The "independent fact-checkers" who rush to defend President Biden want everyone to know "The US still exists." PolitiFact, Lead Stories, Associated Press, and USA Today all pounced on a TikTok video claiming Biden signed away American sovereignty recently during his visit to Mexico at a summit with the leaders of Mexico and Canada.
On January 3, PolitiFact's Samantha Putterman summarized:
Does the United States no longer exist? Are you reading this from a defunct country?
No, but that’s what one viral video spreading across the internet claims.
"Did you know that the United States of America as you know it no longer exists?" a person asks in a widely shared on Facebook video. The claim, which has amassed 3,600 shares on Facebook, debuted on TikTok before migrating to other platforms.
"And I don’t mean this theoretically. On Jan. 10, 2023, while no one was paying attention, Joe Biden signed away our sovereignty as a nation."
Facebook flagged this post with a warning from all three fact-checkers -- in case you thought America failed to exist.
The document, a "Declaration of North America," is one of those "shared goals" statements leaders issue after a meeting. It began with a joint pledge on "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion," noting the leaders "reiterated their joint commitment to protect civil rights, promote racial justice, expand protections for LGBTQI+ individuals and deliver more equitable outcomes to all." They also singled out "Indigenous Peoples." No "fact checkers" wondered if "DEI" is actually the opposite of inclusive or equitable.
AP's Graph Massara explained:
The declaration isn’t binding — or anywhere near that extreme.
“This announcement is basically happy talk about cooperation between the three governments and creates no new legal obligations,” said Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute who studies constitutional law....
“It is true that when actual treaties are written and ratified there can be effects on U.S. sovereignty. That can be an area of concern,” Olson said. “But no new treaty is being created here.”
Treaties must be ratified by the U.S. Senate. On its "Hoax Alert," Lead Stories added:
Nor does it mean, as the woman in the video claims at the 1:30 mark, that law enforcement personnel in the United States are "becoming mercenaries, working for a non-sovereign who is paying them to control us and stop us from securing our rights, freedoms and borders." The DNA is an aspirational commitment -- the kind that commonly comes out of meetings among world leaders.
We have no doubt the "fact checkers" are correct, only that they have an exquisite shared sensitivity to misinformation harmful to the Democrat side.
