One of the most frustrating things about “fact-checkers” is how they leap on conservative rhetoric against Democrats as “false” or “missing context” but give Democrats a pass to say the wildest, nastiest things about conservatives.
For example, PolitiFact pounced on Georgia Sen. David Perdue as a “Pants on Fire” liar for calling his opponent Sen. Jon Ossoff a “socialist.” They gave Donald Trump a “Pants on Fire” rating for calling Ossoff and his fellow Georgia Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock “radical” and “the most extreme far-left candidates in the history of our country.”
But President Joe Biden can go to Atlanta and suggest that anyone who opposes the Democrat “voting rights” bill has taken the side of George Wallace, Bull Connor and Jefferson Davis, and … crickets.
Sometimes the exaggerations aren’t character assassination. On the Jan. 6 anniversary, Vice President Kamala Harris compared 1/6 to 9/11 and Pearl Harbor. Fact-checkers said nothing … except Snopes.com threw a “Mostly False” at conservative radio host Todd Starnes for saying Harris said 1/6 was “worse” than 9/11. Matthew Dowd actually said that in 2021 — and the fact-checkers yawned.
Here’s a brief rundown of the top fact-checkers on Biden’s Atlanta speech: PolitiFact? Nothing. FactCheck.org? Nothing. AP Fact Check? Nothing. Reuters? Nothing. CNN’s Daniel Dale team? Nothing. Snopes? Nothing. Lead Stories? Nothing.
Lead Stories did offer a UFO check this month, that “Biden, Harris Did NOT Visit Area 51 By Plane On January 8, 2022.”
The exception to this depressing rule is Washington Post “Fact Checker” head Glenn Kessler. He did not throw “Pinocchios” at Biden’s Bull Connor garbage. But he did apply the maximum “Four Pinocchios” rating to another passage in the Atlanta speech, when Biden claimed he was so “damn old” he’d been arrested for civil-rights protesting. Kessler pointed out that Biden has a history of claiming he’s been arrested, including in South Africa while he was trying to see Nelson Mandela, when there’s no proof Biden’s been arrested for anything.
Kessler concluded, “The primary source for this story is Biden — and we’ve learned over the years that he is not always a reliable source.” But remember, Kessler has no running Biden lie-counter like he did for Trump, and he won’t write a book about all of Biden’s lies, like he did for Trump. This is because he works for the Biden-backing Washington Post.
The Post fact-checker also recently exemplified the tendency to preemptively scream “Missing Context” when Republicans mock Democrats. Last March, Kessler threw two Pinocchios at Sen. Tom Cotton for predicting that Charleston mass shooter Dylann Roof would get a $1,400 relief check from the Democrats’ COVID “relief” package. Now we’ve learned Boston Marathon terrorist Dzhokhar Tsarnaev received that relief check, so Kessler publicly (and partially) walked back his attack on Cotton. But he kept a single Pinocchio for bad context.
There were no Pinocchios at all in an article titled “The Senate battle over whether election laws signify a new ‘Jim Crow.'” Kessler quoted Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer claiming, “The heirs of Jim Crow are weakening the foundations of our democracy,” and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calling this rhetoric “nonsensical.” Overall, it was a useful review of state voting laws. But despite calling it “rhetorical overkill,” there were zero Pinocchios for Schumer.
No one expects liberal “fact-checkers” to mark it as a broken promise that when Biden was proclaimed winner of the 2020 election, he claimed it was “a time to heal in America,” a time to “marshal the forces of decency.” Liberals are staunchly in favor of smash-mouth, our-way-or-you’re-racist politicking. Being decent or factual doesn’t matter — only winning does.
Tim Graham is director of media analysis at the Media Research Center and executive editor of the blog NewsBusters.org. To find out more about Tim Graham and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
“No Fact-Checking For Biden’s Atlanta Smears”. Why would the communist press fact check a fellow communist, like Joe Biden and his criminal crime family?
Facts.. They need no stinkin facts…
To Democrats, Truth, Facts, Reality and History are all irrelevant,
If the Democrats do not WANT to believe them or they disagree with them.
Democrats will just make up their own, Truth, Facts, Reality, History or voter tally to fit what they WANT to believe or fits into the Con or Deception that they are running at the time.
Nancy Pelosi admitted an unfortunate truth about her
Orchestrate and fabricated impeachment “farce”
– It hinges on witness’s “allegations” not “proof”.
It’s Not A Question” Of “Proof”, It’s About “Allegations”
https://youtu.be/7dzhIxeF204
Fact checking only applies when Liberals are on the receiving end of negative remarks.
Normally when it comes to misrepresentation of facts it has been said “There are lies, damn lies and statistics” With Liberal media fact checking, “They are liars, Damn Liars, and the Autistic”, which indicates their total psychological developmental disorder that effects communication and behavior. Autism usually develops in the first two years of life. With Liberals it’s called their cradle to grave secular indoctrination.
Joe’s idea of “a time to heal in America,” a time to “marshal the forces of decency.” Is to scrape open the healing racial scabs that MLK tried to heal, then use his name to promote not the content of a man’s or country’s character, but attack half the nation for the color of one’s skin, which is recently the color of his own, followed naming Hunter as the parade Marshal of marching forced finger attacks on females, nude Whitehouse pool appearances, hair sniffing of unarmed adult females and Congressional children, with a pound of foreign business deals of 10% kickbacks thrown in for good measure, none of which is EVER covered by the MSM.
I’d just be happy if they pointed out that Davis, Connor, and Wallace were Democrats and King and Lincoln were Republicans.
AND THE KKK WAS founded by the Dems.. The reps didn’t even exist TILL AFTER the civil war!!!
In America today the fact checkers first need to be vetted by known honest fact checkers before anything is considered honest facts.
Better yet, JUST GET RID Of these so-called “Fact checkers”!