Tucker Carlson deceptively edited a Twitter clip to make false claims about racial preferences in COVID-19 treatment
On the January 10 edition of his Fox News prime-time show, Tucker Carlson cited conspiracy theory outlet Infowars to falsely claim that Texas is denying white people treatment for COVID-19 using monoclonal antibodies. This is the second time in less than a year that the white supremacist Fox star has used the fringe site as a source.
In the hidden camera video promoted by Carlson, which was posted to Twitter by Infowars host Harrison Hill Smith and shared on Infowars’ website in November, Smith talks with an unidentified nurse who tells him that he doesn’t qualify for COVID-19 treatment because he is young and healthy. She tells him, “If you were 65, you’d be good. But nope, you’re healthy and (have) no medical conditions, so research shows that you should be able to fight off COVID.”
Smith, who claimed on Twitter he was “denied medical service because of my race,” ignored the fact that the nurse he was speaking with gave him several other reasons why he was being denied.. The Infowars article, titled “Texas HHS Denies Monoclonal Antibody Treatment For Whites, Says Only Available for ‘High-Risk Ethnicity Groups,’” basically debunks itself -- noting that “a memo released by the Texas HHS makes no mention of ‘high-risk ethnicities’ being an automatic qualifier in its memo announcing the availability of monoclonal antibody treatments.” The same memo cited by Infowars was linked on the Texas Health and Human Services website, and indeed, there is no mention of race or ethnicity as criteria for treatment.
Somehow, in dredging up Smith’s video months later, Carlson sank even lower than Alex Jones’ site. On Fox, he played only part of the clip, cutting it off just before the nurse explains several reasons why Smith is being denied, including his age and lack of preexisting conditions. Carlson cited Smith’s Twitter account (which he is using to evade a ban from the platform), as well as a URL that redirects to Infowars’ video hosting platform.
TUCKER CARLSON (HOST): The United States has mistreated racial minorities in centuries past, they say, therefore whites must suffer now. So your ancestors did bad things, or people who looked like your ancestors did bad things, so now, we are withholding medicine from you.
They call this equity. It's not equity. It is collective punishment. It's the North Korean standard. It's the definition of evil.
…
This is happening everywhere, even in places you would never expect it to happen.
Watch as this man talks to an employee at a Texas medical facility to find out exactly what their policies are.
(VIDEO BEGINS)
HARRISON HILL SMITH (INFOWARS HOST): So I'm not going to be able to get it today?
UNIDENTIFIED NURSE: Uh-huh.
SMITH: Because I don't qualify.
UNIDENTIFIED NURSE: Yes.
SMITH: What if I -- what if I like smoke and vape? I heard that was –
UNIDENTIFIED NURSE: No.
SMITH: OK. But if I were Black and Hispanic, then I'd be able to qualify?
UNIDENTIFIED NURSE: That’s right. Yeah.
SMITH: OK, I'm being denied medical service because of my race, is that --
UNIDENTIFIED NURSE: That's the criteria.
(VIDEO ENDS)
CARLSON: So you can't get lifesaving drugs from the government of Texas if you're the wrong color. Think about that.
Carlson said Smith, who was not identified on-air as an Infowars staffer, was denied treatment “without even assessing the relative health risks involved,” when the part of the video he deceptively edited out of his segment clearly shows this was not the case.
After the segment, Smith thanked Carlson for “featuring my video and shining light on an important topic.”
