Conservative outlet, The Daily Caller, retracted a story which implied that President Joe Biden had implemented a new rule banning Easter eggs with religious themes from the White House Easter art contest.
Last week, the Daily Caller, a far right publication co-founded by Tucker Carlson, published a report that said the Biden White House had “banned children from submitting Easter eggs with religious themes for its 2024 ‘Celebrating National Guard Families’ art contest.”
Several Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.) slammed the Biden White House for the move.
“The Biden White House has betrayed the central tenet of Easter — which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Banning sacred truth and tradition—while at the same time proclaiming Easter Sunday as “Transgender Day”—is outrageous and abhorrent,” Johnson wrote. “The American people are taking note.”
But, White House officials pointed out that the ban on religious themes is not new as was implied by the article. In fact, it has been in place for decades including during the Trump years.
On Tuesday, The Daily Caller retracted the story.
“Following the publication of this article, the Daily Caller became aware of additional context that undercut the central assertion of this article and its newsworthiness,” Julianna Frieman, the contributor who wrote the original story said in a statement.
The statement continued: “The ban of religious symbolism on eggs as part of the White House Easter egg art contest has been longstanding, dating back decades, and the Biden administration did not make any modifications to this rule. While the Caller did not explicitly state at any point that the rule was new, this additional context rendered the main thrust of the article misleading to readers, who could reasonably have come to the conclusion that the rule was new.”
“With that additional context included, the news value of the article was significantly diminished, leading the senior leadership at the Caller to the decision to retract,” it added. “We sincerely regret the error and are taking the necessary steps to ensure similar mistakes can be avoided in the future.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre thanked The Daily Caller for retracting the story.
“It’s important to acknowledge when a mistake has been made and take responsibility for it,” Jean-Pierre said adding, “we hope others learn from their good example.”
