At this point, we fully expect PolitiFact’s “fact-checks” to favor liberals and Democrats. That’s just the way they’ve been for so long. So it’s not exactly a shock that PolitiFact has been gunning pretty hard for Ron DeSantis for a while. And now that he’s officially running for president, of course they’d be ramping up their push against him.
No, the part we’re surprised at — and will no doubt continue to be surprised at — is how lazy they’ve gotten. It’s almost like they’re just sitting around a table getting really drunk and pitching the stupidest ideas they can come up with.
Like, look at this recent “fact-check” of DeSantis’ assertion that Florida’s not banning books:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis downplayed the effect of a new law he signed that sets procedures for school districts to review library books. He said the state hasn’t banned a “single book,” but some books have been removed or restricted in multiple districts. https://t.co/3iV2uunOhA
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) May 31, 2023
Just so you know how serious and careful and thorough PolitiFact is with their fact-checks, this particular one cites the sad case of Amanda Gorman’s poem being moved to a different spot in a school library.
DeSantis said, “There’s not been a single book banned in the state of Florida.”
His argument hinges on county school districts, and not the state, deciding which books to remove or restrict. But school districts are making book decisions to comply with state law.
…
A press release from DeSantis said in March that 23 districts had removed 175 titles, which contradicts his argument that not a single book was banned.
We rate this statement False.
Recommended
Not even Partly False. Or Mostly False. Just straight-up False.
To be fair, if we redefine what a ban is, then Ron DeSantis is definitely lying and definitely banning books all over Florida:
Newspeak for "book ban" just dropped. pic.twitter.com/Svhx62tWiz
— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) June 1, 2023
The American Library Association has spoken, everyone. Sure, they have a well known left-wing agenda, but they have “library” right in the name, so who are we to question their authoritah?
Fact, not a single book is banned in Florida.
— Wade Miller (@WadeMiller_USMC) June 1, 2023
Florida has not banned a single book. Not one.
— J.G. Petruna (@jgpetruna) June 1, 2023
DeSantis stated “There's not been a single book banned in the state of Florida.” https://t.co/hVI25YQ1Zw
Unless PolitiFact can name one or more books DeSantis has made it illegal to buy or possess in the state of Florida, his claim is true.
— LK_1111 (@elle_kaye11) June 1, 2023
Demonstrably false. Any parent can provide any book they so choose to their child. The school however has absolutely no requirement to provide any and every book in the known world.
Now show us the list of books banned by Florida.
In fact, show us just 1 book.
You cannot.
— J Gardner 🇺🇲🐊 (@jngpic) June 1, 2023
OK, but seriously, we’re not sure who still believes that PolitiFact has any credibility at this point, but whoever does needs to disabuse themselves of that notion immediately. Because clearly
PolitiFact just does not GAF about fact-checking anymore.
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Related:
PolitiFact is really struggling with the fact that Ron DeSantis was right about Alvin Bragg
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