Fact-checking fact-checkers

Whether they be on the left, right, or in the center, one of the frustrations of journalists everywhere is people who only read the headline, or the tweet, for a given article. On Tuesday, Politifact deputy editor Louis Jacobson did just that when he labeled the Department of Energy’s X account “false” for a claim about solar and wind energy that, if he had only read the article, he would have…

It's ordinary, and yet extraordinary: CNN's "Facts First" page of "fact checks" is all about President Trump. On their dedicated web page this morning, Trump is featured in 32 of 32 articles. Everything Daniel Dale has written obsesses over Trump, just like his TV appearances. 

The only thing worse than well-considered liberal bias is immediately-posted liberal bias. In their "live fact checking," PolitiFact demonstrates it's just trash-talking Trump like any MSNBC liberal and calling it a "fact check."

Former Washington Post colleagues Glenn Kessler and Jen Rubin reunited on August 4 on Rubin’s The Contrarian podcast to discuss Kessler’s departure from the Post’s Fact Checker page. During their conversation, Kessler would unleash three headscratchers: that he fact-checked Republicans more because they are in power, a historically incorrect warning about going back…

NBC’s Seth Meyers hyped on Monday’s Late Night some highly suspect fact-checking from CNN during President Trump’s press conference when he announced he is federalizing Washington, DC’s law enforcement because, for Meyers, the binary choice is between Trump and CNN’s “stat nerds.”

Former ABC News political director Mark Halperin interviewed Washington Post “Fact Checker” Glenn Kessler after his final “fact check.” Halperin honed in on one of Kessler's most controversial recent checks, going after the New York Post for overplaying Joe Biden meandering off to talk to a parachutist.

After departing The Washington Post, fact-checker Glenn Kessler did what seemingly every major journalist who has recently left a major outlet has done: he joined Substack. On Tuesday, Kessler took to his new platform to claim that he left the Post because publisher Will Lewis wanted to expand the paper’s audience to include Fox News watchers.

As the front page of the New York Times editorializes about Trump waging a "War On Facts," it's a good time to remind you that the "fact checkers" are waging a War On Trump. Democrats drew zero ratings of "Mostly False" or worse, compared to ten for Republicans, including three "Pants On Fire" attacks on President Trump. 

One way that you know Washington Post "Fact Checker" Glenn Kessler was a liberal anti-Trump warrior is how National Public Radio was so sad to see him leave the paper. "In an era where false claims are the norm, it's much easier to ignore the fact-checkers" was the sad line they quoted from his final column.

Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler departed the paper on Thursday in a gloomy mood as he penned his final column lamenting the state of the industry and repeating several sanctimonious falsehoods about the business.

PolitiFact threw a “False” flag at Scott Jennings for suggesting on CNN Newsnight with Abby Phillip "There are like almost 5 million able-bodied people on Medicaid who simply choose not to work.” But that is less shocking than this “factual” website rushing to defend former Rep. Jamaal Bowman saying on that CNN show a few weeks ago that black people have worse health outcomes because…

The “fact checkers” at PolitiFact barely touch the talking heads on cable television anymore. They used to have a serious tilt against the Fox News hosts in prime time. So it’s unsurprising that on July 9, they published their first attack on conservative CNN analyst Scott Jennings, who offered a few tough words about Medicaid beneficiaries.

Last week, we reported on how PolitiFact threw a "False" flag at President Trump for calling New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani a "communist lunatic," despite contrary evidence, like his 2020 tweet in support of a communist mayor in India, suggesting that's the kind of mayor New York needs. On Thursday, PolitiFact doubled down on its ruling, dismissing Mamdani's clearly Marxist…

PolitiFact exists to defend Democrats against Republican attacks. In 2020, they threw their "Pants On Fire" label at Sen. David Perdue for describing his opponent Jon Ossoff as a "socialist." So it's unsurprising that PolitiFact would object to Donald Trump and other conservatives online for mocking New York's new Democrat nominee for mayor, Zohran Mamdani, as a "communist."