Fact Check
Fox News Sparks Outrage With Claim Biden Promoted Pedophilia With ‘Progress’ Flag
A day after labeling President Joe Biden a “wannabe dictator,” Fox News accused the Biden administration of promoting pedophilia by displaying the Progress Pride flag.
A recent story on FoxNews.com cited critics within the anti-trans movement to support its false claim that Biden flew a “controversial new transgender flag that promotes grooming and pedophilia.”
In the piece, the right-wing news channel claims the flag, which was designed to include people of color and trans, intersex, and non-binary communities, was actually “an homage to the cult of pedophilia infecting many institutions.”
Fox News quoted noted anti-trans activist Jaimee Michell of Gays Against Groomers, who claimed “the flag represents to us an ideology, a political statement of indoctrinating kids and trans kids and pushing kids to sterilize and mutilate themselves.”
Fox News backed up their “pedophile flag” assertion with one source, a claim made in a TikTok by Black Guns Matter.
The piece later notes the TikTok has since been deleted. It also noted that accusations the flag was secretly designed to promote pedophilia have repeatedly been debunked.
Imagine writing this whole story and citing disinformation from tiktok 2 weeks after Reuters fact checked it. This is wilfully and malicious. https://t.co/9oiQsVedtl
— Alejandra Caraballo 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🇵🇷 (@Esqueer_) June 14, 2023
The piece has generated widespread backlash online, with some noting that Fox News itself has promoted the “Progress” Pride flag.
According to Fox News, they themselves support grooming and pedophilia. pic.twitter.com/ojW7smumsH
— Alejandra Caraballo 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🇵🇷 (@Esqueer_) June 14, 2023
Jesus Christ this is fucking vile https://t.co/6kySInnP7G
— Tobin Stone 🌐 (@tobinjstone) June 14, 2023
This is Fox. Outright lies and dehumanization. This is why people are storming into Target stores threatening employees when Target has carried pride merch for years. Nothing is different this year except that right wing media has decided to put our lives in danger. Sickening. https://t.co/vOEDFKmtD6
— Benjamin Siemon (@BenjaminJS) June 14, 2023
Fox News is promoting stochastic terrorism against the LGBTQ community. Pure and simple. https://t.co/iQS40KwqB2
— Chris Jackson (@ChrisCJackson) June 14, 2023
They are actively trying to get trans people killed. This is just shameful bullshit and frankly anyone who works at FoxNews while this stuff happens is a terrible person https://t.co/oHoFIVS7YE
— Jdbatts79 (@jdbatts79) June 14, 2023
As the criticisms intensified online, Fox News quietly deleted the original tweet and altered the framing of the article and the headline.
Fox digital did not add an editor’s note explaining the edits or the headline change to the article, which now reads, “White House flew controversial new transgender flag that troubles some critics in the gay community.”
White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates replied to the shocking tweet on Wednesday, writing: “@FoxNews is characteristically lying through their teeth. Please see Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News Network. Fox never even communicated the malicious and discredited foundation of this article to the White House. Then they lie about whether we responded at all.”
