Fox News’ “The Five” had a moment of awkward silence on Tuesday as Democratic co-host Jessica Tarlov waved away Jeanine Pirro’s concerns about the safety of COVID vaccinations with the statement, “What do you mean? You’re fine. You’re vaccinated.”
The camera then cut to Pirro, who seemed frozen. The dead air, during which no one said anything, prompted co-host Greg Gutfeld to chuckle.
When Tarlov prompted Pirro to comment, saying, “It’s your turn,” Pirro smiled and pointed at Gutfeld, replying, “It’s your segment.”
The clip, which was shared to X, began with Tarlov saying, “We need to find some safe middle ground where people know that the vaccine is safe for you.”
Pirro started to interrupt Tarlov, who turned to face her with the silence-inducing “You’re vaccinated,” statement.
A rep for Fox News did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s query about whether Pirro has or has not received a COVID vaccination.
Pirro has been a vocal opponent of COVID vaccine mandates, saying last week that claims that vaccines are effective are “hogwash.”
“The question that I have is about what Jessica just said. ‘It’s is a lot easier to tolerate Covid if you have a vaccine.’ How do you prove a negative?” Pirro argued. “How do you prove that I was going to die if I didn’t have the vaccine? That’s a bunch of, as far as I am concerned, hogwash because they haven’t proven it to me.”
Tarlov, who co-authored the 2018 book “America in the Age of Trump: A Bipartisan Guide,” frequently clashes with the show’s conservative hosts. In 2022, she explained to the LA Times why she’s on Fox News despite questioning much of the network’s political talking points.
“[Fox viewers] not spending their time finding [a Democratic viewpoint] elsewhere,” Tarlov said at the time. “It’s hard to tell people things they don’t want to hear. It is my job and figuring out a way to do it that will be listened to, palatable and maybe even persuasive. It’s four-on-one, but showing up matters.”
Jesse Watters and Dana Perino are also co-hosts on “The Five.”
