Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera may have swiped at some of his network colleagues Tuesday, railing against “vaccinated commentators” who whip followers into a frenzy about their rights not to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Nothing is more contemptible than vaccinated commentators urging their unvaccinated followers to fight (and die) for their freedom. It’s like the punk ― safe on the street ― urging the guy in the ledge to jump,” he tweeted.
Last month, Rivera tweeted something similar, saying he had “zero tolerance for anti-vaxers.”
“I detest vaccinated dick heads who urge the unvaccinated to ‘fight for their freedom,’ the mob urging the man on ledge to jump,” he wrote.
Though he didn’t name names, the description could apply to certain colleagues at Fox News, where at least 90% of the staff has been vaccinated but certain hosts ― most notably Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and their guests ― routinely spread anti-vaccine nonsense and undermine efforts to get more of the population immunized.
Other personalities at the network have acted similarly. Over the weekend, “Fox & Friends” weekend hosts Will Cain and Rachel Campos-Duffy declared it was “propaganda” for “Sesame Street” to educate children about vaccines and spread misinformation about kids’ risks from coronavirus. The U.S. government has approved a lower dose of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.
Though some other hosts at the network have disclosed their vaccination status publicly, neither Carlson nor Ingraham has made it clear.
Rivera, once a friend of Donald Trump’s who has been critical of the former president since he started lying about the 2020 presidential election, has publicly criticized a number of his colleagues this year, including Carlson, Dan Bongino and Sean Hannity.
Last month, he called Carlson’s suggestion that the Capitol riot on Jan. 6 was a “false flag” operation “bullshit.”