ALBAWABA - Fox News has come under scathing attack for allegedly focusing its coverage on a controversary involving a famed beer brand than a consequential U.S. court ruling on the abortion pill mifepristone.
"Fox News has joined the rest of right-wing media in a full-fledged freakout over trans TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney making a promotional video for Bud Light," Media Matters for America claimed in a report released on its website Friday.
Earlier this month, influencer Dylan Mulvaney received anti-trans backlash for posting a Bud Light promotional video on Instagram. https://t.co/XlS9OSaNge
— BuzzFeed LGBTQIA+ (@BuzzFeedLGBTQ) April 15, 2023
"This nearly two-week obsession largely overlaps with potential new federal restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone, a story which Fox News has seemingly been eager to sideline in favor of more Bud Light panic," according to Media Matters.
Breaking News: A federal appeals court said the abortion pill mifepristone could temporarily remain available with some restrictions. The judges said the ruling would hold until the full case is heard on appeal. https://t.co/xpROe6zBOw
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 13, 2023
It claimed that from April 7 to April 13, Fox covered the "ridiculous Bud Light story for 1 hour and 42 minutes, compared to 43 minutes for the far more consequential ruling about mifepristone."
"And that timeframe excludes several of Fox's heaviest days covering the Bud Light story, which has been a fixture on the network since April 3," it added.
Anheuser-Busch loses more than $5 billion in value amid Dylan Mulvaney Bud Light controversy https://t.co/aBKYG9J3Tu pic.twitter.com/TatceNNibk
— New York Post (@nypost) April 12, 2023
Media Matters alleged that approximately 82 percent of Fox’s Bud Light coverage came from the opinion division, while 65 percent of mifepristone coverage was from the network’s “news” side.
"This suggests that Fox’s biggest stars were eager to bury the politically unpopular abortion pill story and instead engage viewers with anti-trans outrage — which has dragged on for nearly two weeks as mifepristone access remains a major story," it said.
Media matters claimed that Fox News and the rest of right-wing media have stoked many anti-LGBTQ panics over the years, and the "fanatical obsession with Mulvaney is part of a broader campaign to eliminate transgender people from public life altogether."
JUST NOW AT FOUR SEASONS IN LA.: James O’Keefe Questions @budlight’s Dylan Mulvaney on OMG Jailhouse footage showing women inmates testifying on being housed with male rapists claiming to be transgender.
— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) April 14, 2023
Subscribe at https://t.co/QeHZGnqqBF @OKeefeMedia #MillionDollarBaby pic.twitter.com/25fGkr8AFg
On April 7, a federal judge in Texas paused the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, more than 20 years after the fact.
According to The Washington Post, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered that the pill will remain available for now, but only within the first seven weeks of pregnancy, as opposed to the first 10 weeks approved by the FDA, and it cannot be sent by mail.
