Debunking
“Am I Racist?” Documentary
Facts about the Daily Wire assault on anti-racism efforts
Journalists in need of more information, please contact Loretta Kane.
Am I Racist? movie
Far-right provocateur Matt Walsh’s newest film is “Am I Racist?,” produced by conservative news outlet The Daily Wire. The “documentary” is being distributed by the same Christian-identified company that promoted the debunked anti-abortion film “Unplanned” in 2019.
Walsh calls the film “raw” and “honest,” despite it being rooted in deception and driven by an anti-DEI agenda. Walsh has described “Am I Racist?” as a vehicle to unravel anti-racism programs such as diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming. He calls those programs a “scam” for financial gain. He targets anti-racism leaders and authors — for example, he called one of his targets a “nutty hack.”
Walsh is the star of the 2022 anti-trans film “What is a Woman?” and the author of multiple books promoting anti-transgender pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. Walsh hosts “The Matt Walsh Show” on The Daily Wire. The Southern Poverty Law Center writes that Walsh incites violence and uses white supremacist rhetoric.
Distorting anti-racism efforts
Walsh’s intention in the video is to mock anti-racism programs and books. He focuses on two established forums:
Race to Dinner, an anti-racism program that uses group dinners to explore systemic racism among white women. Read here for a description of the dinners and reactions from participants. Rather than explore the dynamics and strategies of the dinner, Walsh interrupts and creates artificial scenarios that he can exploit in the video.
White Fragility, a bestselling book by Robin DiAngelo that challenges white people to address systemic racism. Read here for insight on “White Fragility” from a New York Times journalist who attended anti-racism sessions run by DiAngelo.
Walsh’s history of deceptive filming tactics
Walsh has a history of using deceptive tactics to obtain video footage for his projects. The entire filming experience for “Am I Racist?” relied on intricate and well-funded deception.
While filming the 2022 anti-transgender movie “What is a Woman?,” the production company misrepresented itself to lure advocates from the LGBTQIA+ community into interviews. Walsh used similar tactics to trick people into appearing in his newest project, “Am I Racist?,” which is based on the premise that “DEI culture is one of the most toxic plagues in American life.”
In 2023, Walsh’s employee, Gregg Re, pretended to be a patient seeking gender-affirming telehealth care and used secretly recorded footage of his encounter with a medical provider to further denigrate healthcare providers.
Extras in Walsh’s 2023 film “Lady Ballers” claimed the movie was advertised to them as “a sports comedy film,” and were angered when it was confirmed on set that the premise of the film was in fact “a spoof on transgenders in sports,” leading some to protest.
Walsh created a fake Project 2025 website to lure progressives to a promotion of his “Am I Racist?” film. He and his production crew wore disguises and distributed pamphlets at the DNC, promoting the fake site.
Hate speech
Walsh gets regular pushback from colleges that are trying to avoid hate speech. His appearance at St. Xavier University was canceled due to his previously made public statements that violated the school’s policies, and a sign-on letter from faculty was published.
Walsh has supported groups that have advanced bigoted views, such as VDare, which is being investigated for improprieties by the New York Attorney General. According to Huffington Post, “VDare’s founder, Peter Brimelow, has argued that ‘Hispanics do specialize in rape.’” Brimelow has also attended events with white supremacist figures such as Richard Spencer, who helped organize the deadly 2017 neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The “great replacement” theory
Walsh has been expressing alarm about diversity for many years.
Concern that people are not reproducing enough echoes of Sen. JD Vance’s perspective that people without biological children are “selfish.”
