As Twitchy reported, there was a hearing Tuesday in which Democratic members of Congress heard themselves berate Attorney General William Barr; there wasn’t a lot of opportunity for Barr himself to be heard among all the grandstanding.
We didn’t watch the complete hearing, but at one point, Barr must have made the point that 90 percent of black homicides are committed by other blacks. Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler stepped in to provide some important context, in that the same percentage goes for white homicides perpetrated by other whites.
Barr: "90 percent [of black homicide] — are killed by other blacks" In 2014, this statement earned Two Pinocchios. Virtually same percentage of whites kill whites — important missing context. –> https://t.co/Bq2P5JR8nd
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) July 28, 2020
For backup, Kessler reaches all the way back to the indictment of Officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown and a comment by Rudy Giuliani that 93 percent of blacks are killed by other blacks; “The implication was that the so-called black-on-black crime was far more common than white-on-black crime, so the attention should be paid on the former.”
Giuliani responded by citing a statistic from a 2010 Bureau of Justice Statistics report which did, indeed, conclude that 93 percent of black homicide victims from 1980 through 2008 were killed by black offenders. The statement implied that intraracial violence in black communities is uniquely bad. Giuliani later repeated this statistic in a FOX News interview.
As our colleague Philip Bump at The Fix noted, Giuliani omitted the comparable statistic in the report for white homicide victims: 84 percent of white victims were killed by white offenders.
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So what Barr said was essentially true? Does that earn him two Pinocchios?
So… It's true?
— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) July 28, 2020
So it’s true.
— Lyndsey Fifield (@lyndseyfifield) July 28, 2020
"Hey, look over there."
— Boomieleaks (@Boomieleaks) July 28, 2020
I realize that fact checking involves some judgment, but this is a poor call. Here's the real context, in my judgment: race-based killings are rare, and the vast, vast majority of killings are not hate crimes. As in, nearly all of them.
— Gruntled (@NeverTr74704466) July 28, 2020
But if a politician said THAT, you'd probably give him two pinochios, not because the statement is false, but because it's not the narrative you felt should be pushed. which is the real issue here.
— Gruntled (@NeverTr74704466) July 28, 2020
Exactly.
True statement isn’t less true because of another truth.
— Stephen Kaiser (@TheKaiseRoll) July 28, 2020
This may be the worst fact check I've ever seen. Ruling something as untrue, that is factually true, because it didn't include an unrelated piece of information is next-level.
— Phil (@philllosoraptor) July 28, 2020
Peak fact-checking: "Although technically true, I dislike the implication, and therefor rule it partially false"
I mean, it is 2020 — and we all get to have our own truths, right?
— Brad Brown (@rbradbrown) July 28, 2020
"Barr said something that was correct. Two Pinocchios."
— Max Nordau (@MaxNordau) July 28, 2020
Did you legit just claim something accurate was false by citing another unrelated fact?
— David Suslenskiy (@DavidSuslensky) July 28, 2020
This Pinocchio rating says more about the Washington Post than about Giuliani (or for that matter Barr). The number was correct. (Giuliani said 93%, so Barr is a little low.)
— Dave Kleikamp (@ShaggyKC) July 28, 2020
Just here for the ratio and to say this isn't even good gaslighting
— Buck Brutus I of Cascadia ??? (@stoicynic) July 28, 2020
The statistics show most homicides are intraracial. However more whites are killed by Blacks than blacks are killed by whites.
— Stinky T. Cat (@stinkytcat1) July 28, 2020
So the percentage is correct? Got it.
— John Wilson (@jdwilson909) July 28, 2020
Yes, but the number of dead is roughly equal, despite the vast population difference
— Ombudsman4Truth (@ombudsman4truth) July 28, 2020
Alexa, define bad-faith argumentation.
— jpj84 (@joshuahiker) July 28, 2020
It's true but we don't like it.
— Ragnar Danneskjöld ???✝️? (@Captain_Ragnar) July 28, 2020
So it’s true?
— PegLeg (@PegLegPilot) July 28, 2020
So it’s true.
— Blue Checked Simpin Aint Easy (@ayfkmlmao) July 28, 2020
So he’s right?
— Tom Person (@tomburkart) July 28, 2020
really grasping at paper straws here dude …
— Mo Syed (@mosyednyc) July 28, 2020
— Christopher Walker (@chriswalker_12) July 28, 2020
So the proper context is "90% of black homicides are perpetrated by black people, but it's cool, white people kill each other too"?
How non-racist of you to minimize the tragedy of black-on-black violence. ?
— American ?? Purrl, RN (@AmericanPurrl) July 28, 2020
So you're saying "All Lives Matter"…
— The World's Foremost Authority (@ThatRayShow) July 28, 2020
So how many Pinocchios does Barr get for a true statement?
Related:
‘They literally tweeted it’! WaPo fact-checker slaps ‘false’ label on Trump’s claim that W.H.O. said coronavirus ‘not communicable’ (and people have thoughts) https://t.co/tIkHce9Txu
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 17, 2020
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