-"Fox News" and the GOP have been struggling
to criticize President Biden's coronavirus response,
including his $1.9 trillion relief bill,
because it's been overwhelmingly popular with voters.
So now they're insisting
he give his predecessor credit for the vaccine.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
It's an awkward time for "Fox News,"
arguably their biggest star wasn't any of their anchors,
but the 45th president himself.
The guy called into Fox News more often than a Mets fan
calling into a sports radio show
to complain about the off season.
[ As fan ] Look, I know we have a new billionaire owner
that we signed ten free agents and made seven trades,
but do we really think orange and blue looked good together?
I'll hang up and listen.
[ Normal voice ] The point is, Trump was Fox's big star
in defending him was their number one mission.
Now, without that, they're a little at sea.
They've spent the past few weeks in full meltdown mode
over everything from "The Muppets" to "Dr. Seuss"
to "Mr. Potato Head," to the "Looney Tunes,"
to Joy Bahar, to the Grammys,
to defending Piers Morgan after he stormed off
the set of his own show like a guest on "Maury"
who won't accept the results of a paternity test.
They can't defend Trump and they can't effectively
criticize Biden. So they've been lurching
from one dumb culture war issue to the next.
They know Biden's COVID response has been overwhelmingly popular
and the COVID relief bill
has even been popular with Republican voters.
Fifty nine percent of whom say they support the COVID bill.
So remember that when people say it's not bipartisan, it is.
It's just that no Republican politician supported it.
Also, let me just say as a side note,
no one gives [Bleep] if it's bipartisan,
people care much more about results than bipartisanship.
Polls have borne that out repeatedly.
Do you think a family of four would have been happier
if instead of $12,000
in stimulus money and child benefits,
they got a much crappier bill that had Republican support?
[ As spouse 1 ] Well, honey, our unemployment benefits
are expiring a month earlier
and it's only a $600 check, but Susan Collins voted for it.
[As spouse 2] We got Collins? [As spouse 1]We got Collins!
well off to work a triple shift.
In fact, even when "Fox News" does try to latch on
to something Biden said, they melt down
over the most insignificant bull[Bleep]
because it's all they have.
For example, they obsessed over the fact that
in his prime time address last week,
Biden suggested that if we keep wearing masks
and get as many people vaccinated as possible,
we might be able to safely have July 4th barbecues
with friends and families this year.
And in response, Fox pundits lost their mind.
-The message that Joe Biden was sending
to the American people was a lecture.
It was a demand that basically said you'll only be able
to have a 4th of July if you go along
with all the different things that I say you have to do.
-We might be getting back to normal around the Fourth of July
if only we all behave.
-Well, I hate to tell Joe Biden,
but nobody needs his permission
to gather in our backyards on the Fourth of July
or any holiday or any day, for that matter.
-He's got no say in who's coming to my picnic or yours.
-He does not have my permission
to give me permission. -Right.
-About who I can have a barbecue with.
-Yes. This is a free people. This is a free country.
How dare you tell us who we can spend the Fourth of July with.
-To pick Independence Day as the day where he says
he might allow people to gather is just so un-American.
And, and just, you know, Joe Biden doesn't get to tell me
when I can have a barbecue in my backyard.
-He's not!
You're all free to do whatever you want
with whoever you want in your backyard.
I invite all of you to go to Tucker's house
for a barbecue where I'm sure he puts out Coors Light
and then drinks the Sam Adams you brought.
Sane people knew what Biden was saying.
Most people have been following public health advice
because they don't want to get their friends and family sick
and vice versa. But if we all do our part,
we can safely gather again this summer.
It wasn't a directive. It wasn't a mandate.
It wasn't an executive order. It was just a suggestion
like you should wear a helmet on your motorcycle
or don't eat raw chicken.
But over at "Fox News," whose slogan might as well be
"We run with scissors," they're so desperate to play the victim,
they'll take even the mildest suggestion
and try to turn it into a don't tread on me moment.
We all know the type, the people who fall apart
when they see no substitutions on a menu.
[ Whiny voice ] Oh, but I had my heart set on a BLP --
bacon, lettuce, and potato.
[ Normal voice ] Now it will shock you to learn
that this criticism of Biden has not stuck either.
