Fox News host under fire for using Colin Powell’s death to launch anti-vaccine mandate rant

‘Here we have a very high-profile example that is going to require more truth,’ says Will Cain

Colin Powell died on Monday (Getty Images)

It didn’t take long for Fox News to turn the death of former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Colin Powell into a reason to cast doubt on the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines.General Powell, the first Black man to hold either of those high government posts, passed away early Monday from complications due to Covid-19.

In a statement announcing his death, his family noted that he had been fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.It was this last fact that Fox and Friends host Will Cain seized on just minutes after delivering the news of the soldier-turned-diplomat’s passing to viewers.

“The family has made a point on their post on Facebook this morning that Colin Powell was fully vaccinated,” Mr Cain said. “And as Americans out there wonder what lies ahead for them and they search and they need truth moving forward, we’re seeing data from across the world. We’re seeing data from Europe, from the United Kingdom, the fully-vaccinated people are being hospitalised and fully-vaccinated are dying from Covid.”

“And here we have a very high-profile example that is going to require more truth,” he continued, “more truth from our government, from our health leaders as well. As we talk about this story on a day when state after state and institution after institution are pushing mandates for vaccination.”

Doctor Marty Makary, a Johns Hopkins University surgeon and Fox contributor, provided “more truth” several hours later, noting that General Powell had been diagnosed with illnesses that affected the effectiveness of his immune system.

“We know he had an immunocompromised state. He had multiple myeloma and a second cancer on top of that in the past, and while we understood he had done well from that, it is an immunocompromised state,” said Dr Makary, who also noted that the Covid-19 vaccines are not intended to prevent 100 percent of Covid-19 cases.

“I would remind people the vaccine was never intended and never shown to be 100 per cent effective,” he said. “It is not a force field put around people”.