A Fox host sparked outrage on Wednesday by claiming that Lego is “going woke” because they have introduced characters with a range of identities and personality traits.
In a segment on Fox News, host Harris Faulkner introduced a segment on Lego by announcing that “Lego is going woke.”
As evidence, Faulkner offered news that the Danish toy company is unveiling a range of new characters that include characters with anxiety, characters who are disabled, and characters with Down Syndrome.
“These are really important issues,” Faulkner told Fox Radio host Jimmy Failla. “Do you want Lego in there?”
“Definitely not,” Failla said. “But what’s so fascinating about this story is the divide in the country. Republicans think it is insane that they are forcing identity politics into Legos. Democrats are upset they didn’t make a drag queen stripper.”
Failla, who hosts the radio programme Fox Across America on weekdays, went on to argue that Lego is introducing the characters with various different identities because of a particular political agenda.
“But the reason they force identity into toys is because they think identity comes with a built-in political orientation, and that’s what they’re after here,” Failla said. “I’m not having it.”
Fox News has run numerous segments over the last year-plus trying to foment outrage at corporations for voicing their displeasure with far right social policy or attempting to make their offerings more diverse. The criticism of Lego comes as the company introduces a line of characters who represent a range of human conditions and abilities.
A number of viewers were not impressed, either with the claim that Lego’s representation of different people means that the company is “woke” or that the topic is worthy of coverage on a national network.
Failla offered some more advice to viewers at the end of the conversation.
“That’s the whole point of Lego — if your kid builds with them, he’s smart, he’s going to be fine,” he said. “If you’re kid eats them, you’ve got to keep an eye on that.”
