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Tucker Carlson claps back at Chelsea Clinton over Covid row, says 'she's mad we asked super obvious questions'

'If the vaccine is effective, there is no reason for people who have received the vaccine to wear masks or avoid physical contact,' said Carlson

Conserative commentator Tucker Carlson on Thursday, April 15, night hit back at Chelsea Clinton after the latter called on Facebook to ban the Fox News host after he speculated on the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccines. Earlier this week, Carlson asked on his show, ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’, why those who have taken the Covid-19 vaccine must remain under restrictions. Though Carlson calls himself pro-vaccine, his comments questioning the vaccines’ effectiveness were slammed by public health officials, including Anthony Fauci who described his remarks as “a typical crazy conspiracy theory”. 

A day earlier, Carlson spoke on the pause of the distribution of Johnson & Johnson vaccine throughout the country after a rare type of blood clot developed in six women who got the jab. On Wednesday, he asked yet again why vaccinated people "have to live under the restrictions that the vaccines were supposed to eliminate". 

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Clinton slammed Carlson, saying he should be removed by Facebook for spreading disinformation about Covid. “.@TuckerCarlson consistently spews racist, bigoted, anti-Semitic hate and misinformation across his platforms. He doesn’t deserve a microphone,” she said. She also took a dig at the social media giant saying in another tweet that it needed “to live up to its own commitment” over checking of misinformation. 

“Also, @Facebook needs to live up to its own commitment. It’s not just one user or one false #covid19 post, it’s the mess of misinformation unchecked everyday. The most popular story on the J&J vaccine is a post from a known conspiracy theorist. Come on!” she said. 

In another post, Clinton, a writer and global health advocate, tweeted a screenshot of a Facebook post that showed Carlson’s monologue in which he said: “If the vaccine is effective, there is no reason for people who have received the vaccine to wear masks or avoid physical contact.” 

“So maybe it doesn’t work and they’re simply not telling you that.”

On Thursday night, Carlson responded to Clinton, daughter of former president Bill Clinton and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, by calling her “internationally renowned humanitarian and intellectual” and that she “called today for Facebook to shut us down”.

“Dr Chelsea Clinton is mad that we asked super obvious questions that everyone in the country should be asking. So does the vaccine, and there are a couple of them, but do they work or don't they work? It is okay, you can tell us,” the TV journalist said. Carlson also noted the CEO of Pfizer saying earlier on Thursday that people may need a booster shot of his vaccine after one year.

Twitter reacts to Clinton, some back her as well

Clinton faced a backlash on Twitter for taking on Carlson but there were also voices that backed her. Journalist and author Green Greenwald tweeted: “Please remove from the internet any content that displeases or otherwise causes any discomfort for Chelsea Clinton.” Singer and guitarist Gareth Icke said in a post that “being hated by a Clinton is probably something to be worn as a badge of honour”.

Missy Crane of the 'Wayne Dupree Show', an internet radio show, called the entire Clinton family “crooks”. “Chelsea’s parents are notorious crooks and her father is a womanizer and an accused serial rapist, but this privileged little darling is calling on FB to ban an American patriot and good family man,” Crane tweeted on the show's account.

Writer Tara Dublin also took a dig at Clinton, tweeting: “Wow, Chelsea Clinton sure triggers a lot of people. Let’s unpack nepotism, shall we? Chelsea was raised to serve the public & spread positivity. MAGA Mean Girl Meghan McCain uses her privileged position on #TheView to push propaganda from her husband’s awful website #TeamClinton”

US Army veteran David Weissman stood by Clinton to say: “I stand with Chelsea Clinton on calling Facebook to ban Tucker Carlson.” Former Congressional candidate Rob Anderson supported Weissman. Author John Pavlovitz also backed Clinton.