So now they're on to another line,
slamming him for not giving Trump credit for the vaccines.
-The Biden administration continues to refuse to share
any credit on vaccine development
with former President Trump.
-President Biden did not utter
President Trump's name once during his first solo address.
He didn't give President Trump any credit, even though
President Trump rolled back regulations
and, of course, introduced Warp Speed
to get those vaccines on the market.
-I loved how he took credit for what
President Trump has been doing as far as the vaccine
and getting it roll it out. But no one called him out on it.
-No Trump, no vaccine, Joe, stop taking credit for something,
frankly, you had nothing to do with.
He could talk about operation warp speed,
how we exceeded expectations.
And we don't need to go over the 500,000 dead.
We had that moment.
Let's talk about the future moving forward.
Every time he has a chance
to praise the previous administration,
he not only doesn't praise, he kicks him in the groin.
-I mean, first of all, Biden doesn't need to kick
Trump in the groin because he already looks like
he just got kicked in the groin.
He leans forward like he just took
a tennis ball in the nut[Bleep].
The ball machine's on the lowest setting.
He didn't even move his racket.
Sometimes he looked like he's about
to get kicked in the groin, like when he sits with his legs
spread far apart, like he's in an episode
of "Jackass" bracing for a game of nutball.
Let's not, let's just not gloss over it.
The heartless, sociopathic dismissal
of the fact that over half a million people died.
You're talking about a once-in-a-century catastrophe
full of misery and death,
like the taskmaster at the weekly book club.
Okay, Barbara, we don't need to go over, "Eat, Pray, Love,"
that was last week.
Let's talk about this week's book, "Green Eggs and Ham."
[ Whispering ] It's just the cover of "Green Eggs and Ham"
the inside is "McElligot's Pool."
And not only do Fox hosts want Biden to give Trump
credit publicly, they also want him
to call Trump personally to thank him.
-Joe Biden, he needs to pick up the phone,
I suggest call Mar a Lago and yeah,
bring unity to the country as he says he so desperately wants.
And thank President Donald Trump.
-Is it Mara Largo? [ Laughs ]
I guess I've been saying it wrong.
So tune in for Sean Hannity's correction this week.
Oh, really? You think you should call Mar a Lago?
First of all, have you seen Trump lately?
I doubt you have to call him.
He looks so ghostly you can probably use a Ouija board.
He looks like he's haunting the golf course.
The "Legend of Haggard Vance," [ As Trump ] "You summoned me?"
[ Normal voice ] Yeah, Don, Listen.
[ As Trump ] Can I get a diet Coke?
[ Normal voice ] Sure. I just wanted to --
[ As Trump ] Mind if I crash here tonight?
Mel doesn't want me around.
Says it keeps giving her the creeps
by passing through walls.
[ Normal voice ] Although there seems to be some tension
at Fox over whether Trump deserves credit
for this miraculous medical breakthrough
that will save the world or whether the vaccines
are actually part of a sinister plot to do something bad.
It's not clear what, but don't worry.
Human Catamaran Tucker Carlson is on the case.
-How effective is this coronavirus vaccine?
How necessary is it to take the vaccine?
Don't dismiss those questions from anti-vaxxers,
don't kick people off social media for asking them,
answer the questions.
-How effective is this vaccine?
How necessary is it to take the vaccine?
Will it make you an X man? Or what about an Animorph?
Will it make me half man, half porcupine?
And if I go to the mall with my children
after taking the vaccine and I get spooked
by one of the mannequins at the Tommy Bahama store
and shoot my quills at a security guard,
will they throw me out? Will my children laugh at me?
What if I say it's because the vaccine turned me
into a porky man
and they say, "Sir, you didn't shoot quills at anyone.
You urinated on the chambray beach shorts."
And I say, "Oh, so now I can't urinate wherever I want.
I thought this was America and I thought America was number one."
And then I urinate again
because the vaccine also took away my bladder control.
All these questions have already been answered.
You could save yourself the trouble of writing
your nightly monologue by just using Google,
although maybe he doesn't know how,
that would explain why he always looks like Templeton the Rat
trying to read Charlotte's Web.
Some pig? What kind of pig are we talking about?
A wild boar or just a standard farm pig?
I'm just asking questions.
