Fox News’ Tucker Carlson chastised those who dismiss the coronavirus danger during his primetime show Monday night, calling the outbreak a “serious problem.”
“People you trust — people you probably voted for — have spent weeks minimizing what is clearly a very serious problem,” Carlson told his audience. “Though these people have good intentions as they say this — many of them, anyway ― they may not know any better. Maybe they’re just not paying attention or maybe they believe they’re serving some higher cause by shading reality.”
His comments came days after President Donald Trump himself called into Fox News and — in an interview that lasted over 40 minutes — seemed dismissive of the outbreak. Trump suggested many people who have contracted the virus go to work and function normally and in the following days, lashed out at other outlets like MSNBC for covering the outbreak critically.
“‘It’s just partisan politics,’ they say. ‘Calm down. In the end, this is just like the flu,’” Carlson said of those who dismiss the outbreak. “It’s definitely not just the flu.”
Outside the realm of cable news, the treatment of coronavirus is less open for debate. The spread has dramatically upended what was originally going to be a busy slate of entertainment, tech, media and cultural events in spring 2020.
By far the most notable effect so far is the cancellation of the annual South by Southwest cultural festival in Austin, Texas, just a week out from opening.
U.S. stock markets sank over coronavirus fears Monday morning, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average sinking 7% and the S&P 500 down 6.6% an hour into trading. Trading on Wall Street was halted for 15 minutes after they fell more than the daily limit of 5%, triggering circuit breakers.