Fox News personalities have been chastised for using the death of former US Secretary of State Colin Powell from COVID-19 problems to cast doubt on the efficacy of coronavirus vaccines. Tucker Carlson, Will Cain, and John Roberts all received backlash as a result of their reporting. Powell, 84, was fully vaccinated, but he also had multiple myeloma, a disease of the blood that assaults the immune system, rendering him more vulnerable to the virus’s effects. Roberts deleted a widely criticized tweet saying Powell’s death “raises new questions” about the shots, replacing it with a thread saying he was not anti-vaccine. Cain used the news of Powell’s death to rail against President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates, claim there would be calls for “more truth from our government,” and note that fully vaccinated people are being hospitalized and dying from COVID-19, even though the vast majority of victims now are unvaccinated. He didn’t seem to mention Powell’s other health difficulties until the very end of his interview.
Don Lemon of CNN slammed Fox News for their answer. “The man had just passed away, and this person couldn’t wait to turn it into a dispute over vaccine mandates.” Cain’s behavior is “disgraceful,” he remarked. Others concurred:
