Sinclair Broadcasting said today it will delay its planned broadcast of a news segment that included an interview with a conspiracy theorist who made several wild claims on the pandemic.
America This Week host Eric Bolling was planning to air an interview with Judy Mikovits, a medical researcher who was featured in a conspiracy video called The Plandemic.
The video, which emerged in May, advocated against masks and made claims against any proposed vaccine. It also claimed Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House infectious disease expert, created the coronavirus, Media Matters reported. The video has been banned from many social media platforms because of its claims.
Mikovits was featured in the video, and when Bolling interviewed her, he made no mention of the controversy, instead touting her as “an expert in virology” who previously “worked with Dr. Anthony Fauci.”
However, an outcry on social media about the Bolling interview has given pause to Sinclair and apparently to Bolling himself, who issued his own statement on the interview.
“I recognize that this segment does need to be reworked to provide better context, and as such we are delaying the airing of the episode for one week,” Bolling said in a statement posted to his Twitter feed on Saturday afternoon.
He added, “I have always welcomed all points of on my show and have consistently stood for free speech in my 15 years in media,” Bolling said. “In this case, admittedly I was caught off guard by some of Dr. Mikovits’ claims. At no point did I agree with her. Further, I brought on another doctor to debunk the theories she espoused. I repeat: I do not agree with Dr. Mikovits.”
Sinclair said in its statement that it will “spend the coming days bringing together other viewpoints and provide additional context. All stations have been notified not to air this and will instead be re-airing last week’s episode in its place.”