Journalist Soledad O’ Brien and Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean got into a Twitter feud early Monday morning that quickly spiraled into an ideological war. Their argument started after a PBS News interview began to circulate in which Dr. Anthony Fauci, a known expert on COVID-19, stated the United States needed to actively do whatever was necessary to bring down coronavirus cases. He cited New York as an example of a place that was hit hard but took the proper measures to slow the spread of the virus.
Dean retweeted the clip from the interview with the quote, “This is garbage.” She then replied to her own Tweet saying, “Sorry Dr. Fauci. 32,000 deaths. 6,000 seniors? Nope,” in reference to the death toll in New York State.
O’Brien then quoted Dean’s tweet and mockingly wrote “Meteorologist weighs in.” O’Brien was met with intense opposition by Dean and her supporters, labeling O’Brien as disrespectful and ill-informed. Twitter users tried to discredit O’Brien’s occupation as a journalist and pointed out that Dean had lost her in-laws to COVID-19, which made her comment in poor taste.
And you’re a journalist. Which makes her credentials in science more relevant than yours if we’re playing stupid games about who is allowed to have opinions.
— Jessica (Fletcher) O’Donnell (@heckyessica) July 19, 2020
*Meteorologist who lost both in-laws to NY’s disastrous nursing home COVID policies.
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 19, 2020
Soledad’s job is being awful at Twitter and being disliked by pretty much everyone.
— Henry Rodgers (@henryrodgersdc) July 20, 2020
O’Brien referred to many of the Twitter users as “Karens” and said they should yell at their neighbors instead of her. Others came to Soledad’s defense, pointing out her reputation as a journalist and legitimacy to comment on such topics.
Look at this Karen thinking she’s about to come into your space and tone police you. Nope. Not on our watch. ✊
— #Dear white feminists: I am not the one (@Kamalaallday) July 20, 2020
Soledad O’Brien is a bad ass. I have the utmost respect for her, when it comes to her work in journalism and how she claps back the haters with class.
— David Weissman (@davidmweissman) July 20, 2020
You see all these white women coming out attacking Soledad O’Brien? Dry run for Kamala. What they don’t realize is black women don’t play! They will get their feelings hurt!
— I Stan for Black Women and Humanity tiredofit10 (@tiredofit10) July 20, 2020
O’ Brien proceeded to go back and forth with multiple people on Twitter, gaining the attention of many prominent figures in right-wing and conservative politics. Former Fox News journalist Megyn Kelly weighed in and insinuated that O’Brien lacked class. O’Brien dismissed Kelly’s reply and defended her disapproval of Dean’s comments regarding Dr. Fauci. She shared a thread of one Twitter user who pointed out Fauci’s legitimacy as an expert in his field and said that “Fox & Friends” had been sharing false information about the coronavirus pandemic since it began.
(Expert in Blackface weighs in).
Dr. Fauci said “you can bring down those cases”. Which NY’ers did. What he said was not “garbage”, but factually and scientifically correct. She’s welcome to weigh in on anything she wants to. As are you. As am I. https://t.co/FQZSdINomX
— Soledad O’Brien (@soledadobrien) July 20, 2020
This thread. (And also Fauci is accurate in his quote. NY did bring its numbers down. And NY’ers paid a high price for it. In jobs, businesses closed. And lost many, many people. But it’s not garbage. It’s correct.) https://t.co/rNfG6kJHMe
— Soledad O’Brien (@soledadobrien) July 20, 2020
O’Brien and Dean’s Twitter feud highlights a bigger issue within the United States. As the pandemic and quarantine continues to bleed into the summer months, many still disagree on the measures that need to be taken to contain the virus. These disagreements have seeped into every facet of our culture and created an ideological split that has correlated a public health crisis with partisan politics.
As long as COVID-19 continues to plague the United states, more discussions like this are sure to happen.
