Tucker Carlson suggests that COVID-19 lockdowns were part of a plot to help the Biden campaign

Carlson: “Like Anthony Fauci himself, the coronavirus lockdowns were revealed to be capricious and transparently political”

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Citation From the July 23, 2020, edition of Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight:

TUCKER CARLSON (HOST): So the question is: What are they doing to win? Well, they're working the right track / wrong track numbers. Democrats understand that the unhappier Americans become, the more likely they are to win. Unhappy people want change, it is not complicated. So, every ominous headline about the state of the country makes it more likely that Donald Trump will lose his job. The more that people suffer, the greater Joe Biden's advantage. Democrats have a strong incentive, therefore, to inflict as much pain as they can, and that's what they are doing.

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On that day, March 3, more than forty percent of Americans thought the country was headed in the right direction. And for the Biden campaign, that number was way too high. Then within a week higher education began to shut down, and life really started to change for many people. Hundreds of thousands of idle college-aged kids returned home. Stores began to empty; hand sanitizers and cleaning supplies disappeared. On March 12th, the National Hockey League canceled its season, Major League Baseball followed suit. They ended spring training. Suddenly, there were no sports. Movie theaters closed, so did bowling alleys. And yet, still forty percent of Americans continued to believe that their country was headed in the right direction, and that was bad news for the Joe Biden campaign. So then came the shutdowns. The CDC recommended canceling all public events with more than 50 people present. Public schools closed, so did bars, restaurants, gyms and churches. Critically millions lost their jobs when businesses were shuttered. The unemployment rate rose to the highest level in nearly a century. Now at the time, they told us that mass quarantines were essential. They were a public health measure. We were saving lives with our suffering. Most people wanted to believe that because most Americans are decent people. But as summer approach, it became clear that the people telling us that were lying. Science had nothing to do with this.

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After a while, the authorities issuing these orders stopped trying to pretend that they were backed up with reason or data. Anthony Fauci, who for a long time seemed like a serious man of science, announced that it was very dangerous to shake hands with people you love, but it was fine to have sex with strangers you meet online. Like Anthony Fauci himself, the coronavirus lockdowns were revealed to be capricious and transparently political.

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Everyone else in the country became dramatically unhappier. Nearly three-quarters of Americans now say their country has become a much worse place than it was. Doctors have prescribed so much zoloft, the antidepressant, that it's now on the federal drug shortage list. In fact, it is likely Americans have never in the history of this country been as unhappy as they are right now. It's a tragedy, but for Democrats it's a win. According to polls, Republicans may now lose once safe Senate seats in Iowa and Montana, just to name two.

So, say what you will about the destruction of America, but as a political matter, it's been a stroke of genius.