Powell was battling multiple myeloma at the time of his vaccination, which made him more susceptible to the virus and less likely to establish an immune response after being vaccinated. Because he was 84 years old, he was also in a higher-than-average risk group.
But Powell's cancer did not make it into the monologue of Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson, who was covering the story.
Instead, Carlson, the highest-rated star on the right-wing talk network, used Powell's death on Monday night to argue that Americans are being "lied to" about vaccines, according to CNN.
While Carlson, who has declined to say whether or not he has been vaccinated, was on stage, he expressed skepticism about the usefulness of vaccines.
As Carlson pointed out, he was not the only Fox News host to take this stance.
Powell's death was also used by Will Cain, who hosted the hour before him, to call into question the effectiveness of vaccines while railing against government mandates.
John Roberts, the midday Fox News anchor, also removed a tweet he had sent earlier in the day, in which he stated that Powell's death "raises new issues" about the effectiveness of vaccinations.
Aside from mentioning the fact that 90 percent of Fox Corporation employees are vaccinated, none of the Fox News hosts mentioned the fact that unvaccinated Fox Corporation employees are submitted to daily Covid-19 testing.
In addition to conservatives on radio and the internet who were not part of the Fox News bubble, Powell's death was utilized to call into doubt the Covid-19 vaccinations.
Since the beginning of 2021, anti-vaccine discourse has been a consistent feature of right-wing media.
It is a well-known approach used by people who are opposed to vaccines to draw attention to unrepresentative instances.
The three Covid-19 vaccinations currently in use in the United States, however, have been proved to be both safe and extremely effective, according to research. The great majority of deaths in the United States are now occurring among persons who have not been immunized.
People health professionals have urged the entire public to get vaccinated against the virus, not just to protect themselves, but also to protect others, such as those who are immunocompromised, such as Powell.
