ABC News admitted it edited an interview with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., removing his anti-vaccine comments. Fox News host Jesse Watters argued against the decision during his program Tuesday.
Watters claimed “ABC decided the audience wasn’t allowed to hear” Kennedy’s stance on the COVID-19 vaccine, saying the network decided viewers “could only hear one side”.
“That’s not journalism. It’s the anchor’s job to come to the interview prepared. And if RFK says something that she doesn’t think’s backed up by facts, she can challenge him,” argued Watters. “The audience deserves to hear both sides of the argument. And then they can decide what to believe. If a guest makes a misleading claim, you say why the claim is misleading, and then you let the guest respond.
“He’s running for president. Voters have a right to hear what he has to say. But ABC is so lazy and unprepared and unprofessional and so scared of their advertisers that they hacked the interview to death and then slandered the candidate with a cheap disclaimer once he was out the door and couldn’t respond.”
ABC News reporter Linsey Davis sat down with Kennedy after he announced his intention to unseat President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee in the 2024 presidential election.
“We should note that during our conversation, Kennedy made false claims about the COVID-19 vaccines,” Davis said. “We’ve used our editorial judgment in not including extended portions of that exchange in our interview.
“RFK Jr. is one of the biggest voices pushing anti-vaccine rhetoric, regularly distributing misinformation and disinformation about vaccines, which scientific and medical experts overwhelmingly say are safe and effective based on rigorous scientific studies,” Davis said as she introduced the story.
