CNN anchor Dana Bash took a direct shot Sunday at rival Fox News in an interview with Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, asking if the top-rated cable news channel was “killing people” with its commentary on the COVID-19 vaccination.

Ms. Bash noted that President Biden charged social-media platforms Friday with “killing people” by allowing the spread of vaccine misinformation, and then played clips from Fox’s “The Ingraham Angle” and “Tucker Carlson Tonight” as well as Newsmax.

“President Biden did accuse social media platforms of killing people. Do you think conservative media like Fox News are doing the same? Are they killing people too with rhetoric like you just heard?” Ms. Bash said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Dr. Murthy sidestepped the question, stressing that “all of us, including the media, including individuals, health professionals, have a responsibility to share the truth about health as science dictates, as science informs us.”

The snippets played by CNN showed conservative opinion-show hosts Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson taking issue with pushing vaccines on unwilling recipients.