Fox News Anchor Corrects False Claim That Biden Wants to Ban Burgers

John Roberts had also made a “Where’s the beef?” joke in now-corrected reportFox News anchor John Roberts corrected the record Monday after wrongly reporting that President Biden’s administration was coming for American’s burgers this summer as part of a crackdown on greenhouse gas emissions.

Roberts reported last weekend that Biden’s climate change plan included forcing Americans to cut back on consuming red meat, especially hamburgers. That’s not true — there was no mention of banning beef in Biden’s plan to cut gas emissions in half by 2030.

Fox News provided the following statement from Roberts on Monday: “On Friday, we told you about a study from the University of Michigan to give some perspective on President Biden’s ambitious climate change goals. That research from 2020 found that cutting back how much red meat people eat would have a drastic impact on harmful greenhouse gas emissions. The data was accurate, but a graphic and the script incorrectly implied it was part of Biden’s plan for dealing with climate change. That is not the case.”

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What Roberts – who had also made a “Where’s the beef?” joke in his report – was referencing during his program was a study from the University of Michigan published last year that examines the effect U.S. meat-eaters have on the planet’s greenhouse gas levels. The study did argue that if Americans replaced at least 50% of their animal-based foods with plant-based or vegan options, that could bring greenhouse gas emission down by 224 million metric tons per year by 2030.

It seems that Roberts and the Fox team just skimmed an article from the U.K.-based Daily Mail, which reported (inaccurately) that Biden’s climate plan would “require Americans to only consume about four pounds of red meat per year, or 0.18 ounces per day” — which would equate to “consuming roughly one average sized burger per month.” The Daily Mail’s report conflated the University of Michigan study with Biden’s bill, which aren’t at all related (though it misidentified the school as Michigan University in the article).

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Conservative figures including Fox Business’ Larry Kudlow and Texas Gov. Greg Abbot were quick to argue against the nonexistent meat crisis. Donald Trump Jr., meanwhile, is apparently chowing down on the beef and tweeted over the weekend, “I’m pretty sure I ate 4 pounds of red meat yesterday. That’s going to be a hard NO from me.”

Omnivorous Americans can rest easy this Independence Day and enjoy their barbecues, despite what Roberts and other hosts at Fox News have said — including Larry Kudlow, who recently claimed that Biden was going to make us all grill Brussel sprouts for the Fourth this year.

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