Chelsea Clinton calls on Facebook to ban Tucker Carlson

Chelsea Clinton is calling on Facebook to ban Fox News host Tucker Carlson from the platform following a surge in online engagement with a post that included the conservative television personality’s speculation on the effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines. 

The former first daughter on Wednesday tweeted a screenshot of a Facebook post that included Carlson’s monologue from the night before, in which he said, “If the vaccine is effective, there is no reason for people who have received the vaccine to wear masks or avoid physical contact.” 

“So maybe it doesn’t work and they’re simply not telling you that,” he added at the time. 

According to data from the social media tool CrowdTangle, Carlson’s segment had become the most popular post on Facebook by Wednesday. 

In response, Clinton tweeted, “In December, @facebook banned claims about #covid19 vaccines ‘that have been debunked by public health experts.’” 

Clinton added that the attention to Carlson’s segment was “especially troubling given Republican men are currently most likely to say they’re not interested in being vaccinated.” 

In December, @facebook banned claims about #covid19 vaccines “that have been debunked by public health experts.” And yet ⬇️. Especially troubling given Republican men are currently most likely to say they’re not interested in being vaccinated. https://t.co/NHWwn8vQ31

— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) April 14, 2021

Carlson’s Tuesday remarks came in the context of news that day that the distribution of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine was being paused throughout the country because of concerns about a rare type of blood clot that has developed in six women who received the shot. 

Carlson has described himself as pro-vaccine, but the comments were criticized by public health officials such as Anthony Fauci, who in an interview with CNN Wednesday said it was “just a typical crazy conspiracy theory.” 

The Fox host pushed back on Fauci’s criticism during a Wednesday night segment, saying, “We never for a minute doubted” that “vaccines work.”

“We bought all of that stuff completely at face value. We believe in science,” he continued. “Actually kind of trust the pharmaceutical companies a little bit too much, so when they said this stuff works, we never questioned it.”

“We assumed they had detailed studies showing that it does work. We still think that,” Carlson added. “The only reason we are asking the question is because the people in charge are acting like it doesn’t work.”