The trial data, which was reviewed extensively
by public health officials,
have shown all three vaccines to be highly safe and effective,
especially against severe disease and hospitalization.
And there's still more real world data
coming in all the time.
New studies testing the efficacy of the vaccines on variants
or in specific settings like nursing homes
and suggesting they could even be highly effective
at stopping transmission as well.
And it's necessary to take the vaccine
if, say, you're not Tucker Carlson
and you can't do your cushy TV job
from the safety of your studio bubble,
where I'm certain no one's allowed within six feet of you,
even when there isn't a pandemic,
because they might accidentally make eye contact
and have their soul devoured.
Some people actually have to go out into the world
and do real jobs for a living,
where they're forced to interact with other people,
which puts them at risk. And they don't have the luxury
of getting the same high end medical care
that, say, Donald Trump got when he got COVID.
And I say that as a fellow TV show host
who is constantly tested for COVID,
this job is easy compared to most people's jobs.
How about you try working in a meatpacking plant
or a nursing home or a public school for a few days?
The hardest thing I ever have to do is tell Wally
he doesn't have any lines in tonight's show.
-I just bought a new car, Seth, I really need to check.
-Hey, hey, hey. What did I say, Wally?
That doesn't count, does it? It does?!
[ Groans ]
Also, we need as many people as possible to get vaccinated
so we can reach herd immunity,
get to the point where the virus isn't just freely circulating
and sparking constant outbreaks,
which would allow us to get back to our normal lives safely.
Even Donald Trump told his supporters on Fox News
last night to get the vaccine,
although, of course, he was also desperate to claim credit,
especially after being egged on by UNcancel Looney Tune
Maria Bartiromo.
-How are you feeling tonight about the fact
that you're not getting any credit for any of this
by the Biden administration?
-So when you go to when you go to the COVID issue,
we did a great job. We get very little credit for it.
I was the one and this administration
was the one that came up with a vaccine.
-No, you weren't. The scientist did it.
The development of the Pfizer vaccine,
the first one approved by the FDA,
it wasn't even a part of Operation Warp Speed.
And I'm sorry, but I just can't imagine you in a lab tinkering
with a microscope and some test tubes.
You would last five minutes in a lab
before you set your tie on fire with a Bunsen burner
and tried to put it out with alcohol.
All Trump did was say make a vaccine.
Trump's initial vaccine rollout was a disaster.
FEMA didn't start setting up mass vaccination sites
until Biden was president, before he left office,
Trump's White House even lobbied to deny states money
for the vaccine rollout.
And when he had the chance to buy more vaccine, he passed.
Biden's the one who inked deals to produce more vaccine,
pushed through a relief bill that provided immediate funding
for vaccinations and got two rivals,
Merck and Johnson & Johnson,
to work together to ramp up production.
Can you imagine Trump doing that?
First of all, he probably thinks
Merck is the new Vin Diesel movie.
And Johnson & Johnson is a personal injury law firm
that advertises on local TV in Palm Beach.
[ As Trump] Hello. Is this Johnson & Johnson?
I need a lawyer to defend me
in multiple criminal investigations.
My old lawyer fell asleep on the F train,
and when he woke up,
he accidentally transferred to the cyclone.
[ As Guiliani ] I guess this one's the express.
[ Normal voice ] "Fox News," Oh, my God, I have fully
We might need makeup, I Giuliani'd myself.
"Fox News" and the GOP don't have a coherent criticism
of the Biden administration's pandemic response.
So they've turned instead to a mix of paranoia,
culture war B.S., vaccine conspiracy theories,
and, of course, grotesque racism,
warning of more so-called caravans at the border
and allowing Trump to repeat a vile anti-Asian slur
last night when referring to the pandemic
even as anti-Asian hate crimes,
especially against women, have skyrocketed.
This is a time when we need to support,
stand in solidarity with the Asian-American community
and condemn virulent racists who repeat vile slurs
that lead to hate crimes
instead of giving the maritime on television.
And we need to call them what they are hate crimes.
And as for the GOP and Fox News,
whenever someone politely suggests wearing a mask
or taking the vaccine,
tells them to stop being racist, they need to stop acting
like they've been kicked -- -In the groin.
-This has been "A Closer Look.
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