Earlier this week, the Washington Free Beacon’s Patrick Hauf made waves with his shocking scoop on the Biden administration’s plan to distribute crack pipes to drug addicts in the name of “racial equity.”
The federal government is set to fund the distribution of "smoking kits" in the name of "racial equity"
An HHS spokesman told to me that these kits include pipes that are used to smoke crack, meth, or "any illicit substance"@FreeBeacon https://t.co/U56EhVa9zw
— Patrick Hauf (@PatrickHauf) February 7, 2022
This is a very, very bad look for the Biden administration. As if they needed more very, very bad looks.
HHS sent me the same statement this morning. I asked if they could elaborate on what in the story is misinformation. No response yet. They confirmed the story to me last week so this is complete nonsense. https://t.co/E9qsCCA5Er
— Patrick Hauf (@PatrickHauf) February 8, 2022
it is not "blatant misinformation" and a career government paper pusher shouldn't be throwing that language around at the press https://t.co/fAFQG25AbG
— Joe Gabriel Simonson (@SaysSimonson) February 8, 2022
Again, I have yet to receive a response from the HHS on how my story is misinformation.
The HHS confirmed to me last week that the "smoking kits" they fund are used to smoke crack, meth, and "any illicit substance."
This "misinformation" push today is complete nonsense. https://t.co/Q8LvOa1Xki
— Patrick Hauf (@PatrickHauf) February 8, 2022
just to recap today: @PatrickHauf wrote this great story about a fed government program to fund crack pipe distribution and the biden administration called it misinformation, which unlike fake news, is an institutional call for censorshiphttps://t.co/M05PLj4B9k
— Joe Gabriel Simonson (@SaysSimonson) February 8, 2022
Recommended
HHS staff is too busy tweeting at lawmakers to explain how my story that they confirmed is “blatant misinformation” https://t.co/WCFD1TIIIC
— Patrick Hauf (@PatrickHauf) February 8, 2022
HHS may have their hands full, but you know who’s still got space in their schedule? Snopes, baby. Snopes has got Joe Biden’s back:
This little debacle mixes "Racial equity" and "crack pipes" in a way that was always bound to get a lot of people hot under the collar.
But the reality was very different. A detailed breakdown here via @snopes: https://t.co/ut9wl0uDEe— Dan Mac Guill (@danmacg) February 9, 2022
Collectively, these articles gave readers a grossly misleading and reductive presentation of what was a real substance abuse harm reduction grant overseen by the Biden administration in early 2022. We are issuing a rating of “Mostly False.”
OK, Dan. OK, Snopes. What, exactly, makes the reports “Mostly False”? Inquiring minds wanna know:
It’s true that the grant description required the provision of smoking kits — an established component of harm reduction strategy — but in reality, those kits constituted just one of several sub-components of an even longer list of requirements for grant recipients. In other words, while outraged media coverage focused almost exclusively on “crack pipes,” this was actually only a very small part of the program.
Secondly, the provision of safer smoking supplies did not have as its purpose advancing the cause of racial equity. Rather, its purpose was, quite logically, to reduce harm and infection among existing drug users. However, the grant description did state that priority would be given to applicants who serve communities that are historically underserved. In other words, the grant’s terms encouraged recipients to advance racial equity while working for harm reduction, not the other way round — a crucial distinction which many outlets got wrong.
In other words:
It’s Mostly False because it’s completely true. pic.twitter.com/FRvqTUMfCJ
— Josiah Neeley 🤔 (@jneeley78) February 9, 2022
Did Snopes take some kind of weird blood oath that they would defend the Biden administration no matter what?
WhY dOeSn'T AnYoNe TrUsT uS!?!?!?!
— Ross (@Bco2508) February 9, 2022
Yeah … real head-scratcher, that.
The Snopes “fact check” is a complete joke (to be expected). We make clear in the article that the “smoking kits” are not the only drug paraphernalia funded in the program. Obviously we lead with the most notable information: free crack pipes!!! https://t.co/RQprzfABXr
— Patrick Hauf (@PatrickHauf) February 9, 2022
Hilarious. This “fact check” is MOSTLY FALSE.
— Negative Nelly (@TryingToSmile3) February 9, 2022
This is the wildest fact check I've ever seen. It's actually true and accurate but because it's for (what we think is) good reasons …."MOSTLY FALSE"
Bravo, Dan
— Sam (@sd_reading) February 9, 2022
If mental gymnastics were an Olympic sport.
— Brandon in Fort Worth (@BrandonEffDub) February 9, 2022
FALSE! Biden didn't actually give out Crack Pipes for Racial Equity. He gave out Drug Smoking Kits to Historically Underserved Communities… TOTALLY DIFFERENT.
But aren't those synonyms?
SHUT UP SHUT UP FACT CHECKED REEEEEE! https://t.co/RxmLhRTLyd— Larry Correia (@monsterhunter45) February 9, 2022
By "Mostly False" @snopes means "True, But We Think the Program Is Good" https://t.co/kDn1P4im0A
Read @PatrickHauf's original report here: https://t.co/hGYwDL6Rqe pic.twitter.com/IkyG5QGx2n
— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) February 9, 2022
Apparently Dan McGuill and Snopes just didn’t bother reading Hauf’s original report.
Does the program provide pipes for crack usage?
From YOUR article, "It’s true that the grant description required the provision of [pipes]"
Rating: Mostly False
This makes accusations of partisanship & inaccuracies credible.
— Casper da Ghost (@CasperdaGhost99) February 9, 2022
For shame! I remember when I used to regularly direct people to Snopes after receiving another chain email circulating urban myths. Does everything have to get ruined by the US culture wars? pic.twitter.com/78pZaGSYWP
— Harbottle Liger (@harbottle_liger) February 9, 2022
This is one of the most egregious examples of why "fact checks" cannot be trusted. You write hundreds of words declaring the claim true, and then rate it as "mostly false."
Orwell is somewhere beaming.
— SanchoPanzy (@SanchoPanzy) February 9, 2022
bruh you really showed your ass on this one pic.twitter.com/SDvUe3UZxf
— Conotocarius, Harrison Bergeron Understander (@Conotocarius2) February 9, 2022
Snopes is so fucking pathetic pic.twitter.com/DaKtEWM6Q2
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) February 9, 2022
Fact-check: Totally true.
***
Update:
Looks like Facebook’s getting in on it, too:
Facebook is using its "fact-checking program" to censor the @FreeBeacon story. Again, the government has provided zero proof to dispute the story. The HHS confirmed that the "kits" are used to smoke crack, meth, and "any illicit substance." pic.twitter.com/fe3wzagKRo
— Patrick Hauf (@PatrickHauf) February 9, 2022
We confirmed the story with the HHS, provided context on the grant program beyond the crack pipes, and described how these "smoking kits" have been implemented elsewhere. Doesn't matter to Facebook because they rely on absurd fact checks at "Lead Stories." https://t.co/U56EhVa9zw
— Patrick Hauf (@PatrickHauf) February 9, 2022
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