Barbara Walters would never hire a co-host for “The View” who advocated that:
- American women should be forced to wear burqas in public;
- The government round up all redheads and put them in concentration camps;
- Garage door openers cause cancer.
It would be irresponsible to give a national television platform to someone that ignorant, intolerant, and idiotic. And yet, Walters has just hired anti-vaccination activist Jenny McCarthy for her show.
That’s dangerous, for reasons I have discussed many times on this blog. This is not a matter of a difference of opinion. McCarthy is absolutely wrong, basing her claims on fraudulent research results that have long been debunked. The truth is that there is zero evidence that vaccines cause danger, but plenty of evidence that telling people not to vaccinate their kids can cost lives.
Time’s television critic, James Poniewozik, has written on this subject, so I invited him to join me to discuss Walters and McCarthy on KTRS/St. Louis this morning. As he pointed out, even if she never talks about vaccines on “The View,” this hiring will be legitimize McCarthy in the eyes of the audience.
Listen to our conversation here.