A whistleblower claims Fox News is matching employee contributions to charities and causes its viewer base typically does not support, including The Satanic Temple.
On Friday (July 21), Blaze Media — a conservative media outlet with ties to climate change denier and controversial former Fox News host Glenn Beck — reported that Fox News participates in employee donation matches of up to $1,000 to various organizations via its Fox Giving app, which is reportedly hosted by donation management program Benevity.
According to an alleged whistleblower believed to be an ex-Fox News staffer, charitable organizations available for Fox News employees to donate to include The Trevor Project, Planned Parenthood and The Satanic Temple, which Blaze Media claims Fox News has “appeared critical of” in terms of “the agendas they help advance.”
READ MORE: Man Arrested After Allegedly Trying to Burn Down Satanic Temple
According to its official website, The Satanic Temple’s mission “is to encourage benevolence and empathy, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense, oppose injustice and undertake noble pursuits.”
The Satanic Temple site claims it has:
…publicly confronted hate groups, fought for the abolition of corporal punishment in public schools, applied for equal representation when religious installations are placed on public property, provided religious exemption and legal protection against laws that unscientifically restrict people’s reproductive autonomy, exposed harmful pseudo-scientific practitioners in mental health care, organized clubs alongside other religious after-school clubs in schools besieged by proselytizing organizations, and engaged in other advocacy in accordance with our tenets.
The IRS recognizes The Satanic Temple as a tax-exempt religious organization.
Following The Blaze’s report, social media lit up with reactions from across the spectrum.
“Wow. Didn’t see this one coming. Fox contributes to Satanic Temple? Are you kidding me?” one alarmed Twitter user wrote.
“Fox and Fox News is dead to me now… DUMP FOX!” someone else declared.
“The Satanic Panic is real. Watching the pearl-clutching is hilarious. The Satanic Temple is a registered religion, y’all,” another, more amused user tweeted.
Another Twitter user pointed out that even if Blaze Media’s report is true, and Fox News matches employees’ contributions to organizations such as The Satanic Temple, it’s unlikely Fox News selected the organizations available on its app since it’s reportedly hosted by Benevity.
“Sorry but the fox news satanic temple thing is so funny. do you dumba–es really think fox corporate went through and hand-picked every charity that shows up on their employee donation portal? they’re using a third-party service,” they wrote.
Check out more reactions, below. Warning: Some tweets may contain graphic language.