Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has released documents allegedly proving that Facebook censored Fox News host Tucker Carlson at the behest of the White House, the Daily Beast reported. Carlson was targeted for saying "vaccines" "don't work."
An email between White House Director of Digital Strategy Rob Flaherty and an unidentified Facebook employee shows the extent of the collusion. It was released by Landry on Twitter Thursday though it was not clear how it made its way into his hands.
He and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt sued President Joe Biden's administration in May on the basis that such collusion took place. They claimed this happened not only during the COVID-19 pandemic but also to anyone who doubted the results of the 2020 presidential election.
"Since we’ve been on the phone – the top post about vaccines today is [T]ucker Carlson saying they don’t work," Flaherty wrote on April 14, 2021. "Yesterday it was Tomi Lehren [sic] saying she won’t take one," he added.
"This is exactly why I want to know what ‘Reduction’ actually looks like – if ‘reduction’ means ‘pumping our most vaccine hesitant audience with [T]ucker Carlson saying it doesn’t work’ then… I’m not sure it’s reduction!" Flaherty said. The employee claimed to be "running this down now" in a reply.
The email's date is significant considering what Tucker Carlson had to say on his program the night before. The host did a monologue about the vaccines that were in the first months of rolling out at the time.
He began his program speaking about the problems with the Johnson & Johnson version, Politifact reported. Later, he turned toward the whole idea of trusting the COVID-19 vaccines when health officials were still making the vaccinated mask up.
"If the vaccine is effective, there is no reason for people who've received a vaccine to wear masks or avoid physical contact," Carlson said. "So maybe it doesn't work, and they're simply not telling you that," the host of "Tucker Carlson Tonight" went on.
"Well, you'd hate to think that, especially if you've gotten two shots," he added. "But what's the other potential explanation? We can't think of one."
The timing and content of the email seem to support the idea that the government was working hand in glove with the social media giant to craft the narrative. The Biden administration has admitted to some of it over the years.
In July 2021, then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration was actively "flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation," the New York Post reported. "It’s important to take faster action against harmful posts…and Facebook needs to move more quickly to remove harmful violative posts," she claimed.
The president doubled down on those claims the following day, asserting that "misinformation" on social media was "killing people." Later that month, Department of Health and Human Services officials boasted about taking out the "disinformation dozen" for posts critical of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Just weeks later, White House COVID-19 Response Team Digital Director Clarke Humphrey got a fake account for Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House chief medical advisor, taken down nearly instantly. Other officials readily admitted to meetings with the social tech giants as well.
It's clear that the Biden administration has been manipulating the messaging on the pandemic -- and many other issues -- by pulling strings at social media companies. However, it remains to be seen if anything of substance will be done about it.