Dr. Scott Atlas, Trump's unqualified coronavirus adviser, got several boosts of credibility from Fox News host Martha MacCallum last night, including his suggestion that families ignore recommendations to avoid large holiday get-togethers because many are going to die anyway.

MacCallum began the interview by doing her best to swat away criticism of Atlas for his recent tweet urging Michiganders to “rise up” against the state’s imposition of coronavirus restrictions, as cases surge.

Chuckling sympathetically, MacCallum described the incident as, “you said something that got some attention, which happens sometimes.”

She then played a clip of President-elect Joe Biden calling the tweet “totally irresponsible.” But MacCallum, whom Fox considers an “ultimate journalist,” never mentioned that the tweet came in the wake of a plot to kidnap and assassinate Gov. Whitmer. Instead, MacCallum merely asked, “How would you respond to that, Dr.?” Her soft tone also signaled her alliance.

“I’m not very good at Twitter,” Atlas began. MacCallum giggled offscreen. And while he claimed to “take responsibility for what I tweeted,” he also claimed, “I didn’t mean anything I think people are inferring from that and I clarified it right afterwards and I wish you would have shown that.” Atlas’ three tweets are below, underneath the video of this segment.

Atlas claimed he was merely responding “to the literally thousands of emails I get from people all over the country begging me to figure out how to end the lockdowns. I get emails every couple of weeks from someone who has had a family member commit suicide because of the lockdowns. I have people begging me to do anything I can to end the lockdown.”

MacCallum never mentioned that getting control of the virus would be a great way to end the lockdowns.

“If you want to change things, you have to have your voices heard. … I didn’t mean to threaten or incite violence,” Atlas said, unapologetically.

MacCallum squinted in an expression of thoughtful listening to a wise master, as Atlas went on to promote what amounted to a pro-death agenda:

ATLAS: Yes, there are more COVID cases in the winter, yes, there are more cases indoors and we know this with this virus and that’s the problem. When you lock down and because we had states that were restricting businesses, restricting activities, we forced cases to be building up in this season.

Let’s not forget, though MacCallum seems to have, that radiologist Atlas has no credentials in infectious disease or epidemiology. As I wrote in September, Fox News’ own news division shuns him, with one glaring exception: The Story with Martha MacCallum.

Also, Atlas’ claim that lockdowns are the cause of the surge seems contradicted by the fact that states with laxer restrictions are now seeing the biggest surges. The highest-risk states, according to NPR today, are North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wyoming, and Nebraska. MacCallum didn’t mention that, either.

Atlas said he agrees “we should reduce large group, indoor activities” and “we need to protect our vulnerable, high-risk, senior family members” but schools should remain open to prevent kids from thinking of killing themselves. MacCallum shook her head in apparent disapproval that anyone would even think of avoiding in-person learning.

But then Atlas suggested that large Thanksgiving gatherings are just fine for those “vulnerable, high-risk” family members because they are likely to die soon anyway:

ATLAS: This kind of isolation is one of the unspoken tragedies of the elderly who are now being told don't see your family at Thanksgiving. For many people this is their final Thanksgiving, believe it or not. What are we doing here? I think we have to have a policy, which I have been advocating, which is a whole person, whole health policy. It's not about just stopping cases of COVID. We have to talk about the damage of the policy itself.

MacCallum gave Atlas a seal of approval: “The concerns that you expressed about people’s mental health are very real. I think we’ve all seen it in our lives and with people and family and friends that we know. So, it is a real, serious concern.”

Guess what, Martha? It’s a real, serious concern for people’s mental health to be worrying about a loved one or to lose a loved one, too.

You can watch the pro-death agenda below, from the November 16, 2020 The Story with Martha MacCallum, via Media Matters.