PolitiFact is demonstrating its partisanship in the Texas campaign for U.S. Senate. Hat tip to Matthew Hoy for pointing out that on Thursday, they threw a “False” flag at Texas PAC for the statement that Democrat state Rep. James Talarico “supported using taxpayer dollars for sex change surgeries on young children.”
PolitiFact used the fact-defying term "gender-affirming" eight times, including in headlines.
It’s at least Mostly True: Talarico voted against a Republican bill to ban sex-change surgeries for minors and prohibit public money for funding them (which passed). Talarico claimed it was overly broad, but his routine expressions of admiration and support for “transgender” children show where he belongs -- a big trans-lobby booster.
PolitiFact's Ben Brasch quoted Talarico calling the ad a "lie," that he opposes surgery for children, adding:
Talarico voted for all 18 unsuccessful Democratic amendments. Talarico also requested to add a provision that would have killed the legislation if the Health and Human Services Commission determined there were “high-quality, long-term studies demonstrating the efficacy and safety of” therapies, puberty blockers or surgery that helped children overcome gender dysphoria.
Brasch added that Talarico declared during the Pflugerville Pride 2023 Legislative Panel that the legislation would deny “life-saving health care from our trans youth in Texas.” Republicans apparently favor "life-ending" alternatives.
But when Talarico throws out-of-context things at Paxton, the "Truth-O-Meter" is not employed.
On Friday, PolitiFact writer Loreben Tuquero offered an "In Context" article to elaborate on the full context of Paxton's remarks about "God's plan" and the horrible school shooting in Uvalde, but Talarico is campaigning against the tone-deaf sound of Paxton's remarks at the time:
In a six-second video attached to the post, Paxton is heard saying, “Look, there’s always a plan. I believe God always has a plan. Life is short no matter what it is.”
Talarico’s campaign framed Paxton’s comments the same way Aug. 2 and Sept. 1, posting on X that Paxton called the Uvalde shooting “part of a ‘plan’ by ‘God.’”
Paxton called the shooting "senseless" and tried to comfort the grieving: "Even though we can’t make sense of it, I would just have to encourage them to hold on to their faith and to hold on to their belief that there really is purpose in, in what God does and we may not know it now, but someday we will.”
Why no "Mostly False" for wrenching Paxton out of context?
By contrast, PolitiFact opened up the general election in May with two false flags for Paxton on Talarico. Overall over the years, Paxton has been ruled "Mostly False" or worse on 10 of 12 fact checks (83.3 percent), while Talarico is 100 percent on the True side. Isn't that a clever deployment of the "Truth-O-Meter"?
In early June, Amy Sherman's fact check touted Talarico as "Mostly True" for this rough statement:
“Adam Hoffman abused a little boy” and Ken Paxton “let Hoffman off the hook.”
"Off the hook"? Is that fair? Sherman noted Waco lawyer Adam Hoffman’s trial for routinely abusing a boy ended in a mistrial, and then “the victim said he did not want to testify again, so prosecutors reached a plea deal. In a letter prosecutors wrote to a lawmaker who questioned the deal, they said they did not want to force the victim to testify a second time.” Hoffman pleaded guilty to “indecent assault."
This is how PolitiFact can be so useful to Democrats in a general election in waving the "True" flag at nasty Democrat ads and the "False" flag at Republican ads.
