As the number of people affected by coronavirus increases in the United States, some on Fox News are using the virus’ presence in Democrat-led states like Washington and California to attack homeless populations there, arguing that homeless people undermine Democrats’ capabilities to handle the virus and suggesting that it’s is a good reason to enforce more punitive measures aimed at criminalizing homelessness.

This angle of attack is unsurprising, as Fox News has spent months demonizing the homeless and using homelessness as a bludgeon to attack Democratic politicians, the cities they lead, and various Democratic policies.

The novel coronavirus COVID-19 is a respiratory disease that was first detected in the city of Wuhan, China, in December. Since then, it has swiftly spread across the world, resulting in over 3,200 deaths globally so far, over 93,000 cases, and a stock market plunge. As of Wednesday, almost 130 people in 16 states in the United States have been affected, as the race continues to test more people experiencing symptoms .

Some on Fox News -- particularly prime-time host Tucker Carlson, who has a history of grotesquely obsessing over homelessness in blue states -- are now using the issue of homelessness to attack Democrats’ response to the coronavirus, arguing that the homelessness crisis proves Democrats can’t handle the fallout from the disease and expressing disgust at the thought of homeless encampments existing during a pandemic.

Fox’s focus on driving a homelessness angle in its coronavirus coverage is particularly concerning given President Donald Trump’s history of responding to cues from Fox News on policy issues including homelessness.