Tucker Carlson praised Nicki Minaj after the rapper groundlessly linked COVID-19 vaccines to impotence and swollen testicles
- Tucker Carlson has long sought to stir doubts about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.
- On Monday he praised Nicki Minaj for her tweet baselessly linking COVID-19 vaccines to impotence.
- Medical experts say there is no evidence linking the vaccines to impotence.
Fox News' Tucker Carlson found an unlikely ally on Monday in the rapper Nicki Minaj, whom he praised for a tweet that groundlessly linked COVID-19 vaccines with impotence and swollen testicles.
Carlson has for months stirred doubts about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines on his show. On Monday night's edition, he seized on tweets by the rapper in which she said that she was skipping the 2021 Met Gala because of its requirement that guests show proof of vaccination and shared an anecdote about her cousin's friend.
"So Nicki Minaj is a huge rap artist. Not sure there's much overlap between her audience and this one, but our producers assure us she's one of the biggest in the world," Carlson said on Monday.
He then went on to read aloud the tweet, where Minaj said that after her cousin's friend had gotten vaccinated, he "became impotent" and "his testicles became swollen," resulting in his fiancée canceling their wedding.
The tweet seemingly references misinformation linking the vaccines to infertility, which doctors and public-health officials say is groundless, as there is no plausible biological mechanism whereby the vaccines could bring about this effect.
But Carlson, who routinely uses speculation and distorted data to undermine the vaccines, praised Minaj's tweets, remarking that her view "seems sensible."
Carlson has previously used rap stars as examples of moral decline, devoting a segment of his show in March to attack a performance of "WAP" by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion at the Grammys for its sexually explicit lyrics, and he praised China earlier this month for clamping down on celebrity fandom.
Minaj's tweets have sparked widespread criticism on social media. But in follow-up tweets, Minaj went on to recommend that people who need proof of the shots, in order to keep their jobs, get vaccinated.
"I'd def recommend they get the vaccine. They have to feed their families. I'm sure I'll b vaccinated as well cuz I have to go on tour, etc," she wrote to a fan. She then asked her followers which vaccine they would recommend.