Insurance Companies Are Subsidizing Coronavirus And Climate Misinformation

Insurance companies have issued some of the loudest calls for climate action, and they rely on hard data to make their assessments. But a new report from Media Matters for America finds that major insurers are top sponsors of Fox News’ coverage of highly misleading pandemic coverage, using tactics it honed through years of climate denial.

Fox shows have built on their fearmongering about climate policies by claiming that the pandemic is a preview of what life will be like under the Green New Deal.

They have also baselessly attacked the modeling scientists have used to map the virus’ spread in the same way they’ve attacked climate models and downplayed the seriousness of the pandemic by way of tactics that they’ve used to deny that the climate crisis is happening.

When they do acknowledge that something is wrong, show hosts peddle false cures. Fox shows such as Fox & Friends, The Ingraham Angle, Hannity, and Tucker Carlson Tonight have pushed untested antimalarial drugs (including Trump’s favorite, hydroxychloroquine) dozens of times, to the horror of many, including even Fox News show host Neil Cavuto.

They do the same with the climate crisis: last month, anchor Jesse Watters said on Hannity, “you can fight climate change with suntan lotion, it’s not that big of a deal.”