At the opening of Tuesday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” host Tucker Carlson criticized the media and tech companies for efforts to censor any skepticism about the COVID-19 vaccine.
Carlson called out restrictions on those trying to relay their ordeals with the coronavirus vaccine and warned the limitations could have long-term consequences.
Transcript as follows:
CARLSON: You’ve probably been glued to the tube all day, Donald Trump’s second impeachment proceedings started. We didn’t watch any of it. We did hear from a number of people that Trump’s head lawyer didn’t do a very good job.
On a slow day that might be a mildly interesting fact. But at this point, honestly, who cares? Impeachment? The whole thing is ridiculous. They are literally impeaching a President who isn’t even the President anymore. They’re yelling at someone who’s already left the room. It’s a farce, insulting and absurd.
Anyone who tells you the details of today’s Potemkin impeachment are important is probably trying to distract you from something that actually is important. There are a lot of those things right now, more than ever.
One of them is our ongoing COVID pandemic, after months of hearing that life could never return to normal until we get a vaccine, we got a vaccine — two vaccines actually, but life did not return to normal. Life got worse.
We were instructed to take the new vaccine as soon as possible, and then to put on more masks. One mask was no longer enough. Anyone who complained about that was punished.
Most people obeyed the orders, they had no choice. But the whole thing made them nervous. How could it not? Why exactly did the rules change all of a sudden, they wondered? Was there a good reason for that?
When are we finally going to repeal corona law? And what about this vaccine? Why are Americans being discouraged from asking simple, straightforward questions about it? Questions like how effective are these drugs? Are they safe?
What’s the miscarriage risk for pregnant women, for example? Is there a study on that? May we see it? And by the way, how much are the drug companies making off this stuff?
Well, there’s nothing QAnon about questions like that, they’re not conspiracy theories. They’re the most basic questions.
In a democracy, every citizen has a right to know the answer. But instead, we got fluff and propaganda. The media rollout for the vaccine came off like a Diet Pepsi commercial at the Super Bowl, tons of celebrity endorsements, not a lot of science. It was totally disingenuous, and naturally, it had the opposite of the intended effect.
Most Americans already supported vaccines. They didn’t need to be browbeaten in order to be convinced, they were grateful their kids no longer get tetanus and polio and chickenpox. They weren’t anti-vaxxers.
And yet, from the very first day, the way the authorities handled the COVID vaccine did not inspire confidence. If the vaccine was so great, why were all these people lying about it? Honest question, and they were lying. Clearly, they were lying. You know that for certain because from the moment the COVID vaccine arrived, the most powerful people in America worked to make certain that no one could criticize it.
Here’s Bill Gates’ wife on CNN back in December.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Do the social media companies — Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, on and on — have a responsibility to do more right now, Melinda in terms of getting this misinformation, this disinformation off their platforms?
MELINDA GATES, CO-FOUNDER, BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION: They absolutely have a responsibility. The internet and the rise of social media has happened so quickly, that really the regulations and the good policymaking hasn’t stayed out in front of it, and quite frankly, it needs to catch up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Quite frankly, she says, we need to censor people’s views on the COVID vaccine. Now, remember, Melinda Gates is not a scientist. She did not develop this vaccine. She has no background in epidemiology or any relevant discipline.
She worked in the marketing department at Microsoft. But she is the wife of a billionaire. That’s why she is on television. It’s why she is allowed to control what you’re allowed to say about the drug she is demanding you inject in your body.
Is this really science? Not even close. It’s oligarchy. And all the billionaires are participating in it.
The tech companies announced early they would not allow anyone to criticize this vaccine and anyone who did would be kicked off their platforms right away. And then corporate media took it upon themselves to enforce this rule.
Just yesterday, CNN ran a story with this headline, quote, “Facebook vowed to crackdown on COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, but misleading posts remain easy to find.” That’s not a news story. That’s an open call for censorship, and it worked.
CNN identified a group on Facebook called COVID-19 Vaccine Injury Stories and the group was exactly what it sounds like, people talking about their experiences with the vaccine. Last week, that group was in the top 20 groups on all of Facebook. Today, after the CNN piece came out, we searched for that group, we couldn’t find it. Even when we search specifically for its name, effectively COVID-19 Vaccine Injury stories no longer exists. CNN shut them down, erased them.
Instead search for the word vaccine on Facebook and you will find a lot of material — exclusive material — that matches precisely the storyline approved by Melinda Gates and her fellow non-scientist billionaires. And the line is clear, you’ve heard it a million times, the COVID vaccine is morally good. Period. Don’t dare say anything else.
So if your neighbor drops dead after getting the shot, keep it to yourself. Facts like that are not allowed on Facebook nor on Twitter. They’ve got the same policy. Quote, “I posted that there were multiple reports of adverse reactions to the vaccine,” wrote one Twitter user, ” … and that the vaccines were still not fully trialed on pregnant women and kids. Twitter banned me until I deleted it for false information.”
Is it false information? That’s irrelevant. According to another user, quote, “Twitter suspended me for saying that vaccines have known side effects,” end quote, which of course they do. Physicians who develop vaccines concede that, but at the moment, you are not allowed to say it.
Facebook has long led the way in this kind of censorship. Last year, the company prohibited users from buying any advertisement that might discourage people from taking the vaccine or that might portray the new vaccines as quote, “unsafe or ineffective.”
Now in the months since, tens of millions of Americans have been vaccinated and most of them seem fine. On the other hand, scientists are now conceding on the record, that the vaccine may trigger a fatal blood disorder in a small number of people. The New York Times wrote about it the other day. It’s one of those stories you should save as a period piece for when the current darkness finally lifts, and we can think and speak clearly again.
Two of the people at The New York Times interviewed wouldn’t even give their names. One said she had been badly injured by the drug, but she feared she would be punished if she criticized the vaccine in public. In the picture The New York Times ran, she covered her face like she was a fugitive.
Science can’t live in an environment like this without relentless skepticism, science dies. That’s what science is — relentless skepticism, and when it leaves, inevitably, it’s replaced by witchcraft and superstition.
Are we there yet? You decide.
The liberal website, VOX recently ran a piece complaining that Facebook users were still being allowed to, quote, “Make fun of COVID-19 vaccination,” and this offended them. Mockery is always the gravest threat to false religions. VOX demanded that Facebook remove the offending content immediately.
As an example, VOX highlighted this image which they noted with alarm had already been shared more than 100,000 times on Facebook, and this infuriated them. Damn those smirking Americans. Make them stop laughing.
And in a way, it is amusing. Even with total blanket censorship, it is pretty hard to crush the average person’s sense of humor. But you’ve got to wonder, if they can force you to stop laughing about vaccines, what can’t they make you do?
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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