A lot of people are already seeing economic stimulus payments appearing in their bank accounts via direct deposit; we’ve even heard of the deceased getting $1,200 stimulus checks.
There was quite the brouhaha on social media Tuesday night, though, when the Washington Post reported that printed stimulus checks would be delayed by several days so that they could be printed with President Trump’s signature on them — or maybe so the president could personally sign each one with a commemorative pen.
Delivery of stimulus checks is being slowed down by several days… so that President Trump’s name can be printed on each check. https://t.co/JYTVhcgdFt
— Jenna Johnson (@wpjenna) April 15, 2020
In an unprecedented move, the Treasury Department has ordered Trump's name be printed on stimulus checks the IRS is rushing to send to tens of millions of Americans — a process that is expected to slow their delivery by several days. https://t.co/LPF69oN4m2
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 15, 2020
He is delaying printed checks so they can update computer code to include his name in the memo line. True story.
Donald J. Trump's name will be on stimulus checks in unprecedented move https://t.co/wxsuMaOcNz
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) April 15, 2020
You are getting your money late because the President thinks it is more important that his name be on the check than that you are able to pay your bills on time. This is not a rhetorical flourish. The checks are delayed. Because Trump.
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) April 15, 2020
That was the story at the time, but the Washington Post updated its story after it was published with a statement from the IRS saying that, no, checks would be going out on schedule:
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A Treasury Department spokeswoman, however, denied any delay and said the plan all along was to issue the checks next week.
“Economic Impact Payment checks are scheduled to go out on time and exactly as planned — there is absolutely no delay whatsoever,” the spokeswoman said in a written statement. She said this was a faster process than the stimulus checks the George W. Bush administration issued in 2008 to head off a looming recession.
…
An IRS representative on Tuesday referred questions to the Treasury Department. After this article was published, the IRS released a written statement on Wednesday that said: “Thanks to hard work and long hours by dedicated IRS employees, these payments are going out on schedule, as planned, without delay, to the nation.”
The original story was sourced to “senior IRS officials,” but if dead people are getting checks, we’ll go with the official statement that yes, the payments are going out without delay.
How fake news spreads so quickly ⬇️
You’d never know that the very article they tweeted directly refutes what they’re tweeting.
12 paragraphs in: “Economic Impact Payment checks are scheduled to go out on time and exactly as planned—there is absolutely no delay whatsoever” pic.twitter.com/OVtACCYEcL
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) April 15, 2020
Now you have US Senators promoting a story based on the original fake news pushed by Washington Post reporters.
It’s like an outrageous game of gaslighting telephone. And of course @SenGaryPeters didn’t read her article. pic.twitter.com/tukYbpF0Wd
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) April 15, 2020
To be clear — the fake news isn’t the story from @Reinlwapo and @ericawerner — its the tweets. The story has appropriate caveats, includes quote from Treasury, and is well-reported.
But tweets taking “could delay” to “absolutely will delay” as a done deal are mischaracterizing
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) April 15, 2020
Headline warriors at work, not even lefties can be bothered to read the substance of @washingtonpost articles who notoriously leave the truth of the story for the second to last paragraph.
— Rosie memos (@almostjingo) April 15, 2020
I think we're now to the point where it's arguably irresponsible to retweet a WaPo story without comment.
— Small Metal Owl (@SmallMetalOwl) April 15, 2020
Most hilarious tidbit – Alyssa Milano adds “true story” to her tweet. I guess that’s to distinguish it from all of the lies she normally tweets?
— Kat (@KatGoesIndie) April 15, 2020
People have incorrect ideas about how fast fake news spreads.
It cannot spread any faster than the New York Times, & CNN can invent it.— Snake Plushkitten: Escape from Twytter (@justplncate) April 15, 2020
A man hears want he wants to hear and disregards the rest.
— John Hadidian (@JDHadidian) April 15, 2020
@POTUS was asked this question at a briefing and refuted it himself as #FakeNews.
— JeaniegirlDC (@jeaniegirldc) April 15, 2020
Not true. There was a ten day delay in passing the bill because of Nancy Pelosi throwing a tantrum. That mattered to a lot of people.
— Slicin' Hammer ⚠️ (@SlicinHammer) April 15, 2020
That's the problem with how articles are written, the important information is left out of the headlines and out of the first two paragraphs.
— Jeremiah Jericho (@J_Jammer) April 15, 2020
Assuming its true, how is that any different than Pelosi ordering custom pens for the signing of the impeachment articles?
— Jacob McCann (@RengetheBlade) April 15, 2020
I don't care who signs it or what name is on it. I just appreciate what's coming. Ungrateful pukes…all of you.
— ?? Vince ?? (@VinceKlock) April 15, 2020
It’s easy enough to tell who’s telling the truth: We’ll find out soon enough if the checks are on schedule or several days late; and if they are on schedule, we’ll see everyone who retweeted the story delete their tweets and issue corrections.
Related:
Rep. Thomas Massie reports a dead person got a $1200 stimulus payment. How big of a problem is this? https://t.co/ynPECSloeV
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 15, 2020
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