Washington Post discontinues presidential fact-check database after 100 days of Biden. It ran the full 4 years of Trump's presidency.



The Washington Post has discontinued its presidential fact-check database — which was launched during former President Donald Trump's tenure — after only 100 days into President Joe Biden's term.

What are the details?

In a tweet thread Monday, fact-check editor Glenn Kessler announced that while he and his team will continue to "rigorously" fact-check Biden, they will no longer maintain a database like they did under Trump.

Kessler cited the overwhelming workload as the reason for the change, even while noting that monitoring Biden's statements has proven to be less work.

"Here's the Biden database — which we do not plan to extend beyond 100 days," Kessler tweeted. "I have learned my lesson."

"'Learned my lesson' means that who knows what the next four years will bring. We have fact-checked Biden rigorously and will continue to do so. Trump at 500 claims/100 days was manageable; 8,000+ was not," he added.

"Maintaining the Trump database over four years required about 400 additional 8-hour days over four years beyond our regular jobs for three people," Kessler explained. "Biden is off to a relatively slow start but who knows what will happen. We will keep doing fact checks, just not a database."

What else?

Commenters on Twitter couldn't help but point out the Post's blatant double standard. Several noted how rich it is that the left-leaning media organization found the time and energy to fact-check Trump's every statement during all four years of his presidency, but are now throwing in the towel after a few months of Biden.

"The Biden presidency is over. Rest easy," media critic Stephen L. Miller quipped. "What an incredible 100 days of presidency."

"Come on, man," one commenter wrote. "Go ahead and enjoy your 4-year vacation. Thanks for confirming your bias."

"4 year vacation because blue team," another wrote.

"Hooray standards!" another Twitter user joked. "If they didn't come in double, how would y'all operate?!"

One commenter noted that no such database was in operation under former Democratic President Barack Obama, either, so Kessler should have been rested.

"I would have thought the 8 prostrate years before Trump would have left you sufficiently rested," he said.

Anything else?

In the 100 days analysis of Biden, Kessler assessed that the new president made 67 "false or misleading statements" in comparison to Trump's 511.

He noted, however, that "Biden's relatively limited number of falsehoods is a function, at least in part, of the fact that his public appearances consist mostly of prepared texts vetted by his staff. He devotes little time to social media, in contrast to his Twitter-obsessed predecessor, and rarely faces reporters or speaks off the cuff."

The Post's decision to shut down its presidential database comes just days after Kessler was widely panned for an egregious fact-check on South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott's family history.

WaPo fact-checks whether GOP Sen. Tim Scott actually went from 'cotton to Congress' — gets rightfully torched by critics



The Washington Post on Friday decided to publish an extensive probe of Republican Sen. Tim Scott's history to fact-check if the South Carolina lawmaker's family actually went from "cotton to Congress," prompting critics harsh criticism from commentators on the left and right.

What are the details?

"Tim Scott often talks about his grandfather and cotton. There's more to that tale," wrote Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler in the Friday morning hit piece on Scott, who was recently tapped to deliver the Republican Party's response to President Joe Biden's first address to a joint session of Congress next Wednesday.

Scott often touts his family's journey from cotton to Congress in one lifetime as proof of the opportunity America affords to enterprising individuals who work hard to get ahead, regardless of their skin color. But that message runs counter to modern progressive ideology, which teaches that America is inherently racist and restrictive to minority classes.

With that in mind, the Post set out to investigate the authenticity of Scott's claim, digging through the annals of history to decipher whether his grandfather, Artis Ware, was in fact forced out of elementary school to help on the farm and pick cotton.

In the exhaustive 1,800-word article, Kessler enlists the help of historians and draws from numerous census and property records to ultimately suggest on admittedly flimsy data that Scott, while speaking truthfully, may not be providing the entire context of his family's situation.

"Scott's "cotton to Congress" line is missing some nuance, but we are not going to rate his statements," Kessler declared, opting not to award Scott any Pinocchios.

"Scott tells a tidy story packaged for political consumption, but a close look shows how some of his family's early and improbable success gets flattened and written out of his biography," he continued. "Against heavy odds, Scott's ancestors amassed relatively large areas of farmland, a mark of distinction in the Black community at the time. Scott, moreover, does not mention that his grandfather worked on his father's farm — a farm that was expanded through land acquisitions even during the Great Depression, when many other Black farmers were forced out of business."

What else?

