John Oliver claims right-wing media 'rampant' with coronavirus misinformation
Following a week in which people in several states ignored social distancing guidelines and took to the streets in protest of stay-at-home orders, John Oliver slammed conservative media for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus. Some of those at the protests were clearly misinformed, saying that COVID-19 “is all hype” and that the flu kills more people than the novel coronavirus.
Video Transcript
JOHN OLIVER: Hundreds of people have taken to the streets this week, fueled by the kind of misinformation that is rampant in right-wing media, the same right-wing media which then eagerly covered the protests that they helped create.
- Following a week in which people in several states ignored social distancing guidelines and took to the streets in protest of stay-at-home orders, John Oliver slammed the conservative media for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus. Oliver singled out Rush Limbaugh, who has repeatedly made false statements about the coronavirus on his radio show.
JOHN OLIVER: No, Rush. Just no. No to you claiming COVID-19 got its name because it was the 19th coronavirus. That's not true. It's called that because it was first identified in 2019, you gigantic potato. But also no to the virus being the common cold. No to this being not uncommon.
- Oliver also targeted Fox News, which is currently being sued over their coronavirus coverage. Fox hosts consistently downplay the coronavirus, even while taking internal steps to mitigate its effects on the company.
JOHN OLIVER: Behind the scenes, their own company was suspending non-essential business travel and encouraging employees to cancel all in-person meetings and summits and conduct business via Skype or by phone because-- and this is true-- they only pretend to believe these things on television for money.
- And Oliver pointed out why this misinformation can be dangerous.
JOHN OLIVER: And the problem is our current president isn't just the subject of this misinformation. He is, as we all know, also the target of it, often pulling his talking points directly from what he sees.