“[Kamala Harris is] a woman who has chosen to dedicate her life to her own personal ambition and career advancement. She has lived a very self-serving life. The lack of children is a symptom of that.” — Matt Walsh on “The Matt Walsh Show” in 2024
“The extinction of the Anglo-Saxon race is just like that. Now, the solution is pretty simple. The solution is to freaking reproduce and have kids and have families […] But when you don’t have kids and when you don’t reproduce and you’ve decided that it’s more important for you to just get into your career and then when you’re in your forties maybe you’ll think about it — when you do that, that’s a dying race. Dying races are old and impotent. And right now the white race, at least the western white race, is old and impotent. Impotent.” — Matt Walsh on the “Matt and Crank Show” in 2011
Concern about Mexican immigrants overwhelming Anglo-Saxon culture and identity
“Don’t you agree that America — when the Mexican people come here… which is fine that they want to come… as long as they come legally, which most of them aren’t, but — they bring with them, being that they are a different culture, a different race and everything else — they bring with them identity, and they bring it to America. And so, as the Anglo-Saxons, which were the original Americans, die off, our identity and our culture goes with it.” — Matt Walsh on the “Matt and Crank Show” in 2011
“A country is more than just a border. It’s more than just a plot — if all America was, was just a plot of land we happened to be sitting on, then it would mean nothing to me. Okay? But because it’s also identified with a way of thinking, a way of life, a culture, a philosophy, because that was all there and it was an Anglo-Saxon thing, then, you know, that’s what I identify with. It’s not the location, the geography that I identify with. Yeah, I like the rolling hills and I like the purple mountains majesty and all that, too. But what I like most is the culture and philosophy that was distinctly Western Anglo-Saxon. And that’s what it was. And so when these other groups come, and, you say, ‘Well, as long as they don’t bring their —’ but they have brought their culture with them. So you can say that ‘as long as they don’t,’ but they have, and they will continue to, so let’s forget about that, because that’s exactly what they’re doing. And of course why wouldn’t they when the original inhabitors — well, the original inhabitors were, of course, Native American, but forget about them for a second. Everyone else has. When the original inhabitants of at least the United States of America are dying off because we’ve decided we’re too cool to have kids, then why wouldn’t they bring their culture? Because there is a cultural void. What I”m saying is when we die off, as we have been, we have left a cultural void. And that void will be filled with this other hodgepodge of cultures.” — Matt Walsh in leaked audio
Opposition to anti-racism efforts
“CRT is woke garbage.” — Matt Walsh on Facebook in 2021
“And those who teach CRT — or, rather, proselytize it — are not looking to convince you on an intellectual level. They’re looking for your spiritual and emotional assent. And if they can’t have that, then your cowed submission will have to do.” — Matt Walsh on “The Matt Walsh Show” in 2020
“I think [CRT] should be banned from public schools. Ban it from public universities. Impose financial penalties on any public education institution that promotes it. Personally, I think teachers who use their power and influence to brainwash children into this horrid superstition deserve to go to jail.” — Matt Walsh on “The Matt Walsh Show” in 2020
Backlash to Walsh’s anti-transgender “documentary”
“What is a Woman?” premiered at the start of Pride month on June 1, 2022, via the Daily Wire’s streaming service. The Daily Wire reportedly spent millions to promote the film.
Campus tour met with protests
Campus screenings with lectures led by Walsh, organized by conservative student groups, resulted in large student protests.
Eventbrite’s refusal to sell tickets to screenings based on violations of community guidelines
In Sept. 2022, Eventbrite took down listings for screenings based on violations of their community guidelines: “We do not permit events, content, or creators that promote or encourage hate, violence, or harassment towards others and/or oneself.”
Twitter’s restriction on airing the film and subsequent reversal by Elon Musk
According to one of the Daily Wire’s co-founders, X initially rejected an opportunity to premiere the documentary on its platform, claiming it violated their community standards via two instances of “misgendering” in the film. In April 2023, however, X removed the section of its hateful conduct policy that previously protected trans people from “misgendering and deadnaming,” and Elon Musk promoted the film, resulting in widespread attention.
Criticism of Walsh’s anti-transgender “documentary”
Walsh expressed frustration that “only six critics dared to review” the film, also stating: “Our film has been banned from most platforms. Mainstream movie critics refused to even review it,” and claimed the film had been “blacklisted and suppressed.”
Following the film, The New Republic declared Walsh “Transphobe of the Year,” explaining: “The right-wing writer and podcaster has raised his profile by spreading grotesque conspiracy theories about “grooming” and pedophilia in the LGBTQ community.”
Rejecting the human expression of gender
“The new anti-trans documentary What Is a Woman? begs its title question, not in the sense of suggesting it, but in the fallacious way of assuming its own answer. Despite mountains of evidence, the movie’s producers and onscreen guide, right-wing pundit Matt Walsh, do not believe that people can change their gender. Actually, as Walsh reveals by the end, he doesn’t accept that humans express gender at all.” — Malcolm Harris of New York Magazine’s Intelligencer
“Incitement to violence”
“I’m done asking questions,” Walsh says 78 minutes into the 95-minute runtime. Then he picks up a metal folding chair and hurls it against the bulletin board on which he’s pinned pieces of source material, including pictures of his trans subjects. This is where the film changes tone, from faux inquiry to what I saw as an incitement to violence.” — Malcolm Harris of New York Magazine’s Intelligencer
“Sleight-of-hand” tactics
“The filmmakers’ alleged sleight-of-hand tactics contradict the movie’s promise to be a ‘fearless’ examination of the modern gender debate, and the tactics appear to show the lengths to which some conservative activists have gone to try to cast doubt on the rights of trans people.” — David Ingram of NBC News
“This is not the way to argue against transgender ideology”
“Walsh gives opponents fodder to believe the worst about gender-critical commentators: not simply that they disagree with transition surgery, but that they loathe and look down on transitioners.” — Washington Examiner contributor Julian Adorney
Promoting false claims and misinformation in his “documentaries”
Walsh’s film “What is a Woman?” promoted a false claim that schoolchildren are self-identifying as animals and disrupting classrooms, which was debunked by Reuters.
