From July 26, when the 2024 Summer Olympic Games began, through August 7, 2024, Fox News spent a total of at least 4 hours and 7 minutes on the two culture war controversies. The network dedicated 1 hour 36 minutes to complaining about the opening ceremony (43 segments) and 2 hours 31 minutes on the manufactured controversy involving the female boxers (45 segments).

Fox’s so-called “news” programs aired more coverage than its “opinion” programs, with about 2 hours 11 minutes compared to 1 hour 56 minutes, respectively.

In the days following the start of the games, Fox News fixated on alleged “anti-Christian” and LGBTQ symbols during the opening ceremony, with anchor Trace Gallagher capturing the network's reaction when he argued that inclusivity is “the opposite of what the Olympics are about. The Olympics are about exclusivity." 

The network's indignation centered on a portion of the ceremony that featured an interpretation of the story of Dionysus, with commentators baselessly accusing organizers of deliberately “mocking” The Last Supper (as famously depicted by Leonardo da Vinci) and speculating about what the reaction would be if other religions had been “mocked” in the same manner. Event organizers clarified that the drag performance aimed to “celebrate community tolerance” and raise awareness “of the absurdity of violence between human beings.”

Fox shows spent a total of 1 hour and 36 minutes discussing the opening ceremony outrage, focusing on the topic for 43 segments. Time spent on the supposed controversy was almost evenly split between “news” and “opinion” shows, with 49 minutes and 47 minutes dedicated respectively. Weekend program Fox News Live led all shows, with 28 minutes of coverage, giving the most airtime to the opening ceremony outrage.

Fox News’ next big Olympic Games focus centered on the eligibility of female boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, with the network casting doubt on the women's rights to compete and Fox News personalities frequently misgendering the athletes, sometimes seemingly intentionally. 

Despite the insinuations, both athletes were thoroughly vetted and cleared by the International Olympic Committee, with no credible evidence supporting Fox's claims. Khelif pushed back on the baseless accusations, explaining that the “wave of hateful scrutiny” over her gender “harms human dignity.” 

Fox shows spent a total of 2 hours and 31 minutes discussing the female boxers, focusing on the topic for 45 segments. “News” shows dedicated more time on the controversy compared to “opinion” shows, having spent 1 hour and 22 minutes and 1 hour 9 minutes, respectively. One of Fox's “news” programs, America's Newsroom, led all shows, with 21 minutes of coverage, giving the most airtime to the ginned-up controversy.

Fox News' pattern of manufacturing “anti-Christian” controversies and fueling backlash against the LGBTQ community is part of its broader culture war strategy. The network's coverage of the Paris Olympics' opening ceremony and the eligibility of the female boxers is just part of the familiar trend.

Media Matters searched transcripts in the SnapStream video database for all original programming on Fox News Channel for any of the terms any of the terms “Paris,” “summer games,” or “France” or any variation of the term “Olympic” within close proximity to any of the terms “drag,” “queen,” “woke,” “Jesus,” “symbol,” “supper,” “gender,” “46,” “forty six,” “chromosome,” “trans,” “transgender,” “controversy,” “XY,” “XX,” or “opening ceremony” or any variation of the terms “christ,” “Vinci,” “Leonardo,” “paint,” “box,” “Khelif,” “Ting,” “beat,” “disqualify,” “eligible,” “Taiwan,” or “Algeria” from July 26, 2024, when the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony occurred, through August 7, 2024.

We timed segments, which we defined as instances when either the controversy surrounding the 2024 Paris Olympic Games' opening ceremony or the controversy regarding the eligibility of two female boxers was the stated topic of discussion or when we found significant discussion of either controversy. We defined significant discussion as instances when two or more speakers in a multitopic segment discussed either controversy with one another.

We also timed mentions, which we defined as instances when a single speaker in a segment on another topic mentioned either controversy without another speaker in the segment engaging with the comment and teasers, which we defined as instances when the anchor or host promoted a segment about either controversy scheduled to air later in the broadcast.

We rounded all times to the nearest minute.

We reviewed the identified segments, mentions, and teasers for any mention of either the supposed anti-Christian and LGBTQ symbols during the opening ceremony that allegedly “mocked” Christianity or Western civilization or the false accusations or suggestions that two female boxers, Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, are not female.