Fox News
- Fox News host Tucker Carlson upped his anti-vaccine rhetoric on Wednesday night.
- Without any supporting evidence, Carlson claimed thousands have died from COVID-19 vaccines.
- "The actual number is almost certainly much higher than that – perhaps vastly higher," he said.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson attacked the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in a segment of his show on Wednesday night, and claimed, without evidence, that thousands of people had died after taking the shot.
"Between late December of 2020, and last month, a total of 3,362 people apparently died after getting the COVID vaccines in the United States. Three thousand, three hundred and sixty-two – that's an average of 30 people every day," Carlson said on "Tucker Carlson Tonight." "The actual number is almost certainly much higher than that – perhaps vastly higher."
There's no evidence of significant deaths caused by the COVID-19 vaccines.
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said people have died after taking the vaccine, the agency said in April that a "review of available clinical information, including death certificates, autopsy, and medical records has not established a causal link to COVID-19 vaccines."
Fox News did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Despite recently escalating controversies on top of several rounds of ad boycotts over the past few years - with the primetime star losing as many as 70 advertisers in under a year - Carlson has proved himself to be too big for the network to cancel his show thus far.
Fox News recently added two new streaming shows to Carlson's portfolio, "Tucker Carlson Today" and "Tucker Carlson Originals," which are behind a paywall on the Fox Nation streaming app.
The new programs put Carlson at the heart of the network's streaming strategy in addition to being the anchor of its primetime lineup, with "Tucker Carlson Tonight" maintaining the record it set over the summer as the most-viewed cable news show in the history of American TV ratings.
On Monday night, Carlson bundled a segment ostensibly on vaccine-hesitant focus groups into an attack on House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California. He also falsely highlighted "unresolved concerns" over the COVID-19 vaccine's effect on women's fertility.
However, as Insider has reported, there is no evidence that the COVID-19 vaccine could impede fertility. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially recommended that pregnant women get vaccinated.
The central theme of Carlson's anti-vaccine segments has been that his viewers should not trust what elites are telling them about the safety and efficacy of the shots.
He has also fueled coronavirus culture wars on other fronts, recently calling on his audience to call the cops on parents who have their kids wear masks outside to report "child abuse," despite mask=wearing not being illegal.