM1wZ7jWX— Charles Lister (@Charles Lister) 1583934753.0
I don't think anyone can stress enough how irresponsible and dangerous this is https://t.co/NoDHYIQ65r— Chad Ellwood (@Chad Ellwood) 1583932201.0
The attempts to glorify Trump and dismiss the outbreak is even more unsettling when one considers that Fox News has a high proportion of viewers over 65—the age group most endangered by the virus's symptoms.