Tucker Carlson wasted no time on his Fox News show mocking Joe Biden after the president’s positive Covid test.
Carlson told his viewers that Mr Biden’s diagnosis had come at the same time as his poor approval ratings and an investigation into his son, Hunter Biden.
The right-wing TV host criticised the president as he played footage of Mr Biden coughing at a press conference on his recent foreign trip with the on-screen chyron reading, “Biden was spreading droplets all over the place.”
His show also ran file pictures and video of Mr Biden smelling people’s hair, with the chyron, “Sniffing hair just won’t be the same after Covid.”
“It’s kind of weird from a political perspective that Biden got infected with Covid at exactly the moment his approval rating has reached its lowest with not just normal people but Democrats,” said Carlson.
Carlson’s attack on Mr Biden came as Fox News declined to show the House January 6 select committee hearing in primetime in favour of its regular hosts.
Carlson briefly acknowledged the hearing, saying, “One of our producers just said on every other channel they’re playing some kind of January 6 hearing. January 6? Because that’s the biggest thing going on in America right now. No one wants to watch it.”
And he added: “You know what happened on January 6. Some guy in viking horns wandered around on mushrooms and made weird noises and that was kind of it. It wasn’t an insurrection.”
Earlier Mr Biden said he was “doing well” in a video statement released after it was announced he had tested positive for Covid-19.
In a short video statement from the White House, the president said his symptoms were mild and he was continuing to work.
He said: “Hey folks, I guess you heard, this morning I tested positive for Covid. But I’ve been double vaccinated, double boosted, symptoms are mild.
Carlson called it a “proof of life video” and questioned if the president had put the health of the videographer and the White House photographer at risk and whether they would “now face serious health issues.”
