Brian Stelter Owned After Ridiculous Rant on 'Need' for Reporters to Do Some Vaccine Virtue Signaling

My RedState colleague Alex Parker reported Sunday on how Brian Stelter actually conducted a segment on his “Reliable Sources” program yesterday alongside a Media Matters hack to whine about how Fox News reporters weren’t virtue signaling about getting the coronavirus vaccine by way of displaying “vaccine selfies.”

A screengrab of the segment, seen below, captures the essence of his rant, but we’ll share some excerpts, as well, just so readers who missed it when it aired can get the full impact of just how ridiculous his “reporting” was:

Brian Stelter calls on Fox News hosts to share their vaccine selfies or get vaccinated on-air https://t.co/B1V2kuXEj0

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 12, 2021

Here’s a partial transcript:

We’ve seen a lot of vaccine selfies from lots of folks at different networks. It’s been really inspiring to see. You know, “The Today” show even brought the co-host outside for a live group vaccination this week. And Rachel Maddow on Friday on MSNBC talked about how she was fearful of the needle, really worried about and yet it was important to get the shot and she did, and there she is talking about it on air.

So I say all of that to make the following point. Where are Tucker and Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham? Where is Ainsley Earhardt and Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade? Where are the biggest stars on Fox getting vaccinated? I get it’s a personal choice. I get that’s between, you know, the host and their health care provider. But everybody else is doing it, right, Matt? I mean, all across television, all those anchors are rolling up their sleeves.

Why do you think we hadn’t seen the biggest stars on Fox News get vaccinated or show us their vaccine selfies?

Watch:

If Fox News vanished tomorrow, Brian Stelter would have a breakdown… here he is asking why Fox News stars haven’t shown their “vaccine selfies…” pic.twitter.com/y2O7BKZnnF

— Ian Haworth (@ighaworth) April 11, 2021

Stelter’s self-serving rant prompted much criticism on Twitter. He made the decision to get involved in a back and forth exchange with a critic, but may have ended up regretting doing so after a number of Twitter users absolutely cleaned his clock, especially after he proclaimed reporters were “trusted individuals”:

If you think Fox is RIGHT not to televise vaccinations or show their talent getting vaccinated, then just make that argument. Clearly all the other major TV networks think it is important to show trusted individuals getting vaccinated.

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 12, 2021

Perhaps in the midst of his insane obsession with Fox News, Stelter didn’t get the memo that trust in the media is at an all-time low. So, no, reporters are not “trusted individuals” on the vaccine nor on most any other issue, for that matter:

“Trusted individuals” is a pretty loose way to describe people and an industry distrusted by 90%+ of republicans, and the majority of independents. Maybe complete conformity(everybody’s doing it) in media thought and presentation is actually a problem solidifying those numbers.

— a newsman (@a_newsman) April 12, 2021

Do ppl really make their decisions to be vaccinated based on seeing a reporter get a shot?

— 😼🦉🌘Leslie Bialler 🌒🌷♈ (@lesliebialler) April 12, 2021

The smackdowns were brutal, like this one from New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz:

You had Robert De Niro on to discuss President Trump’s mental health so maybe no one cares what you think is important for TV networks to do. https://t.co/AEOxkEXAPt

— Karol Markowicz (@karol) April 12, 2021

And then there was this dunk from Newsbusters analyst Nick Fondacaro, showing a piece published at CNN about three weeks ago urging people to stop showing their vaccine cards on social media because people were risking oversharing personal information. I guess I missed Stelter’s condemnation of his network’s own reporting:

CNN: Also CNN: pic.twitter.com/CVRjYTqkKC

— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) April 12, 2021

Stelter then had the nerve to complain that he was being mocked for his Sunday segment — including by Fox News, but then yours truly stepped in to set the record straight:

Should be noted that @brianstelter is being mocked because he mocked Fox News over the weekend for not using their reporters to virtue signal about getting the vaccine on camera. Now he’s complaining about them responding in kind. Bless his heart. https://t.co/ylpgjdBKb1

— Sister Toldjah Le Pew 😁 (@sistertoldjah) April 12, 2021

Lastly, there was this — which Stelter conveniently omitted from his commentary:

Literally live on-air vaccinations on Fox News. https://t.co/yZgFxvefpZ pic.twitter.com/qhC0wIIVMj

— Justine Sanders (@JustineAnnSand) April 12, 2021

I agree with Karol Markowicz’s comments 100%. Any network that claims to be dedicated to presenting “facts first” but which then proceeds to bring on the likes of musician Dave Matthews and Big Tech billionaire Bill Gates to provide medical advice on what people should be doing to protect themselves from the coronavirus really should take a seat instead of lecturing other networks on how to conduct their pandemic programming.