Fox & Friends Declares Tea Party Is Not Racist, Based On A “Study”

Yesterday morning on Fox & Friends, Gretchen Carlson investigated the pesky mainstream media’s claim that the Tea Party harbors racism. To do this, she consulted the research of UCLA grad student Emily Ekins, who took pictures of “every visible sign” she could find at a Tea Party rally in order to analyze the movement’s sentiments. “Over 50% [of the signs] were about limited government and lower spending,” Ekins reported, while “only about 6% of the signs were controversial in nature.” And since people are racist only if they’re holding racist signs, this was enough for Fox News to proclaim, “Study: Tea Party Is Not Racist.”

Added Ekins, “I’m surprised more people haven’t done this.”

Ever objective, Carlson asked the student, “Why do you think that your test results differ from the perception of the mainstream media?” Ekins responded by noting that news cameras tend to gravitate toward only the most controversial signs. One point left unmentioned was that most Tea Party organizers have been vigilant about spotting and removing racist signs from rallies, leaving open the possibility of Racists Without Signs (like Doctors Without Borders, but way creepier). Either way, her study isn’t quite comprehensive, as all of her research took place at a single rally.

She does plan on conducting more research, but until then, educate yourself with the following Fox News clip (via Newsbusters):

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