What is the worst respected fact-checking outfit and why is it PolitiFact? Seriously, PolitiFact sucks. They’ve gone from the occasional cringe-inducing, eyeroll-worthy fact-check to the chronic cringe-inducing, eyeroll-worthy fact-check. What they do now is the opposite of fact-checking. They are literally anti-fact-check.
And now we’ve got a couple more terrible examples to throw onto the dumpster fire.
Here’s one of them, and it concerns Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis:
Contrary to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' claim, Lee County's Cayo Costa appeared in the forecast cone on each advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center on Sept. 25 — three days before Hurricane Ian made landfall on the island. https://t.co/si1EMWSX2m
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) October 4, 2022
DeSantis earned a “Mostly False” rating from PolitiFact, despite his claim not being mostly false at all:
DeSantis said that 72 hours before Hurricane Ian made landfall, Lee County wasn’t “even in the cone.”
Most of Lee County was not within Hurricane Ian’s forecasted path 72 hours before landfall. But one of the county’s barrier islands, Cayo Costa, appeared inside the forecast cone on each of eight advisories issued by the National Hurricane Center on Sept. 25, three days before the storm made landfall there.
…
There is an element of truth in that most of Lee County was not in the forecasted center of the storm 72 hours of landfall; but one of the county’s barrier islands was, and focusing on the cone itself downplays the impacts of a storm as large as Ian.
So DeSantis’ claim was, in fact, Mostly True.
THIS Cayo Costa??? A remote barrier island???? What a farce. https://t.co/ctU41D3lOy pic.twitter.com/DISrcqNxqd
— Chris Averill 🇺🇸 (@ChrisAverillMT) October 5, 2022
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“Next-level hackery” is right. PolitiFact seems a lot more interested in making Republicans look bad than they do in, you know, checking facts. Check out their fact-check today of Ohio GOP Senate hopeful J.D. Vance, who suggested that his Democratic opponent Tim Ryan is not an independent-minded politician but rather a rubber-stamp Democrat who votes with Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi:
An ad for candidate J.D. Vance portrays Tim Ryan as in lockstep with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, playing a clip of Ryan saying “I do love her.” Although the Democrats’ voting records are fairly aligned, the clip leaves out Ryan’s bid against her in 2016. https://t.co/oRbBicL8Ms
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) October 5, 2022
Here’s the ad in question, so you can see for yourselves what a lying liar who lies J.D. Vance is:
TV Tim is a fake. DC Tim is bad for Ohio. pic.twitter.com/IdUu6mfdhG
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) September 23, 2022
Huh. It … actually sounds like Vance’s ad accurately characterizes Ryan’s record. And yet, Vance’s ad only merited a “Half True” rating from PolitiFact:
Ryan’s voting record in the current Congress does align with Biden’s agenda and Pelosi’s recent votes, though as House speaker she does not vote on every measure.
But the more glaring issue with the ad is that it snips out Ryan’s explanation of why he thought Pelosi should no longer lead the party. Vance’s ad does not account for Ryan’s notable decision to challenge Pelosi’s leadership after the 2016 election, leaving viewers without the full story.
Vance’s statement is partially accurate but takes things out of context. We rate this statement Half True.
That’s better than the “Mostly False” Ron DeSantis got, but still. The bar is well below the floor at this point.
If you read the piece, they hinge their ENTIRE argument on the fact that Ryan led a leadership challenge (true).
The Vance ad:
1. Says Ryan almost always votes with Biden and Dems (True). Ryan voted with Pelosi and Biden 100% of the time.100%. But half true!
— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) October 5, 2022
2. Says Ryan said he loves Pelosi (true) Ryan replied, "Yes, I do love her. And this is tough, because this is a battle kind of within the family."
Ryan said Dems need a leader who can persuade Trump voters in red districts in the Midwest…"I think I can do that."
— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) October 5, 2022
"JD Vance fails to mention Ryan is also a hypocrite who runs against Pelosi but then does what she says."
OK.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) October 5, 2022
"The ad is correct but the ad didn't mention things unrelated to the ad." https://t.co/mfbmu2JHsn
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) October 5, 2022
“While this ad is factually accurate, it made no attempt to portray Tim Ryan (D) in a positive light”
— gringo (@dumb_milennial) October 5, 2022
https://twitter.com/EddieZipperer/status/1577642508317753344
Democrats and liberals are always looking for “nuance.” Any excuse to avoid the truth that’s staring them right in the face.
Partisan hacks
Nothing more https://t.co/dvBnMoPQVS— Jakethecrazy🦬 (@Jakethecrazy19) October 5, 2022
“Fact checkers” are Dem bootlickers https://t.co/UrQbyJdA1W
— Seth (@dcseth) October 5, 2022
Fact-check: True.
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