Fox News hosts and guests have spent weeks repeatedly pushing false claims that Target is selling “tuck-friendly” or “tuck-’em” swimsuits for children as part of its 2023 Pride Month collection, fueling the right-wing outrage machine and sending outraged viewers after companies that are supporting the LGBTQ+ community.
Calls from conservatives to boycott popular brands including Bud Light, which partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, and Target, which came under fire for its LGBTQ+ Pride Month merchandise, have gained some traction over the past month. “This is just one side of this extremist playbook,” Eric Bloem, Human Rights Campaign senior director of programs and corporate advocacy, told Salon. “As we enter Pride Month this year, it has been the most historic anti-LGBTQ+ legislative year.
We’ve had over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ pieces of legislation across different states across the country – most of them targeting the trans community.” Now, Fox News is being targeted with calls to boycott the cable network after it celebrated Pride month online and on the air.
Far-right commentator Matt Walsh went viral when he tweeted a screenshot of a page on the Fox News website that celebrated diversity, including this month’s celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride.