On Wednesday, Dale ran down a list of fact-checks from the night’s speakers. One of which was, “A Florida congressman, Mike Waltz, mocked Biden for allegedly being focused on building electric tanks. That is pure fiction. Biden has made no push for electric tanks, though the army does want some other vehicles to be electrified.”
Fast forward to Thursday, and Waltz was eager to rebut Dale’s claim, but Sanchez slowed him down in order to set the scene, “So, there was a CNN fact check of your speech. You mentioned that one point, I want to get this right, you said that Biden was focused on building electric tanks. Apparently that comes from this army climate strategy that said that they wanted to make tactical vehicles electric.”
Waltz jumped in, “Wrong. Let me fact-check your fact-checker.”
Bringing the receipts, Waltz proceeded, “I have here Bloomberg reporting, the U.S. 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.”
Waltz was just getting started, “So, I would just suggest that Daniel Dale sit down with the chairman of the Readiness Committee, who reviews and approves these budgets, and has the testimony and has the actual facts, before he questioned someone's credibility on national television.”
Sanchez feebly tried to mediate, “I'm sure that he would be more than happy to sit down—”
Waltz insisted Dale should have thought about that before going on the air, “Well, he should do that before he publicly puts it. I mean, it's forever on the internet. He set it on air. And when we talk about misleading, he's misleading the public. And so, if he's misleading on, 'I have all the facts', if he's misleading on that, what else is he misleading—?”
Again, Sanchez tried to defend Dale, “I think you're getting an opportunity to respond to them now. And as you know, congressman, getting to the truth is a process. It's not as cut and dry as it may seem sometimes.”
Sanchez isn’t wrong, but that is precisely why having someone like Dale claim to be the personification of truth is so problematic. Facts are important, so is checking them, but if the fact-checkers can’t do that, then they shouldn’t be criticizing others, as Waltz explained, “But, literally minutes after my speech, he's telling the world I'm misleading. There's no way he could review the Army's budget, the research and development, the testimony that I personally received under oath, or how about just Google it and get the facts.”
Dale is not alone in trying to debunk the idea that Biden is pushing electric tanks. Indeed, it is something the fact-checkers love to claim is not true, but defending Democrats on their misplaced defense priorities is a time-honored tradition for the fact-checkers.
Here is a transcript for the July 17 and 18 shows:
CNN Republican National Convention
7/17/2024
11:37 PM ET
DANIEL DALE: A Florida congressman, Mike Waltz, mocked Biden for allegedly being focused on building electric tanks. That is pure fiction. Biden has made no push for electric tanks, though the army does want some other vehicles to be electrified.
***
CNN News Central
7/18/2024
1:09 PM ET
MIKE WALTZ: And just while we're talking that –
BORIS SANCHEZ: Sure.
WALTZ: I do want to talk Daniel Dale, the CNN lead fact-checker—
SANCHEZ: I was going to get to that, yeah.
WALTZ: — who, I mean, directly, got on air last night and spoke to my speech where I talked about Biden's military, and his misguided priorities.
SANCHEZ: Let's get to that.
WALTZ: Yeah.
SANCHEZ: So, there was a CNN fact check of your speech. You mentioned that one point, I want to get this right, you said that Biden was focused on building electric tanks.
WALTZ: Yup.
SANCHEZ: Apparently that comes from this army climate strategy that said that they wanted to make tactical vehicles electric.
WALTZ: Wrong. Let me fact check your fact checker.
SANCHEZ: Sure. Go ahead.
WALTZ: 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.
So, I would just suggest that Daniel Dale sit down with the chairman of the Readiness Committee, who reviews and approves these budgets, and has the testimony and has the actual facts, before he questioned someone's credibility on national television.
SANCHEZ: I'm sure that he would be more than happy to sit down –
WALTZ: Well, he should do that before he publicly puts it. I mean, it's forever on the internet. He set it on air. And when we talk about misleading, he's misleading the public. And so, if he's misleading on, ‘I have all the facts,’ if he's misleading on that, what else is he misleading—?
SANCHEZ: I think you're getting an opportunity to respond to them now.
WALTZ: Thank you and I appreciate that.
SANCHEZ: And as you know, congressman, getting to the truth is a process. It's not as cut and dry as it may seem sometimes.
WALTZ: But, literally minutes after my speech, he's telling the world I'm misleading. There's no way he could review the Army's budget, the research and development, the testimony that I personally received under oath, or how about just Google it and get the facts.
SANCHEZ: As I said, it's a process, I'm sure he did some research. I would love to have you both on to discuss it at the same time.
WALTZ: Let’s go with this afternoon.
