Chick-fil-A Boycotters are Winning as Fox News Attacks the Boycott as Un-American

Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 11:53 am

As a new survey reveals that the Chick-Fil-A boycott is causing the brand to nosedive, Fox News is attacking the boycotters as un-American.

Here is the video from Fox News:

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Fox and Friends asked are the Chick-fil-a boycotts un-American then let Christian conservative comedian, Brad Stine defend the company.

Transcript:

GRETCHEN CARLSON: DC Mayor Vincent Gray adding his name to the list now of mayors refusing to allow any new Chick-fil-A restaurants after the company’s CEO said that he does not support gay marriage.

STEVE DOOCY: Mayor Gray even went so far as to call it, “hate chicken,” but isn’t that hypocritical since Dan Cathy was just exercising his right to freedom of speech?

(Morning chit chat crosstalk)

CARLSON: Let’s talk about Chick-fil-A. What do make of these mayors who come out and say we’re gonna ban and boycott Chick-fil-A?

BRAD STINE: You know what I love, they say it’s not Chicago’s values, and I didn’t realize that the First Amendment wasn’t Chicago’s values, but perhaps I shouldn’t get into that. It bothers me because the Cathy family are beautiful people. Christian people, like me, I support them. And by the way, have you ever had one of their sandwiches? They are the greatest chicken sandwich of all time. You would buy anything they wanted. If Liberace ate one of their sandwiches, he would say I’m with him. (Doocy interrupted because he didn’t get the joke.)

But to me it’s really about words, and the idea of marriage. You know, they call it traditional marriage now. You know what? We used to have a word for it. We called it marriage. It was just marriage. You know what it was? One man and one woman trying to get along without killing each other. That’s what it was. Let’s just leave it at that. Gay, you’re going have to come up with your own thing. Get your own word. Get your own thing. We haven’t figured this thing out in 5,000 years. Give us a chance yet, but even gay. Even gay used to be everybody’s word. It used to be whimsical and fun. Let’s be gay. Are you gay today? No, I was gay yesterday, but not today. I want to be gay next week.

BRIAN KILMEADE: It was on the opening jingle of The Flintstones, gay old time.

STINE: Let’s have a gay old time. Now it means homosexual. I didn’t get to vote on that. You can’t just take people’s words. So you know, I think what is really important here, and it truly is seriously is that the man has an absolute right to his conscience. That’s what the First Amendment was given to us for. Government has no right to intervene at all.

CARLSON: Well do you think some people got the message, because at least one of the mayors took back their original pledge…In Boston, oopsie, they saw maybe this would not be a good thing down the road.

STINE: Yeah, and it surprises me because usually they are so much more courageous. But they did take it back, and I think hopefully even the liberal mayors are objective enough to understand that this is a First Amendment right. He does not hate gays. Nobody hates gays, but their are certain values that he stands for as a religious person, and he has a right to that.

Fox News deeply distorted what Dan Cathy said. His actual comment on gay marriage was, “We’re inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage. And I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude that thinks we have the audacity to redefine what marriage is all about.”

The reality is that the boycott is working. A new YouGov Brand Index Survey has found that the consumer perception of Chick-fil-A has taken a nosedive in all regions of the country. Chick-fil-A’s brand score has gone from 65, which was 19 points above average on a scale of 100, to 39 last Wednesday. Their brand has plunged from a score of 80 before Cathy’s comments to 44. The brand has dropped most in the Northeast, where it has gone from a 76 to a 35.

Nobody hates gays, but Stine and Fox News accused gays of stealing their words and trying to steal marriage. While Dan Cathy does have a right to his opinion, the boycotters also have a First Amendment right to voice their opinion by not eating at Chick-fil-A. This is just the latest example of conservatives loving the free market until it is used against them. The boycotters are simply utilizing their power as free market consumers to not eat at Chick-fil-A.

If Americans have to choose between siding with people like these two Alaska secessionist yahoos,

and the idea that marriage is for everyone and gay people don’t have to “get their own thing,” the vast majority of Americans are going to choose to support the boycott.

The un-American line has been used with zero success against the ALEC, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh boycotts.

When the right starts screaming un-American, that means the boycotters are winning.

Image: Instinct Magazine

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association