1. Fox News' @JesseBWatters@twitter.com told millions of viewers that Silicon Valley Bank "donated $74 million to Black Lives Matter."
Similar claims went viral on Twitter
Some "facts" are too good to check
The actual amount that SVB donated to BLM is ZERO
Follow along for receipts
@JesseBWatters@twitter.com 2. @FoxNews@twitter.com hosts made this claim repeatedly.
@TuckerCarlson@twitter.com said SVB "spent more than $73 million on donations to BLM and related organizations."
Each claim is phrased slightly differently but they are all FALSE
@JesseBWatters@twitter.com @FoxNews@twitter.com @TuckerCarlson@twitter.com 3. The reports are based on a database produced by the right-wing @ClaremontInst@twitter.com.
The database tracks pledges to groups related to BLM, including BLM Global Network Foundation and BLM PAC.
The database says SVB donated ZERO to all these orgs
@JesseBWatters@twitter.com @FoxNews@twitter.com @TuckerCarlson@twitter.com @ClaremontInst@twitter.com 4. So where does the $73 million come from?
The database also includes "organizations and initiatives that advance one or more aspects of BLM’s agenda."
According to @ClaremontInst@twitter.com the "agenda" of BLM is to "undermine capitalism, the nation state, and Western civilization."
@JesseBWatters@twitter.com @FoxNews@twitter.com @TuckerCarlson@twitter.com @ClaremontInst@twitter.com 5. $50M of the $73M comes from a *pledge* SVB made in 2021 on an internal initiative.
The program sought to connect women, Black people, and Latinos with funding, networking, and development in the VC ecosystem
The money was to be spent over 5 years.
@JesseBWatters@twitter.com @FoxNews@twitter.com @TuckerCarlson@twitter.com @ClaremontInst@twitter.com 6. Integrating marginalized groups into the venture capitalist community seems like an odd way to "undermine capitalism," the purpose of BLM, according to the @ClaremontInst@twitter.com.
Further, the money wasn't "donated" to anyone and most of it hasn't been spent
@JesseBWatters@twitter.com @FoxNews@twitter.com @TuckerCarlson@twitter.com @ClaremontInst@twitter.com 7. Another $20 million the @ClaremontInst@twitter.com says was BLM-related was donated "to support additional COVID-19 relief" and establish a "full-ride, needs-based" at four universities
It's unclear what either of those things has to do with BLM, but they are included in the $73M total
8. Rounding out the Claremont Institute database is a 2020 "matching campaign for employees who donate money or time to social justice orgs, which raised nearly $400,000."
The identity of these groups is not disclosed, but Claremont assumes they must be related to BLM.
9. The database includes $250,000 of donations from the SVB Foundation in "corporate donations to the NAACP [and] ACLU"
@ClaremontInst@twitter.com considers these orgs "BLM partners." In fact, they are two of the oldest & most respected civil rights and civil liberties orgs in the US
@ClaremontInst@twitter.com 10. @ClaremontInst@twitter.com did not respond to my request for comment.
But I also identified $2.8 million in money that was misdated. @ClaremontInst@twitter.com added a "correction" to its database and now has a new figure of SVB donations to "BLM Movement and related causes": $70,650,000
11. Thanks for making it this far.
But don't rely exclusively on this platform, which is controlled by a right-wing billionaire, to get accurate information.
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12. @ClaremontInst@twitter.com, BTW, has a record of pushing misinformation.
John Eastman, who sits on the Board, “helped lead [former President] Trump’s drive to overturn the results of the 2020 election.”
Jack Posobiec, who “promoted the false Pizzagate conspiracy theory" was a fellow
@ClaremontInst@twitter.com 13. The objectively false statistic is still spreading rapidly online. Here is a headline from the @dcexaminer@twitter.com last night.
@ClaremontInst@twitter.com @dcexaminer@twitter.com 14. BTW, trolls on @CommunityNotes@twitter.com are trying to undermine the reporting on this thread.
The problem is, the troll has poor reading comprehension.
I'm directly quoting @JesseBWatters@twitter.com in my first tweet, not a Fox News graphic.
BUT BOTH WATTERS AND THE GRAPHIC ARE WRONG
@ClaremontInst@twitter.com @dcexaminer@twitter.com @CommunityNotes@twitter.com @JesseBWatters@twitter.com 15. The fact that the @ClaremontInst@twitter.com "denoted" a bunch of money that had absolutely nothing to do with BLM as "BLM-related" is the entire point of the thread.