They call themselves “independent fact-checkers,” but in their “independent” opinion, Republicans have a “culture of lying.” So said PolitiFact founder Bill Adair in promoting his new book, provocatively titled Beyond the Big Lie: The Epidemic of Political Lying, Why Republicans Do It More, and How It Could Burn Down Our Democracy.
According to Adair’s book, “the problem began before Donald Trump and will continue after he’s gone." Adair argued it went back to Newt Gingrich, who spurred a Republican House majority in 1994. That sends a signal that the "fact checkers" are in fact Democrats. Gingrich rhetorically broke away from the notion that Democrats were a loyal opposition. He had a more smash-mouth approach that the Democrats weren't good people, but people who wanted to undermine America. They think that's a lie.
That deep-seated belief that Republicans lie incessantly matches the current “fact checking” output of PolitiFact. In a NewsBusters analysis of six months of PolitiFact articles (April to September) that evaluated a named politician or public official with a “Truth-O-Meter” ruling reveals that PolitiFact is profoundly tilted against the GOP:
REPUBLICANS (107 fact checks)
True/Mostly True: 11 (10.3 percent)
Half True: 8 (7.5 percent)
Mostly False/False/ Pants On Fire: 88 (82.2 percent)
So Republicans are tagged as factually wrong more than four out of five times. It intensified in August and September, when the False-to-True ratio was 51 to 5, more than ten to one.
Now compare it to the Other Party:
DEMOCRATS (75 fact checks)
True/Mostly True: 27 (36 percent)
Half True: 17 (22.7 percent)
Mostly False/False/Pants on Fire 31 (41.3 percent)
Often Democrats are found equally True and False, with a healthy dash of Half Trues. This finding is actually tougher on the Democrats than it was in the first quarter, when the False-to-True ratio was 10 to 22. In September, PolitiFact found the Democrats on the True side three times and on the False side ten times (and six Half Trues). But as a percentage, Democrats were half as False as Republicans -- and in raw numbers, the Republicans were almost three times more likely to get flagged as False.
So adding those numbers to our earlier study of January to March, the difference is clear:
Republicans 19-16-135 (79.4 percent Mostly False or worse)
Democrats 49-24-41 (36.0 percent Mostly False or worse, but True more than False)
The difference is starker with the presidential nominees. Donald Trump was fact-checked 42 times from April to September, and none were on the True side, two were Half True, and 40 were Mostly False or worse. Forty to zero. Does that look nonpartisan to anyone? Add in the first quarter, and it's 57 to 0. Fully 15 of the 40 new False verdicts were the worst designation of "Pants On Fire," falling just short of the 17 False rulings.
From April to September, President Biden was checked 19 times, and he was on the True side as often as the False side, seven and seven (with five Half Trues). For the year, it's nine on the True side and 11 on the False side (10 Half Trues).
In that time frame, Kamala Harris was checked 17 times, and she was rated as True or Mostly True on six occasions, and as Mostly False or worse on eight occasions (six Mostly False, two False). She had three Half Trues. For the year, it's eight on the True side and nine on the False side (three Half Trues).
Biden drew zero “Pants on Fire” warnings this year, and has only seven of those in the entire history of PolitiFact going back to 2007 (just one during his presidency). Kamala Harris has zero overall, and she was first elected statewide in California in 2010. Trump currently has 201. This is where you can see PolitiFact's editorial aggression, since Newt Gingrich has only twelve. Bernie Sanders has a perfect zero like Kamala.
In the April to September time frame, Republicans were whacked as "Pants on Fire" 19 times, and the Democrats only once. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker drew one -- for saying on ABC's This Week that J.D. Vance is "getting known for his obsession with couches."
On September 4, Trump was rated as “Pants on Fire” for calling Kamala Harris a “communist.” But Democrats and leftists (even TV hosts) have called Trump a “fascist.” Search PolitiFact for a harsh rating on that, and you won’t find any fact check.
So when you point out this dramatic and partisan disparity, that's painted as just trying to intimidate the People of Fact, according to Bill Adair. His book promo explains "Adair examines how Republicans have tried to change the landscape to allow their lying by intimidating the news media, people in academia and government, and tech companies.”
