I TOLD YOU THE RIGHT WAS GOING TO START BLAMING NEW YORK

There it is: the start of the new right-wing narrative that will blame the entire U.S. coronavirus crisis on New York.

Tucker Carlson focused the top of his Thursday show on New York City's battle with the coronavirus, ripping city officials for increasing the "risk" for citizens and not taking the outbreak seriously in its early stages.

"As this deadly virus emerged from eastern China and began to spread inexorably across the globe, clearly headed here, leaders in New York not only failed to shield their citizens from it, they took affirmative and aggressive steps to increase the risk to their population," Carlson said.

"Why would they do that? Well, because they were worried far more about being called racist than protecting human lives. That's not an overstatement. That's not hyperbole."

Carlson criticized New York City health commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot, among others, who dismissed the incoming threat of the coronavirus in February.

"The risk to New Yorkers from coronavirus is low and ... our preparedness as a city is very high," Barbot said at a Feb. 2 press conference supporting the Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade and Festival. "There is no reason not to take the subway, not to take a bus, not to go out to your favorite restaurant and certainly not to miss the parade next Sunday [Feb. 9]."

"Future generations are gonna watch that video with their jaws open in disbelief," Carlson said in response to Barbot. "How could someone charged with protecting public health so recklessly endanger it?"

Let me remind you what you what the president of the United States said about the coronavirus on February 2 according to the president of the United States said about the cornavirus on February 2:

Feb. 2: Trump tells Fox News host Sean Hannity, "We pretty much shut it down coming in from China."

Three days earlier, Trump told a crowd at a rally:

"We think we have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this country at this moment — five. ... we think it’s going to have a very good ending for it."

Future generations are gonna watch those videos with their jaws open in disbelief. How could someone charged with protecting public health so recklessly endanger it?

Am I saying Trump deserves all the blame for the U.S. crisis? No. There's blame to go around. In retrospect, what New York City officials did doesn't seem wise -- although nearly all of America was still gathering in crowds at that time. (Trump's last mass rally was on March 2.)

There was also this on Carlson's show last night:

In what seems to be an attempt to shift the blame on New York, Tucker Carlson says an anonymous high level source says the government sent 2,000 ventilators to New York and they’re currently sitting in warehouses pic.twitter.com/ULI2ytjaH5

— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) March 27, 2020

TUCKER CARLSON: Something we just heard from a pretty high-level source, generally reliable, that the federal government, this person said, has delivered about two thousand ventilators, breathing machines, to New York City for this crisis, but all or most of them, this person said, remain in warehouses and not in hospitals. Have you heard anything like this?

RICK LEVENTHAL, REPORTER: Well, I heard from your producer, Tucker, and we're looking into that now. It would be truly unfortunate because these hospitals say they need that equipment and more....

Notice Carlson's careful use of "this person said" -- twice -- as he drops this stink bomb, credited to one anonymous source who quite possibly doesn't exist. Carlson knows this is garbage, but it serves his ideological ends.

I told you on Wednesday that they'll be calling this "the New York virus" soon. Carlson is laying the groundwork. Expect more of this.