Political commentator Dan Abrams has brought his ire about cable news bias into clear focus, illustrating with the help of clips the wild differences in how CNN and Fox News are covering COVID-19 vaccine mandates — at literally the same time.
“The vaccine mandates remain a divisive issue in the country but you would hope the impact of the mandates might be a fairly straightforward issue, where a news network would be able to provide us with the facts on how and whether they’re working,” the former MSNBC host and Mediaite founder said on his NewsNation show “Dan Abrams Live.” “Sadly, it apparently depends on what network you’re watching.”
Abrams showed clips of “Fox News Primetime” and “Erin Burnett OutFront” that he said were both taken at exactly 7:21 p.m. on Thursday. Both networks were covering the mandates, with Burnett discussing how the mandates have led to noticeable increases in vaccination rates, citing a New York Times story that discussed how mandates at one California hospital led 800 employees to get vaccinated.
But at the same time over on Fox News, host Brian Kilmeade was focusing on those who were fired for refusing to adhere to the mandate, citing an ABC News report covering the dismissal of dozens of hundreds of hospital staffers and an NPR story covering the firing of dozens of Massachusetts state troopers.
“So it’s generally good that people are getting vaccinated, but some think the mandate is heavy-handed, right? But at least both are having civil conversations about a nuanced issue,” Abrams said.
Well, not really.
Of course, that was just a set up to show how Dr. Scott Gottlieb on CNN said that the government is within its right to require the vaccine for federal workers — at the same time that a right-wing pundit on Fox News was calling the mandates “disgusting,” “tyranny” and “totalitarian tactics.”
“And we wonder why we’re so divided as a nation,” Abrams concluded. “Speaking of health, this isn’t healthy for anyone.”
Watch Abrams break down the cable news coverage in the clip above.