White House Spokesman Accuses Fox News Of ‘Lying Through Their Teeth’ Over Transgender Flag Report

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

After strong pushback from a White House spokesperson on Wednesday, Fox News altered the framing of a highly controversial article that included a critic equating the “transgender flag” with “grooming and pedophilia.”

“White House flew controversial new transgender flag that promotes grooming and pedophilia, say critics,” read the headline and subsequent tweet of the story by Kerry J. Byrne. The report sparked an immediate backlash online as groups like GLAAD defended the flag as inclusive of “communities of color (Black and Brown stripes), as well as pink, white, and light blue for trans and nonbinary people. ”

White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates replied to the incendiary tweet, which has since been deleted, 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.

Bates also shared a screenshot of Byrne’s request for comment, which did strike a noticeably different tone from the piece he subsequently wrote.

https://twitter.com/AndrewJBates46/status/1669054232832385025

“Kerry Byrne here from Fox News Digital. We noticed that the Pride Flag flown at the White House over the weekend featured a new design different than the traditional rainbow pride flag flown for years,” Byrne’s email began, adding:

We’ve found the artist behind the flag, Daniel Quasar. he created the new flag in 2018 but this appears to be the first time it was featured in any sort of prominent event.
Wondering if we could get a statement from the White House:
When did it become aware the new flag?
Who made the decision to replace the traditional flag with the new flag?
Was there any discussion around this decision? Who joined the discussion?
Is this new design now the “official” representational banner of the pride community?
Hoping to get some answers or a statement by EOD today. Thank you.

The White House confirmed to Mediaite that a spokesperson did reply to Byrne Wednesday ahead of the story’s publication, which eventually was framed around a quote from a founder of Gays Against Groomers – a far-right anti-LGBTQ advocacy group.

The section of the article on which the original framing of the story was based read:

‘The flag represents to us an ideology, a political statement of indoctrinating kids and trans kids and pushing kids to sterilize and mutilate themselves,’ Jaimee Michell, the lesbian founder of Gays Against Groomers, told Fox News Digital.

The article later reads, “However, some critics have taken issue with the new ‘Progress Pride Flag’ — with some even saying that in their opinion, it appears to reference a cult of pedophilia infecting many institutions and represents an unwanted takeover of traditional gay symbolism.”

The article was updated after publication to note, “The White House, responding to requests from Fox News Digital for comment, said on Wednesday that it’s been flying the flag at pride celebrations for the past three years.”

Additionally, the article was edited to include a line at the end saying, “The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment on the flag’s design and meaning.”

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 a controversial new transgender flag that troubles some critics in the gay community.”