Last week when we all jumped down Joe Biden’s throat for likening his political opponents to infamous rabid American racists, we failed to consider the context of what he said.
Fortunately, PolitiFact is around to explain to us what Biden ackshually meant:
In context: What Joe Biden said about George Wallace, Bull Connor and Jefferson Davis
https://t.co/Yr7UGzYszR pic.twitter.com/J9eMjoRIzo
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) January 21, 2022
The same day the bill died, Biden gave a White House press conference marking the end of his first year in office. He disputed characterizations that he compared Republicans who didn’t support the voting bill to racists of the past, first in an exchange with NBC News correspondent Kristen Welker and later, in a heated response to a question from RealClearPolitics reporter Philip Wegmann.
“Go back and read what I said,” he told Wegmann.
We went back to read what he said. While Biden didn’t explicitly accuse those who don’t support the voting bill of being racists, he did say that their vote would be remembered unfavorably in history, much like the actions of those past figures who didn’t support civil rights or an end to slavery.
Sure, Jan.
— Mike F (@mathdoctormike) January 21, 2022
— Ryan the rebel millennial (@patriotic_giant) January 21, 2022
https://t.co/NRx58ClbqR pic.twitter.com/YYEMFSFMXv
— RIP Terez Paylor 🙏 (@Th3Claude) January 21, 2022
That water must be heavy!
lol we all saw what he said https://t.co/sfAY72vVQ1
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 21, 2022
We all heard it, too.
Oh, suddenly the “fact-checkers” are back. We heard what he said live…
— Travis Shirkman (@t_shirkman) January 21, 2022
Here it is again:
Joe Biden today: "I ran for president to unite the country."
Joe Biden three days ago: "The opponents of my elections power grab bill are on the side of Bull Connor, George Wallace, and Jefferson Davis" pic.twitter.com/27gD3QLpnY
— X Strategies LLC (@XStrategiesLLC) January 14, 2022
Come on, PolitiFact.
“Other people named George Wallace, Bull Connor and Jefferson Davis that President Biden may have been referring to”
— John 'pro-norms' Ekdahl (@JohnEkdahl) January 21, 2022
This is who Biden meant. pic.twitter.com/pV94KCPqCS
— AmishDude (@TheAmishDude) January 21, 2022
Snort. It probably would’ve been easier for PolitiFact to just post that instead of their stupid “context” BS.
He just said that those who oppose him are enemies of the United States "I will defend the right to vote, our democracy against all enemies — foreign and, yes, domestic." https://t.co/6V1RN1vLbm
— David Lasdon (@WTPDavid) January 21, 2022
We literally heard what he said. There is no fact to check. This is spin control from a pretend neutral source https://t.co/8Rh9I61gzu
— Small Gov Lizard (@smallgovlizard) January 21, 2022
Putting something into your preferred contextualization isn't fact-checking
It's spinhttps://t.co/WF0w00pF05
— Raymond McCue 💗⚤💜⚣💙 (@RayMcCue) January 21, 2022
So many of our media outlets do damage control for Democrats by reframing what everyone heard and adding context.
Everything a Republican says is taken in the worst possible context or outright distorted to make it worse. https://t.co/8lYrFulTAy
— BS*ing my way through life (@therealBradDE) January 21, 2022
— Howie Mill (@howiemill93) January 21, 2022
Biden’s remarks weren’t subtle.
Do better, PolitiFact. When the bar’s as low as you’ve set it, that’s not a big ask.
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