GOP pollster Frank Luntz on Tuesday urged CNN to stop interviewing and airing White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Luntz told “Anderson Cooper 360” host Anderson Cooper that the polarizing Fauci “has become so politicized” that he is actually turning people off. According to Luntz, a better spokesman for dealing with the coronavirus could help those who are reluctant to get the vaccine.
“You had on earlier Tom Frieden, Dr. Friedan, who is probably the best communicator in the country on this stuff,” Luntz stated. “And, Anderson, I’m going to tell you something which probably you don’t want to hear. But I would rather see Tom Frieden on this show than Anthony Fauci on the show because Fauci has become so politicized, so polarized, that every time he speaks, he actually turns off people. We need more people, more experts like Tom Frieden who are active and know the data and know-how to communicate it. It’s personal responsibility, not some sort of national discussion, and the most important fact of all, if over 90% of doctors have been vaccinated, don’t they know something that you may not know? Because the problem is they’re trusting their cousin rather than their doctor.”
“If we’re serious about it, it means we have to put the best spokespeople out there, and it also means we can’t demonize the people that we’re trying to win over. You don’t hate people because they make the wrong decisions. You love them and try to educate them and try to move them. Look, I get frustrated. And I acknowledged that in the last focus group I did, but we have got to do this. And so, demonizing these people and then asking them to follow a proper course, they won’t do it,” he concluded.
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