On April 25, 2024, a user on X posted a 24-second video from the same morning's Fox News broadcast of "Fox & Friends." The user's caption read, "'Fox & Friends' this morning featured one million white dudes at a Pennsylvania diner saying the Pledge of Allegiance."
The video showed patrons at a diner — identified on screen as being in Warminster, Pennsylvania — reciting the Pledge of Allegiance while facing an American flag. The chyron read, "PA Diners Say Pledge of Allegiance Live On 'F&F.'"
Some users criticized the post. After some digging, we found some of the users had missed out on key context. (To be clear, one aspect of this subject not in question was the "one million" part, since that was nothing more than a comedic exaggeration.)
The Context
In a post that was later removed, one user on X identified the location of the diner as Eagle Diner in Warminster, adding, "I don't understand what is supposed to be normal about a diner full of people 'organically' saying the Pledge of Allegiance instead of just eating breakfast. We would call this propaganda if it was in any other country."
According to the 2020 U.S. Census, Warminster has a population of over 33,000 people. It is located in Bucks County. Both Warminster and the county tallied more votes for Joe Biden than then-President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
In the video, "Fox & Friends" host Lawrence Jones makes a slight reference to veterans, saying to the show's other co-hosts standing next to children at another location, "Guys, what a powerful moment from the greatest generation. Now, over to the next generation. Hopefully, they can keep this legacy going."
In a reply that also has since been deleted, a user wrote to the person who mentioned "propaganda," writing, "I think you're missing context here and spreading some misinformation. Looks like Eagle Diner has a Veteran's Breakfast Club every Thursday, so it's not just random people eating breakfast and saying the Pledge."
This user was correct. We spoke by phone with a person who works at the Eagle Diner, who confirmed a group named The Veteran's Breakfast Club regularly meets at the restaurant on some Thursdays, including a larger gathering on the last Thursday of each month. April 25 was the last Thursday of the month. Further, they confirmed the group regularly recites the Pledge when meeting together at the diner.
The user who mentioned "propaganda" later clarified, "I don't begrudge the veterans here in any way, to be extremely clear. This is entirely about how Fox uses them for a spectacle."
The Criticism
Some users unaware of the fact the gathering involved a regular meeting of veterans lashed out without first gathering the facts.
"I no longer wonder how 1930's Nazi Germany happened. We are living it right now. Fascism on the march," one user posted.
"Fox correspondent probably told them off-camera that Joe Biden has some grand plans to ban the Pledge of Allegiance," another person wrote.
"And the Fox reporter calling them the 'greatest generation.' Bro....that was their parents. These are boomers all the way," a third user remarked. This user may have been incorrect, at least according to Jones' own reporting. A video posted on the Eagle Diner Facebook page shows Jones pointing to veterans and identifying them as fighting in wars going back to World War II.
"We've got veterans from Desert Storm, Afghanistan, the Korean War, World War II and of course Vietnam," Jones says in the Facebook video, showing the moments just before the Pledge featured in the 24-second video that was posted to X. One of the vets does clarify that most of them fought in Vietnam.
Snopes contacted The Veteran's Breakfast Club to ask if they were aware of these discussions on X. We will update this story if we get a response.