Politifact rated Walsh’s claim that “tuck-friendly” bathing suits at Target “are available in kids’ sizes” as false, and rated his claim that “The youth suicide rate has increased exponentially alongside trans affirmation. Trans affirmation causes the suicide rate, not the other way around” as “mostly false.” Snopes, Associated Press, AFP Fact Check and USA Today also determined the Target swimsuit claim to be untrue.
During an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Walsh’s claim that "millions" of children are on hormone blockers was fact-checked by producers who clarified on-air that the actual number was only 4,780.
Newsweek fact-checked Walsh’s claim that "The Dylan Mulvaney endorsement cost Anheuser Busch four billion dollars so far. That's because we spoke out loudly and made them pay the price,” concluding that while Anheuser-Busch's market capitalization did decrease by around $4 billion since the Mulvaney ad was published, the price change was “not far off other fluctuations prior to the Mulvaney ad,” and that “the drop does not prove that a boycott of Bud Light products alone has had this effect.”
Newsweek also debunked Walsh’s claim that "Biden has indicted his top political rival for doing something that he has himself also done," concluding that “there is simply no compelling evidence to support an argument that Trump's indictment is Biden-led and accusations appear to be little more than political commentary and rhetoric.”
In response to Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, Walsh resurfaced the claim that Harris “got her start in politics by sleeping with Willie Brown,” which Reuters debunked twice in 2020.
Snopes rated a claim shared by Walsh alleging that Joe Biden received 100% of 128,000 new votes counted in Michigan during the 2020 election as false.
Walsh asserted that the Jan. 6 conspiracy theory claiming James Ray Epps is a federal agent or asset is “credible.” FactCheck.org refuted the claim and stated, “We could find no evidence that [Epps] has worked for the federal government.”
Snopes debunked a claim promoted by Walsh that mainstream news outlets purposely downplayed the racial dynamics in the murder of five-year-old Cannon Hinnant.
Walsh Timeline
2024 (upcoming): Releases “Am I Racist?,” an anti-DEI film, in collaboration with The Daily Wire.
2024: Stars in new courtroom reality show, “Judged by Matt Walsh,” which premiered on DailyWire+, X and YouTube.
2023: Participated in “Lady Ballers,” described by LGBTQ+ Nation as “a feature-length comedy film written to mock trans women and girls who are fighting for the right to participate in sports as their gender.”
2022: Released “What is a Woman?,” an anti-trans film, in collaboration with The Daily Wire.
2022: Published “Johnny the Walrus,” a transphobic children’s book.
2020: Published “Church of Cowards: A Wake-Up Call to Complacent Christians” book, which details Walsh's disappointment in American Christians and calls for a more robust Christian agenda that rebukes same sex relationships, sex education, abortion, and other themes that populate Walsh's public writings and statements.
2019: Published an essay, “Yes, I am a theocratic fascist,” and recorded a video, “Fine, I'm A Theocratic Fascist,” sarcastically responding to the backlash against his social media profiles, where he identified himself as such.
2017: Published “The Unholy Trinity: Blocking the Left's Assault on Life, Marriage, and Gender” book, described as a collection drawn from “Catholic teachings” on abortion, marriage and gender.
2010-2011: Hosted “The Matt and Crank Program,” a shock-jock radio show on WZBH wherein Walsh defended political violence and sexualized minors, and carried out office pranks which doubled as workplace harassment.
Resources about anti-racism and DEI
Myths and facts
“4 common arguments against DEI—and how to dismantle each one” Fast Company
“Three Of The Most Popular DEI Myths Debunked” Forbes
Philanthropy and DEI
“It’s Open Season on Civil Rights. Philanthropy Must Not Retreat.” The Chronicle of Philanthropy
The right-wing attack on anti-racism programs
“‘America Is Under Attack’: Inside the Anti-D.E.I. Crusade” The New York Times
“How the Claremont Institute Became the Nerve Center of the American Right” New York Times
“To Overcome Resistance to DEI, Understand What’s Driving It” Harvard Business Review