Fox, CNN Gets Personal During COVID-19 Coverage

Fox News got personal in its rivalry with CNN Wednesday when host Laura Ingraham and her guest Raymond Arroyo made light of its adversary’s anchors going on air to talk about their personal struggles with coronavirus, The NY Daily News reports.

“It almost appears they’ve launched a series of new reality shows,” Arroyo mocked. "You could call this one ‘Are You Sicker Than a CNN Anchor?’”

CNN hosts Chris Cuomo, Brooke Baldwin and Richard Quest have all discussed their battles with COVID-19 on television.


Arroyo, a frequent Fox News contributor, accused Fox’s 24-hour cable news rival of allowing its hosts to “become the story,” which he feels overshadows the plight of everyday people who are out of work and, in some cases, dying.

“Chances are, young and healthy anchors will not succumb to the disease,” Arroyo said. “To keep this narrative going every night that’s so personal, it is disturbing, because you lose all perspective.”

Ingraham agreed, then, shaking her head, claimed “Well, we’re glad everyone’s getting better,” before she and Arroyo went back to comparing CNN’s coverage to a realty show.

CNN has likewise been heavily critical of Fox’s coverage since the outbreak of the pandemic, slamming the right-wing cable channel for comparing coronavirus to the common flu, claiming coverage of the pandemic is meant to make frequent Fox contributor President Trump look bad and giving TV doctors like Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz and Dr. Drew a platform for disseminating information that has been sensational, or in some cases, not factual.

Ingraham has also been accused of pushing faulty science in her coverage of the coronavirus by touting the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a “game changer” in the race to end the pandemic. She has scaled back on her advocacy of the drug in light of medical testing that has shown hydroxychloroquine largely ineffective — or worse — when used to treat coronavirus.