Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson spoke Thursday about the “pro-death” measures he believed were pushed during the COVID-19 pandemic by public health officials with former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson on The Tucker Carlson Encounter, his Twitter show.
Berenson, who spoke out against the mainstream narrative on COVID-19, appeared on Carlson’s show to discuss his previous reporting and questions that are still remaining. Berenson explained to the host that while officials had been wrong during COVID, he didn’t think that “in their view” they had malice.
However, Carlson pushed back against the former NYT reporter, claiming he believed the government had “actively prevented people” from advancing their health naturally, and instead promoted an unhealthy lifestyle. (RELATED: Fauci ‘Does Not Recall’ Key COVID-19 Pandemic Information, House Subcommittee Chairman Says)
“One of things that I think wasn’t widely understood was the people promoting that weren’t saying we’re not all going to get COVID, because at the time they didn’t realize how quickly they could rush a vaccine to market. Of course, we all got COVID anyways because the vaccine didn’t work, but the idea was that we’re gonna to get COVID over time so that, you know, when people — the hospitals won’t be overrun,” Berenson said.
“And so that was sort of the number one concern back in March 2020, was hospital overrun. So to do that you had to convince everyone to stay home, in their view – you had to lock down everyone. So that meant you had to lie about who was at risk. That was the original sin, right? The original sin of COVID was — the original sin of the vaccines was pretending that they had been properly tested,” Berenson added.
“Okay — I get all that, but it went beyond that. I mean, they actively prevented people from getting in better physical shape [and] cardiovascular health. And then all the women’s magazines, which are still influential, decided to put fat women on the cover and say this is the new body ideal — and the soaps companies, and the makeup companies,” Carlson responded.
Ep. 63 When do the architects of the COVID catastrophe go on trial? We asked Alex Berenson. pic.twitter.com/bbZpOzHJ3u
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) January 11, 2024
“This was clearly an orchestrated attempt to make people think it was okay to be fat, in the middle of a pandemic that was killing fat people. So that’s the point where I’m like ‘hmm, they actually are trying to kill people,’” Carlson argued.
Berenson appeared to disagree with Carlson’s statement, leading the host to continue to make a comparison behind the intent of hypothetically selling cigarettes to children. Berenson continued to still appear coy in his response, questioning the intent Carlson proposed. (RELATED: American Researchers In Bed With Wuhan Lab Misled Pentagon About Civilization-Threatening Virus Research)
“No, I’m serious. If I encourage my children to smoke cigarettes, maybe I’m trying to hurt them?” Carlson questioned.
“Or maybe you’re trying to sell cigarettes. Maybe if 60% of the country is fat and you’re Dove you wanna sell soap,” Berenson countered.
Berenson and Carlson bickered back and forth on their views of the intent of public health officials, with the Twitter host saying he could “see malice” from the actions during the time. Carlson then said public health officials had attempted to “stop people from getting on the treadmill,” to which Berenson appeared to disagree until he quickly admitted they in fact were “closing gyms.”
Carlson alluded to a New Jersey gym owner, Ian Smith, who in 2020 had been fined $1.2 million after defying lockdown orders and promised to not pay the state one cent.
“But keeping liquor stores open, and weed dispensaries,” Carlson continued to add to Berenson’s agreement. “So that’s the point where it’s like, look. I’m not some kooky internet conspiracy guy, but how many signs do I need that you’re trying to kill me, before I say you’re trying to kill me?”
“I think people make bad decisions,” Berenson still pushed back.
“Yea, but they’re all consistent! It’s like, they’re all pro-death,” Carlson exclaimed.
During 2022, Berenson had uncovered that the Biden administration had pushed for Twitter to remove his account after he spoke out against the official narrative regarding COVID-19, according to documents he obtained. While Berenson’s account was reportedly not permanently deleted, the former NYT reporter had discovered The White House pressured the social media site four months prior to his suspension, the documents revealed.