Newsweek draws criticism for labeling Family Research Council as 'hate group'

Newsweek has drawn criticism for calling the Family Research Council (FRC) a hate group in a story about President Donald Trump attending the organization's Values Voters Summit in Washington D.C.

The article, which has the headline "Donald Trump to Speak at Hate Group's Annual Event, a First for a President," pointed out that the FRC has been described by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a "rogues" gallery of the radical right.

"The anti-LGBTQ Family Research Council, labeled as a hate group by the SPLC, has hosted its annual summit since its inception in 2006," it went on to say.

It also featured a quote from SPLC President Richard Cohen, who expressed concern that Trump is "lending the legitimacy of his office" to FRC by appearing at the annual event, arguing that the organization "relentlessly demonizes LGBTQ people and works to deny them of their equal rights."

Trump was the first sitting U.S. president to speak at the event, but Newsweek noted that he had spoken before the conference on three previous occasions.

Ed Whelan, president of Ethics and Public Policy Center, took to Twitter to denounce the article, saying: "What vicious nonsense from Newsweek. But a useful reminder that, for some reason, Newsweek still exists."

Denny Burk, a professor of biblical studies at Boyce College, retweeted Whelan, and added: "Unbelievable. Vicious indeed."

"It is irresponsible the way some media outlets are throwing out the word 'hate group' to describe conservative organizations," tweeted Daniel Darling, vice president for Communications for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The SPLC's Hatewatch has been used by some scholars, authors and media outlets as a definitive guide on identifying hate groups. But some conservatives have denounced the list for lumping pro-life, pro-marriage and Christian organizations in with neo-Nazis and the KKK.

The data from SPLC has reportedly prompted the Department of Defense (DOD) to compare Catholic and Protestant Christians to al Qaeda, as examples of religious extremism in the past.

Earlier this month, the DOD reportedly severed ties with the SPLC and stopped using the group's materials in the agency's classes about racial, gender and religious equality and "pluralism."

FRC's appearance on SPLC's list drew headlines in 2012 when a gunman, Floyd Corkins, entered FRC headquarters with the aim of killing everyone in the building. FRC's building manager, Leo Johnson, was able to subdue Corkins, but was shot in the process. Corkins reportedly targeted the FRC after finding the group on SPLC's "Hatewatch."