It is a common retort among those who argue in favor of an “independent” fact-checking industry that Republicans and conservatives are fact-checked more because they lie more. However, anyone who reads beyond the headlines will soon see this is nonsense. Over the past year, the fact-checkers have come out with some “fact” checks that are themselves factually challenged. Here are the worst ten.
10. Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler Defends Harris’s 2020 Riots Response (September 16)
In 2020, then-Sen. Kamala Harris tweeted out a link for the Minnesota Freedom Fund that sought to bail rioters out of jail. Four years later, a pro-Trump Super PAC criticized that decision, claiming, “She raised millions to help bail rioters out of jail.”
Kessler downplayed Harris’s role, giving the claim three pinocchios, “Harris herself never personally bailed out anyone or had any interaction with the fund... Justin Timberlake also tweeted his support. There’s no way to know how much money was raised because of Harris’s tweet.”
9. PolitiFact’s Double Standards on Political Insults (September 4)
When former Georgia Sen. David Perdue labeled current Sen. Jon Ossoff a socialist in 2020, PolitiFact gave him a “pants on fire rating.” When Democrats, including President Joe Biden, accused Republicans of passing Jim Crow-esque election integrity laws, they demurred and claimed the subject was too complicated for a rating. This election season, they reverted back to the Perdue standard when they gave Donald Trump a “pants on fire” label for claiming Kamala Harris is a communist.
8. PolitiFact’s Joke Police Come For The Babylon Bee (March 27)
While most of the fact-checkers have learned to treat satire as satire, PolitiFact has not, as it gave a “false” label to the Bee’s joke that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigeg, “actually praised a cargo ship for helping to dismantle racism in American roads.”
7. CNN’s Daniel Dale Claims George Soros Is A Victim Of ‘Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories’ (May 7)
When Donald Trump suggested Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg was targeting him for political reasons, he cited the fact that he was supported by progressive billionaire activist George Soros. Dale was not happy, but his reasoning was not convincing, “So, Mr. Soros, who's a liberal billionaire philanthropist, also a frequent target of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, did not make any direct contributions to Mr. Bragg's election campaign. He also says he's never spoken once to Mr. Bragg. What did happen was he donated to a liberal PAC that then in turn donated to Mr. Bragg's campaign, as well as other reform-minded prosecutors. So, this is at best a one-step-removed relationship.”
6. CNN’s Daniel Dale Gets His Fact-Check Fact-Checked (July 17 and 18)
In one of his RNC fact-checking recaps, Dale claimed Congressman and incoming national security advisor Mike Waltz spread “pure fiction” when he accused Biden of "allegedly being focused on building electric tanks.”
The next day, Waltz joined CNN and brought the receipts, “I have here Bloomberg reporting, the US Army putting its electric tanks on hold, because they have to further invest in and develop the battery technology. I have testimony with the Secretary of the Army, this issue, I have the budget where they're investing in research and development on electric fighting vehicles, in addition to the non-tactical vehicles mentioned in that climate strategy.”
5. Snopes Claims Biden Didn’t Wear A Hard Hat Backwards When He Did (January 26)
During a trip to Wisconsin, President Joe Biden posed for a photo with a hard hat on backwards. Snopes claimed he did not because the hat’s bill was facing forward. However, safety regulations require the nape strap be placed on the back of the wearer’s head where Biden’s was on his forehead. After receiving heavy criticism, Snopes was forced to correct the ruling.
4. PolitiFact Defends Sen. Brown On “Gender-Affirming Care” For Minors (October 11)
The GOP’s Senate Leadership Fund accused Sen. Sherrod Brown of supporting giving hormones and puberty blockers to minors, but despite statements from Brown and his campaign affirming that he does, including a letter Brown and other Democrats sent to President Biden lamenting red state laws on the issue, PolitiFact still refused to give the SLF a true rating. Instead, they got cute “Gender-affirming care is an individualized health care model that prioritizes encouraging and supporting a person’s gender identity — it is more than puberty blockers and surgery.”
3. PolitiFact Not Once, Not Twice, But Three Times Defends Democratic Senators On Transgender Sports (October 10, 29, and 31)
PolitiFact really did not like Republican Senate candidates campaigning on the idea that Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown, Jacky Rosen, and Jon Tester supported allowing males to compete in women’s sports. PolitiFact defended the trio by claiming their no votes on a Sen. Tommy Tuberville amendment should not be seen as evidence against them because it was part of a larger and unrelated spending bill.
The fact that none of the relevant senators gave any indication they would vote the other way on a standalone bill was ignored. Likewise, PolitiFact insisted the role of the federal government to regulate who competes in college and high school sports is limited to non-existent, but civil rights legislation, such as Title IX, could be used to argue that women’s sports must be protected.
2. Snopes Defends Walz’s Anti-Religious Teacher Standards (August 30)
Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz, as governor of Minnesota, oversaw changes to the state’s teaching standards that required teachers to affirm beliefs about homosexuality and transgenderism that religious people would object to. This led conservatives to claim that Walz had banned Christians, Jews, and Muslims from holding teaching positions in the state, but Snopes claimed such a claim was nonsense because Minnesota didn’t explicitly pass a religious test. The article also featured many featured several unrelated personal attacks on those making the claim.
1. PolitiFact Rates Vance ‘Mostly False’ For Agreeing With Them (October 2)
During the vice presidential debate, PolitiFact quoted JD Vance as saying immigration leads to higher home prices. In their rebuttal, PolitiFact argued, “Experts agree that increased immigration leads to higher demand for limited housing, but it is not solely, or predominantly, responsible for higher housing prices. Instead, they point to the shortage of affordable housing as the main driver of higher housing costs.”
Vance’s full quote was, “There's a Federal Reserve study that we're happy to share after the debate. We'll put it up on social media. Actually, that really drills down on the connection between increased levels of migration, especially illegal immigration, and higher housing prices. Now, of course, Margaret, that's not the entire driver of higher housing prices. It's also the regulatory regime of Kamala Harris. Look, we are a country of builders. We're a country of doers. We're a country of explorers. But we increasingly have a federal administration that makes it harder to develop our resources, makes it harder to build things.”
