Laura Ingraham condemned as ‘crazy, stupid, irresponsible’ after calling child vaccines ‘disgusting’

‘Would you have said the same thing about polio? Smallpox? Meningitis? HPV?’

Fox News’ Laura Ingraham has provoked a stir on social media after saying it is “disgusting” to vaccinate children against coronavirus.

The host began a tirade against the government in a segment on Monday by lashing out against guidance for children to wear face masks amid the pandemic.

She said: “Mandating the masking of children, though, that is going to go down as a very dark chapter for the Democrats and the public health experts who advocated it.”

“It is both anti-science and abusive to force children to wear masks at playgrounds, summer camps, on planes, at any time,” Ingraham added.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country’s national public health agency, says that children two years of age and older should wear a face mask to help fight the spread of the disease.

The agency stipulated that it recognises that “wearing masks may not be possible in every situation or for some people.”

Ingraham went on to say she believed that “Democrats and their buddies” are using the mask rules as a ploy to “force parents to relent and get their kids vaccinated.”

“Here’s some advice for the Left: injecting children with an experimental vaccine for a disease they rarely get sick from and don’t efficiently spread is a nonstarter for most parents,” the Fox host said.

She added: “It’s going to cost you votes, and possibly help you lose your control of Congress and the presidency. Frankly, it’s disgusting.”

The CDC recommends that everyone 12 years and older should get a Covid-19 vaccination to help protect against the novel virus.

Social media users called out the host for vaccine comments, saying she was using inflammatory statements as a way to boost ratings with right-wing audiences.

Comedian Deven Green cited a poll from Morning Consult which showed Fox News’ credibility was falling among Republicans and said Ingarahm was competing with other controversial Fox hosts to attract viewers.

“This is why Tucker, Sean, and Laura are currently competing with each other to see who can say the craziest, stupidest, most irresponsible things that will be red meat to Republicans,” she posted.

“Just saying anything to get attention,” another person said in reaction to the clip.

Others undermined Ingraham's claims by pointing out that children have long been encouraged to receive a number of vaccines that have proven to be safe and effective by health agencies.

“Is it disgusting for kids to get their yearly flu shot? How is this any different?,” one person said.

“Oh it’s disgusting huh, but it had been just fine to make children get ALL their vaccinations to attend school prior to the pandemic,” another said.

“Would you have said the same thing about polio? Smallpox? Meningitis? HPV?,” a commenter asked.

Some asked why the host thought she was qualified to offer such a polarising position in direct contradiction of the country’s health agency’s medical advice.

“Did Laura Ingraham recently graduate from a medical school somewhere?,” one user said.

“I must have missed the part where Laura Ingraham graduated from medical school, completed a residency, and then became a leading authority on epidemiology,” another joked.

The CDC states that the agency takes many steps to make sure vaccines “are very safe both before and after the public begins using the vaccine” alongside the US Food and Drug Administration.