Like others in the ConWeb, Newsmax jumped on the transphobia bandwagon targeting Target for not hating LGBT people. It was in on the war early:
- A May 11 article stating that “With Pride month right around the corner, Target is letting its rainbow flag fly with a new LGBTQ+ clothing line that includes breast binders and packing underwear,” citing the virulently transphobic Matt Walsh.
- A May 19 article by Wells repeated a right-wing Daily Mail report that “Target is offering a ‘tuck-friendly” bathing suit in this year’s LGBTQ Pride clothing collection, which is seemingly designed for children,” again citing Walsh. In fact, the tuck-friendly swimsuits were never marketed for children.
- A May 23 article by Eric Mack declared that “Target is partaking in campaigns to capitalize on LGBTQ messaging and merchandise and critics are lashing out on social media with calls for boycotts, leading to fears of a Bud Light-like public relations hit.”
- A May 24 article by Sandy Fitzgerald noted that Target was “removing some of its Pride Month collection items after this year’s promotion led to threats to the safety of its workers.”
A May 25 article by Theodore Bunker peddled a false attack that it had to eventually admit was false:
Conservative Political Action Coalition Chair Matt Schlapp on Thursday hit out at Target for partnering with artist Erik Carnell and accusing him of being a “satanist.”
Schlapp, in an open letter to Target, claims that Carnell is “a self-declared ‘satanist,'” who “openly flaunts his anti-Christian agenda posting that ‘Satan respects pronouns,’ selling items with phrases like, ‘Trans Witches for Abortion,’ and participating in a ‘satanic flea market’ in London called an ‘anti-Christmas fayre.'”
Carnell, a British designer, created a collection for Target that included shirts, pins, and bags with pro-LGBTQ+ messages. Some contained references to Satan, such as a pin that reads, “Satan respects pronouns,” which Carnell told the Daily Dot “I don’t believe in Satan. I don’t believe in the Bible … . It’s a metaphor,” he said.
While Bunker did admit that Carnell is not a Satanist, he failed to tell his readers that none of the merchandise created for Target carried any sort of “Satanic” theme.
Another article the same day, by Lee Barney, cheered that Target’s market value dropped over the “backlash over its LGBTQ kids clothes,” claiming that “the line included ‘tuck friendly’ swimsuits for transgender females to hide their private parts” while failing to tell the truth that those swimsuits were not marketed to children.
A May 26 article by the apparently unironically named Charlie McCarthy parroted another right-wing attack on Target: through an LGBT advocacy group:
Now, Target’s close ties with K-12 group GLSEN has come to light.
GLSEN is an organization that pressures school boards to allow children to secretly transition without their parents’ consent and make sexually explicit books available in classrooms.
The group also instructs teachers about how they can alter classes to be “more inclusive of trans and non-binary identities,” including the use of “they/them” pronouns, Fox News reported.
McCarthy offered no facts to back up his wildly biased, Fox News-approved description of GLSEN.
A paywalled May 26 article by Marisa Herman cheered that “Companies rolling out campaigns in support of June’s Pride Awareness Month may take a more “nuanced” approach following consumer backlash to recent initiatives from Bud Light and Target, marketing and branding experts predict.” An article by Charles Kim noted a bomb threat at a Target story. Another article by Michael Katz hyped that “A conservative investment fund reported it has sold its shares in Target and has slapped the retailer with a “refuse to buy” label over its Pride Month collection.” (We thought right-wingers believed that investing shouldn’t be based on ESG-style goals.) He repeated the false claim that “Target had transgender ‘tuck-friendly’ bathing suits seemingly designed for children.”
Meanwhile, an article by Luca Cacciatore gave a platform to a right-wing senator to spew hate:
Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, criticized Target for its LGBTQ+ Pride Month collection on Friday, saying the company has “decided to wage war” on its loyal customers.
“Target could have decided to stay out of the culture wars, instead it decided to wage war on a large share of its customer base,” Vance tweeted. “I no longer shop at Target, and it seems many families are doing the same.”
The senator retweeted a post by journalist Benny Johnson stating, “Target stock has just COLLAPSED to its lowest trading value in a YEAR with no end in sight.”
Newsmax did, however, publish a wire article noting that Carnell “has seen a surge in demand for his pins, prints, stickers and T-shirts after U.S. retailer Target Corp pulled his products amid a backlash by some customers to its Pride collection.”
Newsmax then tried to pretend Target wasn’t the victim of a hateful and partisan political campaign. A June 1 article by Barney claimed that Target’s finances were hurt by “customers’ intense backlash against its Pride collection.” In fact, it was only right-wing activists with media megaphones who disapproved, not “customers” as a whole.