In 2020, PolitiFact gave Georgia Sen. David Perdue a “pants on fire” rating for claiming that rival Jon Ossoff was a socialist. Now, PolitiFact is at it again, giving Donald Trump a similar “pants on fire” on Wednesday for rating for labeling Kamala Harris a communist.
In the “if your time is short,” section, Amy Sherman summarizes, “Marxism refers to the school of thought inspired by Karl Marx’s analysis of capitalism. Communism is a political system of government or a party that abolishes private property.”
Additionally, she notes Harris’s “campaign pledge to pass a federal ban on price gouging on food drew criticism, but experts said it does not amount to communism.”
In the main article, Sherman warns, “These attacks echo those of 1950s McCarthyism, when Sen. Joe McCarthy, R-Wis., led hearings on what he alleged was communist infiltration in high levels of the federal government.”
If you go on PolitiFact looking for the pants on fire ratings of the left calling Trump, or any Republican, a fascist, you won’t find it. What you will find is a “half true” rating on Madeline Albright comparing Trump’s “drain the swamp” rhetoric to Benito Mussolini. When President Joe Biden compared GOP voting laws to Jim Crow, PolitiFact claimed the subject was too complicated to give him a rating despite admitting the laws were nothing like Jim Crow.
Hypocrisy aside, Sherman hypes, “We have rated similar attacks against congressional Democrats, Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, as False or Pants on Fire.”
Sherman also notes, “The Trump campaign pointed to a column written by Washington Post opinion writer Catherine Rampell, headlined: "When your opponent calls you ‘communist,’ maybe don’t propose price controls?" (Rampell has also criticized Trump’s economic ideas.)”
The parenthetical, of course, has nothing to do with the fact-check, but Sherman ultimately allows Team Harris to describe itself, “Harris’ campaign describes Harris’ stance as capitalist, not Marxist, and experts say her policies are based on the assumption of a market-driven economy. Her issue portfolio consists of mainstream left-of-center views, and would be uncontroversial even among right-of-center parties in Europe.”
She concludes, “When Trump calls Harris a communist, it evokes fear in Americans who fled authoritarian communist regimes. Neither her past nor current positions reveal Harris, the U.S. vice president for the last four years, to be communist. We rate this statement Pants on Fire!”
If political insults that aren’t 100 percent literal are going to be given “pants on fire” ratings, then PolitiFact should start applying that standard equally.