The post immediately drew backlash from commentators on social media.

"Who thought this was a good idea?" tweeted CNN commentator and former Democratic South Carolina state lawmaker, Bakari Sellers.

Who thought this was a good idea? https://t.co/019Sxf9V9l
— Bakari Sellers (@Bakari Sellers)1619193526.0

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley added, "What WaPo did to @SenatorTimScott is shameful. When minorities refuse to be victims, disagree with liberal talking points, and think for ourselves, the media shames us and questions our credibility. It's why we must fight harder for conservative values that lift us all up."

What WaPo did to @SenatorTimScott is shameful. When minorities refuse to be victims, disagree with liberal talkin… https://t.co/asN5phSDA9
— Nikki Haley (@Nikki Haley)1619190227.0

"Senator Scott deserves an apology for this," political strategist Rory Cooper wrote. "It's everything wrong with the fact checking industry. The targeting. The lack of good faith. The personal side of it. It's bad."

Senator Scott deserves an apology for this. It's everything wrong with the fact checking industry. The targeting. T… https://t.co/DmDJIxMRw6
— Rory Cooper (@Rory Cooper)1619184427.0

"If you find yourself telling the grandson of a Depression-era Black man who spent his youth picking cotton to check his privilege, please for the love of all that is holy log off, WaPo," Washington Examiner executive editor Seth Mandel tweeted.

If you find yourself telling the grandson of a Depression-era black man who spent his youth picking cotton to check… https://t.co/zeSwxPO5UV
— Seth Mandel (@Seth Mandel)1619187992.0

Daily Wire reporter Cabot Phillips summarized the story this way: "A white man telling a black man his ancestors weren't ***actually*** that poor or oppressed ... If this story were about a Democrat, half the Washington Post editorial board would have been forced to resign by now.

A white man telling a black man his ancestors weren't ***actually*** that poor or oppressedIf this story were abo… https://t.co/OLI0HDyOHx
— Cabot Phillips (@Cabot Phillips)1619187303.0

Republican strategist Matt Whitlock noted that many readers will only see the headline in front of the Washington Post's paywall and assume that Scott is lying despite the fact that the outlet ended up admitting the senator's statement is true.

It’s quite a choice to publish this when A) your conclusion is that everything he said.. is true B) you’re argu… https://t.co/n655KK3g0g
— Matt Whitlock (@Matt Whitlock)1619188763.0

One self-described independent wrote, I "really don't think this is necessary or appropriate...Bad look by @washingtonpost."

WaPo hits Biden with 'Four Pinocchios' for whopper about new Georgia voting law



Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler slapped President Joe Biden on Tuesday with "Four Pinocchios" — the worst grade possible — for a whopper he repeated about the new election reform bill signed into law in Georgia.

What's the background?

A roster of liberal politicians, including the president, have grossly mischaracterized the new law — which aims to secure elections in the state by requiring photo ID for absentee voting and establishing secure drop box locations, among other things — as being crafted for the sole intent of making it harder for people to vote.

But perhaps the most blatant mischaracterization came last week during the first press conference of Biden's presidency. The president grew noticeably perturbed when discussing the legislation, calling it "sick" and alleging that it prevents working people from voting by closing off voting hours after 5 p.m.

"What I'm worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It's sick. It's sick ... deciding that you're going to end voting at five o'clock when working people are just getting off work," Biden said.

A day later, when responding to Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signing the bill into law, Biden said, "Among the outrageous parts of this new state law, it ends voting hours early so working people can't cast their vote after their shift is over."

What did WaPo say?

In the fact-check article, Kessler found that the law put no such restrictions on voting. In fact, Kessler acknowledged, the new law maintains the current Election Day voting hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and actually expanded voting hours and days for early voting.

"So where would Biden get this perception that ordinary workers were getting the shaft because the state would 'end voting at five o'clock'?" he wrote, going on to pummel the president for openly misinforming the American people about the new law:

One could understand a flub in a news conference. But then this same claim popped up in an official presidential statement. Not a single expert we consulted who has studied the law understood why Biden made this claim, as this was the section of law that expanded early voting for many Georgians.

Somehow Biden managed to turn that expansion into a restriction aimed at working people, calling it "among the outrageous parts" of the law. There's no evidence that is the case. The president earns Four Pinocchios.

In an "About" page for his grading scale, Kessler explained that a Four Pinocchios mark is handed out for "whoppers," plain and simple.