Fox News owned as White House staffer notes network also celebrated Trans Day of Visibility
Sections of Karine Jean-Pierre’s statement were cut from Fox News’ clips. (Getty)
Fox News has failed to air the moment White House press secretary pointed out that the network previously celebrated Trans Day of Visibility as the channel continues to cover conservative fury over president Biden’s recent acknowledgement of the day.
The right-wing news network has heavily covered the backlash to president Joe Biden’s public statement supporting the day, which coincided this year with Easter Sunday.
International Transgender Day of Visibility was founded in 2009 by Michigan activist Rachel Crandall-Crocker. It is celebrated on 31 March each year as a way to recognise trans people across the globe and celebrate their rights and contributions to society.
Joe Biden became the first president to formally recognise the day over the weekend, saying in a statement: “On Transgender Day of Visibility, we honour the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our Nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect union.”
During a segment on Fox News chat show The Five, co-host Dana Perino introduced a clip of White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre – the first Black and LGBTQ+ person to hold the position – discussing the backlash to Biden’s statement.
However, the network notably failed to include the awkward moment Jean-Pierre drew attention to the Fox network’s own celebration of the day in 2021.
In a post to X/Twitter on 31 March 2021, the FoxTV social media account said: “Trans Day of Visibility is dedicated to celebrating transgender people, their contributions to society and raising awareness of discrimination they face.
“To all the transgender men, women and non-binary folx, we see you and stand with you.”
During a portion of her statement to journalists, which was notably absent from the segment aired by Fox News, Jean-Pierre said: “We’re grateful that Fox agrees with president Biden on the importance of recognising Trans Day of Visibility.”
Another segment of the speech saw Jean-Pierre explain that Transgender Day of Visibility is marked every 31 March, while Easter is celebrated on any Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox.
“For folks who understand the calendar and how it works, Easter falls on different Sundays every year and this year it happened to coincide with [Transgender Day of Visibility]”, she explained.
“And so that is the simple fact, that is what has happened, that is where we are. And I do want to say a couple of things because I think it’s important here … what we’ve been hearing out there is a lot of misinformation done on purpose.”
Meanwhile, Fox News continued to accuse the president of “waging spiritual warfare against Christianity“, in its coverage, Media Matters reports.
Fox News’ Jesse Watters complained during a segment that he believed the “trans thing is over” because he believes that the US has “accommodated the trans for quite some time.”
