CNN’s Brian Stelter complained Sunday that Fox News hosts weren’t posting enough selfies after receiving the coronavirus vaccine, leading critics to say the shaming attempt was over-the-top even for the left-wing media pundit.
"It’s really important to see all these TV anchors, personalities, showing themselves getting the shot. We’ve seen a lot of vaccine selfies from lots of folks at lots of different networks, it’s been really inspiring to see," Stelter said.
The "Reliable Sources" host said MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow was "really fearful of the needle" but got vaccinated and posted a selfie anyway because of the importance of setting a good example.
"So, I say all of that to make the following point," Stelter said. "Where are the biggest stars on Fox getting vaccinated?"
Stelter than declared, "Everybody else is doing it," and attempted to shame Fox News personalities for not posting enough vaccine selfies. The liberal network’s lower-third chyron even said, "FOX’S BIGGEST STARS HAVE NOT SHARED VACCINE SELFIES."
Political satirist Tim Young told Fox News that Stelter’s comments are not only embarrassing but also factually inaccurate.
"The segment should be called ‘Dear diary, why don’t they virtue signal like us?’ And the answer to that question is that Fox personalities are busy actually researching and reporting the news – something Stelter clearly doesn’t do or else he’d know that both John Roberts and Janice Dean did, in fact, post selfies getting the vaccine," he said.
Dean and Roberts are among several Fox News personalities who have shared images of their vaccinations.
Fox News' chief Washington correspondent Mike Emmanuel did, too.
"The bigger issue isn’t Fox anchors taking pictures with the vaccine ... It's Stelter's and his producers' obsession with the network," Young said. "Now that Trump is gone, they have to focus on some sort of 'boogeyman' to attempt to get ratings, and all they can uncreatively come up with is 'obsess on Fox about everything and anything.' They should just rename his show, Sunday Morning's Lazy Clickbait."
Many skeptics didn’t believe a viral image featuring the chyron from the show was real, but conservative pundit Stephen L. Miller assured, "It's real and it's spectacular."
"If a comorbidity could talk, it would say, ‘Hi. I’m Brian Stelter, and you need to set an example," Fox News host Greg Gutfeld wrote after his initial reaction of, "Jesus this is amazing. Amazing. Classic awesome."
BRIAN STELTER MOCKED FOR FILMING HIMSELF WITHOUT PANTS DURING CNN APPEARANCE
Meanwhile, Stelter posted his vaccine selfie on March 23 – roughly two weeks before New York opened it up for people age 30 and older. Stelter told Fox News he has an underlying condition that made him eligible.
Many others expressed disbelief that Stelter would complain about selfies: