Fox News host Neil Cavuto marked his return to the airwaves following a near-fatal bout with COVID-19 by reading several hateful viewer comments speculating about his long absence.
Cavuto, who is especially vulnerable to the virus as an immunocompromised cancer survivor with multiple sclerosis, credited his recovery to being vaccinated during his Fox Business show Cavuto: Coast to Coast on Monday. While anchoring his Fox News show Your World hours later, Cavuto shared comments from viewers who wondered if he had been fired or died. None of the viewers seemed eager to see him return after his weeks-long absence.
"I'm betting a lot of you wondered if I would ever be back," Cavuto said. "That was certainly the case earlier today when I returned to my Fox Business show and talked about viewers like Lisa, who wrote that she thought I had died and Fox just, well, forgot to say anything about it."
"Or Melanie, who was convinced I was fired: 'Cavuto has to be out of a job. Now they're calling it Your World. He sure sucked at it, but I hope he's well.' Not a fan, I guess," he continued. "Or Janice, who kindly noted: 'Dead or alive, as long as he isn't on my TV, it's a good day.' Well, sorry about today then, Janice."
Cavuto, who also recovered from a COVID-19 infection last year, went on to read feedback from viewers that had commented on his return to Fox Business earlier in the day. The host said that he had expected viewers would be "delighted" before revealing that reactions had instead been varied.
"Bummer, Cavuto is back," a viewer said in a tweet that Cavuto read on air. "Time to change the channel. He should have just kept his subs as they are so much better."
Cavuto then read several tweets from those who did seem grateful for his return, although one complimentary viewer also pondered whether the host had lost weight before adding, "based on your track record, I'm sure you will gain it all back."
A viewer who questioned why Fox News was "hiding" the reason for his absence prompted Cavuto to explain that he had asked the network to keep his illness private.
Cavuto had received mixed reviews from Fox News viewers, including some who wished for his death, after promoting vaccines amid his initial COVID-19 bout last October.
On Monday, Cavuto shot down conspiracy theories that COVID-19 vaccines had caused his illness and explained that his infection had been "a far more serious strand, what they call COVID pneumonia."
"It landed me in intensive care for quite a while and it really was touch-and-go," he said. "So some of you who wanted to put me out of my misery darn near got what you wished for."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but no, the vaccine did not cause this," he added. "My very compromised immune system did...Let me be clear, doctors say had I not been vaccinated at all, I would not be here."
Fox News declined to comment on this story.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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