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The Soledad O’Brien and Janice Dean Twitter Feud Explained

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.

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.

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.

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.


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