Fox News host Tucker Carlson took small “comfort” in the fact that the World Health Organization (WHO) is finally “admitting” the effectiveness of Sweden’s approach to fighting coronavirus.
During a Thursday night “Tucker Carlson Tonight” monologue on the topic, Carlson called the current lockdown measures the “most economically destructive global event since the Second World War” and decried the fact that U.S. policy makers seem loathe to “abandon a sweeping power grab.”
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“We’ve been assured repeatedly that all of this was absolutely necessary,” Carlson said, citing the fact that the WHO praised China’s lockdown response. “Top health officials told us we had no choice but to follow suit. Our politicians agreed, and they threatened to arrest anyone who didn’t obey their orders. Not surprisingly, most citizens dutifully complied.”
Yet, the Fox News host noted, Sweden “stood apart from the rest” and “steadfastly refused to lock down,” instead employing softer social distancing measures. Those actions, however, earned the condemnation of a media that typically praises the country: “Suddenly we were told that Sweden was in fact a corpse-strewn hell hole.”
After reading several headlines of media outlets condemning Sweden, Carlson read comments from Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies program, saying Wednesday, “I think there’s a perception out that Sweden has not put in place control measures and just has allowed the disease to spread. Nothing can be further from the truth. I think if we are to reach a new normal, I think it many way Sweden represents a future model of, if we wish to get back to a society in which we don’t have lockdowns.”
“Oh, Sweden now represents ‘a model,'” Carlson mockingly said. “After a month of sustained hysterics and propaganda praising the Chinese’ government’s lockdown policy … after incalculable damage to hundreds of millions of families, the World Health Organization is now telling us, almost casually, that actually, our model should be Sweden.”
After noting that the previous WHO concept of potentially fighting the disease included removing people from their homes, the Daily Caller co-founder said the organization finally “admitting” the idea “was insane” is “not much comfort at this point.”
“The World Health Organization has always been wrong on coronavirus,” said Carlson before citing several specific ways. “So, was promoting lockdowns a lie too? Hmm. We can’t say. We have no evidence. But at a minimum, authorities were once again incredibly, shockingly wrong about their prescriptions for fighting coronavirus. The strategy they pushed relentlessly, in fact forced us to follow, hurt us in the end more than the virus they claimed to be fighting.” (RELATED: Brit Hume Cites Two Reasons Why The Case For National Lockdown Is Getting ‘Weaker And Weaker’)
The Fox News host pointed out the irony of Facebook and YouTube censoring people and websites that argued for an approach that is now “a model for the rest of us.”
For “our professional class,” Tucker said, “being wrong on the single most important policy decision in living memory is no reason to abandon a sweeping power grab, which they are deeply enjoying.”