Parents who opposed critical race theory on Fox News are GOP activists, report says

Fox News failed to fully disclose the professional conservative ties of 11 guests featured in numerous segments about the teaching of critical race theory in schools, according to a new report from Media Matters, a liberal watchdog group that monitors conservative media.

Fox News hosts introduced guests who oppose critical race theory as concerned parents, teachers and school board members, while downplaying or ignoring their official ties to larger conservative organizations and causes, according to the report.

While many of the guests are indeed parents or school officials, the Fox News segments rarely included their professional biographies: among them, Republican strategists and lobbyists, staff of conservative think tanks, and media personalities.

It’s unclear if Fox intentionally misrepresented the guests’ biographies.

Critical race theory has been a galvanizing topic on the right and the subject of near-constant coverage in conservative news publications. Fox News alone has mentioned it nearly 1,300 times since March, according to Media Matters.

That national spotlight has been a boon to at least 165 new local and national groups targeting critical race theory at more than 50 school boards across the country, conservative organizers told NBC News this week.

Critical race theory is an area of academic inquiry that studies systemic racism, its institutional causes and its lasting impact, but conservative activists have rebranded the term to include any efforts to provide equity or balance in curricula on race and gender. Most of the targeted school districts insist their schools do not teach critical race theory.