General Discussion

Nevilledog

(51,279 posts) Thu Mar 16, 2023, 02:24 PM Mar 2023

Silicon Valley Bank donated zero dollars to Black Lives Matter

https://popular.info/p/silicon-valley-bank-donated-zero

Tuesday night on Fox News, host Jesse Watters asserted that Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) "donated $74 million to Black Lives Matter." That was why, Watters claimed, federal regulators did not pursue more aggressive oversight of SVB's business practices. According to this theory, SVB was treated with kid gloves because it was "woke."

Watters' claim is false. The actual amount that SVB donated to Black Lives Matter was zero. But that didn't stop similar claims from being made repeatedly on Fox News, conservative websites, and social media.

"Silicon Valley Bank, brace yourself, spent more than $73 million on donations to BLM and related organizations," Tucker Carlson declared on Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, Fox & Friends' Ainsley Earhardt claimed that SVB donated "more than $73 million to Black Lives Matter." There were many more examples on Fox News.

Each claim is phrased slightly differently but they are all false.

The reports are based on a database produced by the right-wing Claremont Institute. The database tracks pledges to groups that are associated with Black Lives Matter, including the BLM Global Network Foundation, The Movement for Black Lives, the BLM Foundation, the BLM PAC, BLM At School, independent local BLM chapters, and fiscal sponsors of BLM groups, including the Tides Foundation and Common Counsel Foundation. According to the database, the total amount that SVB gave to all of these groups is zero.

*snip*