Friday, Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson opened his program criticizing the lockdown policies proposed and instituted in the name of mitigating the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Carlson offered presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s recent suggestions on the campaign trail to combat coronavirus as an example of one proposal.
The Fox News host explained how those policies can do more harm than good and said there might be no relief forthcoming until Democrats get their way in elections.
Transcript as follows:
CARLSON: Joe Biden has not waded too deeply into questions of public policy recently. In case you haven’t noticed. Whatever else Biden may be doing, looking at funny cat videos on the internet, shuffling to his mailbox every afternoon, it’s fair to say that he is not running a campaign about ideas.
But Biden has made at least one campaign promise so far, he has pledged that if elected, he will force you to wear a mask when you go outside.
Now, Biden didn’t specify which epidemiological studies would justify a law like that, that’s probably because there aren’t any. Not a single one — but whatever. Biden has never been much of a science guy, he is a lifelong politician. His specialty is not public health, his specialty is power and coercion, so he does what he knows.
Instead of explaining how wearing a mask when you ride your bike alone could possibly save anyone’s life, Biden instead demands that you forget about your so-called rights as an American and obey his orders, no questions allowed — otherwise you’re unpatriotic.
If it sounds familiar, that’s because we have seen a lot of this lately. Democrats have decided to use our public health emergency as a political weapon to win the election. It turns out that is easier than trying to fix the country.
Terrified, unhappy populations want change and that’s welcome news to the party trying to take power, that’s why they are doing it.
But what’s the cost to the rest of us? To America? It’s profound.
Thanks to restrictions that are rooted in politics rather than science, children cannot go to school or play with their friends. Parents can’t go to work. People can’t get married or attend funerals.
Human contact has been drastically curtailed. These are not small things. They are essential human needs. Without them, we can’t live.
In May, we talked to a father whose teenage son killed himself, he believes because of isolation caused by the coronavirus lockdowns. It was a crushing segment and hard to watch, but it’s worth watching. Here’s part of the conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD HUNSTABLE, FATHER OF 12-YEAR-OLD BOY WHO COMMITTED SUICIDE: My young 12-year-old boy, three days before his 13th birthday took his life. Hayden was a normal kid. He wasn’t depressed. He died of the COVID virus. He didn’t die of the coronavirus, but he died certainly because of the COVID virus.
Isolation has created what I believe and what I worry and I’m warning every parent in America tonight, an emotional tsunami that is sweeping this nation and I’m very concerned about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: He had reason to be very concerned about it, that was nearly three months ago, the country has become sadder and more isolated since.
In fact, the lockdowns had driven Americans to the edge and that’s not speculation. According to new data from the CDC, fully a quarter of all young people in this country between 18 and 24 recently have considered suicide, seriously thought about killing themselves. That is a massive and a terrifying increase over previous surveys. It’s a tragedy.
Anxiety and depression are at record highs. Many Americans have fallen into a spiral from which they will not escape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Because of coronavirus, many people are now unemployed or isolated at home, and as a result, the drug epidemic has intensified.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You shoot up. You smoke. You do whatever it is you do, pop a pill, and the world goes away for a while.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over); Joe Cordovano runs Fresh Start Ministries in Orlando and says they are seeing more relapses and more stories of drug abuse as a result.
Nationwide, it’s the same story.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that since the outbreak, overdoses are up between 30 and 40 percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: People are depressed, you see it all around you. They are depressed because they are cut off from one another, they are depressed because their lives are moving backwards.
According to data collected last month, 12 percent of American households in the richest country in the world are now routinely short on food.
More than 20 percent of all renters in America are behind on payments. Keep in mind, these data were collected before Federal unemployment benefits expired.
People are abandoning their pets. Prescriptions are going unfilled. We could go on.
Big parts of this country are becoming poor, but you don’t hear about it much because to the media and our leaders in Washington, it’s not a very big deal. They can’t imagine worrying about money.
In Washington, they live in a city with guaranteed full employment, always and forever, thanks to the Federal government and it affects their attitudes.
Here is Tony Fauci, the most political man in the most political city in America telling you that going broke isn’t really a big deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I know it’s difficult, we are having a lot of suffering, a lot of death. This is inconvenient from an economic and a personal standpoint, but we just have to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: It’s inconvenient, says Dr. Fauci? Remember when you respected that guy? Remember when he seemed like a legitimate public health expert?
We do. He was on this show. We treated him like a physician.
Now it is clear, Fauci is just another oily politician on an ego trip, just like the rest of them.
In case you haven’t been to a supermarket recently, Fauci is featured on the cover of “In Style” magazine photographed by the pool, a man of science. What a buffoon.
But Fauci isn’t suffering during the lockdowns, he is loving it. Tony Fauci is enjoying the hell out of himself.
So is CNN. Jeff Zucker understands that the lockdowns are the only way his personal friend, Kamala Harris is ever to going to run the country, so his anchors dutifully berate the public for not obeying even as they ignore the rules they demand that you follow.
Watch the body builder’s ‘roid rants on the subject.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so while most Americans are staying inside or should be, right, if they are not out protesting like fools — they are not happy about being told to stay home.
Staying home saves lives.
And the rest of us should be staying at home for our mothers and the people that we love and to keep us farther apart will ultimately bring us closer together in this cause.
Our collective conscientious actions — staying home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Stay home. That’s the order, except of course, when you are pledging allegiance to the Democratic Party, then in that case, feel free to fill up the streets. It’s healthy.
In New York City, for example, local politicians gathered in front of Trump Tower to paint Black Lives Matter on the street. Social distancing was not required.
Even old Bill de Blasio showed up high as a kite as usual and did his best to make a straight line.
Jeff Zucker didn’t complain, of course, the media loved it.
But keep in mind, not all public gatherings are equally safe. Some are incredibly dangerous. It’s hard to know the difference unless you are politically attuned.
In New York, the city just announced it will not commemorate 9/11 as it always does this year. The traditional twin beams of light over Manhattan will be dark next month. Why? Because officials say they can’t risk the safety of the crews they would need to set up the Memorial.
Turning on two lights is just too dangerous right now. There’s a pandemic out there. Do you take them at their word? Do you think that’s a real problem? Come on. You know what’s going on.
Anything that brings people together, that unites us as a nation, that gives people pride in their country must be stopped. Anything that causes division, fear, panic, anxiety, and hatred must be amplified, no matter how many kids kill themselves as a result.
There’s an election coming up. Here’s Dr. Biden explaining the rules.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: If I were President today, I would roll back re-openings in a number of places.
And everyone wherever there is a significant percentage of people with COVID should be required to keep social distancing and masks. Bars should not be open. There should not be congregations of more than 10 people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Oh, so after consulting with his advisers — all of them political advisors — Biden has located the core of the problem. It turns out America isn’t shut down enough. People might be tempted to go to church or have dinner with their friends or work for a living.
Kids could wind up in school and learn things that haven’t been prescreened by Google. Somewhere, a young couple might decide to take a walk through the woods without masks to enjoy nature and fresh air and if things like that continue, happiness might return to America.
We can’t have that, not until people learn how to vote correctly.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor