USA Today adds Republicans Sears, Miyares to victorious ‘candidates of color’ report after initial snub
Newspaper updated story after Fox News covered backlash from conservatives
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}USA Today initially snubbed Winsome Sears and Jason Miyares from a report highlighting the "candidates of color" who made history in various election races on Tuesday but added the trailblazing Republicans following a Fox News report on backlash to the omissions.
Virginia rocked the political world with Glenn Youngkin leading the Republican ticket to victory in the commonwealth that President Joe Biden won by ten points last year. The two other big winners were Sears, who will become Virginia's lieutenant governor to be a woman of color, and Miyares, who will be the state's first Hispanic attorney general.
However, neither of them were initially mentioned in USA Today's roundup of the diverse candidates that emerged victorious this week. Instead, the initial report listed several Democrats who won historic races like Asian-American Michelle Wu winning the Boston mayoral race and Eric Adams becoming the second Black mayor of New York City.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Republican Delegate Winsome Sears celebrates winning the race for Lt. Governor of Virginia as she introduces Republican candidate for Governor Glenn Youngkin during an election night party in Chantilly Virginia, U.S., November 3, 2021. REUTERS/ Jonathan Ernst (REUTERS/ Jonathan Ernst)
After Fox News reached out for comment, USA Today eventually updated its story to include Sears and Miyares.
Fox News Digital covered backlash to the glaring omissions, which included criticism from high-profile conservatives such as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Victorious candidates Winsome Sears and Jason Miyares joined Glenn Youngkin on stage at a rally Nov. 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
"The corrupt corporate media isn't interested in reporting accurately. They're only interested in advancing their leftist agenda," Cruz tweeted.
A disclaimer at the top of the article now reads, "This story has been updated to reflect additional races that were called on Wednesday." Sears was also included in the report's new headline and the paper claimed it planned to update the story all along.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The Miyares and Sears races weren’t called last night when we initially wrote and posted the story referenced in your inquiry, but we had planned to update it with the Virginia results today. We’ve now updated to reflect the Sears and Miyares victories," Gannett told Fox News.
Supporters of Republican nominee for Governor of Virginia Glenn Youngkin react as Fox News declares Youngkin has won his race against Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe and Youngkin will be the next Governor of Virginia during an election night party at a hotel in Chantilly, Virginia, U.S., November 3, 2021. (REUTERS/ Elizabeth Frantz)
Gannett, USA Today's parent company, sent Fox News other articles and analysis pieces that included references to Sears and Miyares. However, unlike the report focused on winning candidates of color, the others require a paid subscription to the newspaper.