Evangelical leader Franklin Graham made a rare appearance on CNN Monday night in an effort to reach out to vaccine-hesitant viewers, particularly those who share his faith. Wolf Blitzer kicked off the segment by noting a Pew poll showing that 45% of White evangelicals said they will not get the Covid-19 vaccine.

“So,” began Blitzer, “what’s your message to fellow evangelicals who are still very hesitant to get this potentially life-saving vaccine?”

Graham noted that plenty of non-evangelicals are also skeptical of the vaccine, but then addressed his intended audience.

"We want to try to bring healing to people’s bodies, and we can do that through modern medicine," he said. "I thank God for the vaccine."

On Fox & Friends, Steve Doocy this morning unequivocally advocated for viewers to take the Covid-19 vaccine. It is the kind of direct endorsement and appeal critics have said Fox hosts aren't making. 

“The vaccine is what’s going to keep a lot of people alive,” Doocy said. “So when you have the chance, get the shot.”

Polling consistently shows large percentages of conservative Republicans are "vaccine hesitant" or have decided they will "never" get vaccinated. 

Both Doocy and Graham are speaking to audiences who trust them, but may be openly hostile to the message. That's worth praising.

CNN’s Chris Cuomo is having a time of it this year. His Cuomo Prime Time had another tough night in the ratings on Friday, coming in third in his timeslot compared to his cable news competitors, according to Nielsen data.

Cuomo notched just 808k total viewers and 190k in the valuable demographic of viewers age 25-54. FNC's Hannity was second in total viewers in the time slot, with 2.34 million, and first in the demo for the hour, with 330k.

MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show was first in total viewers at 9 p.m. with 2.45 million, more than three times the total for Cuomo, and was second in the demo, with 310k.

Tucker Carlson Tonight was most-watched on cable news Friday, with 2.96 million total viewers, and 474,000 in the demo. The Five was second in both total viewers, with 2.54 million, and in demo, with 361,000. Maddow was third in total viewers at 2.45 million, and fifth in demo at 310k. Hannity was fourth in total at 2.34 million, and also fourth in demo, with 330k. The Ingraham Angle got fifth in total viewers, with 2.01 million, and third in demo at 331,000.

Fox held on to its winning streak in all dayparts, averaging 1.5 million total viewers. MSNBC was second in total viewers with 1.06 million, and CNN was third, averaging....

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