Sinclair Stations to Air Conspiracy Theory Blaming Fauci for Coronavirus

The conglomerate owns or operates 193 stations across the country, covering 40% of households

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Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned local television stations across the country are set to run a discredited conspiracy theory over the weekend that Dr. Anthony Fauci was responsible for creating the coronavirus, according to a Media Matters report.

“America This Week” hosted by Eric Bolling is set to post the story on-line before being picked up and distributed by Sinclair’s substantial network of local television stations. For the segment, Boiling interviewed Judy Mikovits, a virologist who was featured in a viral video earlier this year in which she asserted, among other things, that the virus is “activated” by face masks.

The video, which is an excerpt from a movie called “Plandemic,” was banned from YouTube, Facebook and other platforms.

Mikovits told Boiling that Fauci has “manufactured” and shipped various coronaviruses to China over the years, an assertion that Boiling didn’t push for evidence. Mikovits’ attorney, Larry Klayman, added that the “origins” of the coronavirus were in the U.S., a comment which Boiling also didn’t meaningfully challenge.

During the segment, the on-screen graphic read, “Did Dr. Fauci Creates COVID-19?”

In April 2018, Deadspin tweeted out a devastating mashup of Sinclair broadcasters from around the country repeating right-wing anti-media talking points ordered from its parent company. At the time, President Trump defended the group, saying the company that owns and operates scores of local news stations, was superior to both CNN and NBC — both of which he called fake news.

Sinclair Broadcast Group CEO David D. Smith told the Guardian in an interview shortly thereafter that he had met with Trump in the White House the previous year to pitch a technology that could transmit administration broadcasts directly into the cell phones of Americans.

“I just wanted them to be aware of the technology,” Smith told the news outlet. Smith also said that, in an earlier conversation, he told then-candidate Donald Trump “we are here to deliver your message.”

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