Fox News host Tucker Carlson has compared the Biden administration’s vaccine mandates to medical experiments conducted by Nazi Germany.
During an interview with anti-vaxxer Dr Robert Malone on Friday, Mr Carlson said, “I thought that we had a kind of consensus”.
“I mean, after watching what the imperial Japanese army and the Nazis did in their medical experiments, I thought that American physicians agreed that compulsory medical care was unethical, it was immoral and it could never be imposed on anyone. When did we forget that?” he added.
“Apparently about a year ago, I think yesterday, was when we must have forgotten that, although Mr Biden prior to his election made clear statements that he wasn’t going to force vaccination,” Dr Malone said, referring to President Joe Biden’s inauguration on 20 January 2021.
“No, I don’t think [vaccines] should be mandatory,” Mr Biden said on 4 December 2020 after winning the election but before entering office. “I wouldn’t demand to be mandatory, but I would do everything in my power.”
A federal judge in Texas struck down the administration’s vaccine mandate for federal employees on Friday.
The White House has said that 98 per cent of federal employees have been vaccinated or are requesting a religious or medical exemption. The administration added that they were sure they had the legal authority to impose the mandate.
The US Supreme Court blocked a mandate earlier this month for larger businesses but allowed healthcare centres to impose mandates. Last month, a judge blocked a mandate for federal contractors.
Mr Carlson has pushed conspiracy theories about the effects of the vaccines and encouraged resistance to mandates, despite Fox News having one for its staff.
More than 864,000 people have died because of Covid-19 in the US. Government data shows that 75.4 per cent of those who are eligible have had at least one dose of the vaccine, with 63.3 per cent having had two doses, and 39.5 per cent having received a booster shot.
Mr Carlson’s comparison to the Nazis comes shortly after Fox contributor Lara Logan was dropped by the network after she compared Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele.
“Thank you for bringing up the Nuremberg trials, Tucker,” Dr Malone said on Friday, referring to the post-World War II trials of Nazi officials. “They are crucial biomedical ethics matter. And this is frankly illegal and I’m so glad that the courts are making it clear.”
“It’s unfortunate that so many federal workers and so many members of our military had been forced to take these products while they’re still experimental, against their will,” he added.
Social media users slammed Mr Carlson for his comments.
“Comparing Nazi experiments on Jews during the Holocaust to getting life-saving vaccines during a global pandemic is peak despicable,” filmmaker Jeremy Newberger tweeted. “The comparison belittles the atrocities of the Holocaust and contributes to ignorant society. Tucker Carlson knows this. It’s why he does it.”
“Yea, no. I’ll check with my dad and ask him how he felt about getting a tattoo while his brother and parents were murdered,” Terry Blumenstein wrote. “Not the same. Not even close.”
“Tucker is vaccinated! Auschwitz prisoners did not choose to undergo Mengele’s ghoulish experiments. Tucker usually raises my bile, but this is well beyond the pale for me whose father in law was an actual Auschwitz survivor. Shame is in short supply at Fox. They should find some,” Jeff Leon added.
