Trump 4, Politifact 1
Now that Donald Trump is president, our “fact checkers” have gone into overdrive. Every day, they crank out news stories purporting to correct Trump’s errors. More often than not, the “fact checkers” are merely relating the other side–the Democratic Party’s side–of the story.
This story by Politifact is typical: “Fact-checking President Donald Trump’s Florida rally.” Politifact claims to correct five things that Trump said:
Wrong. Trump made the case that the news media are biased and frequently lie about him. Which is true.
It checks out, and it is not “out of context.” Trump actually quoted a little more of the letter, and you can read the whole thing here. The context merely elaborates on the theme, e.g., Jefferson also wrote:
Now that Donald Trump is president, our “fact checkers” have gone into overdrive. Every day, they crank out news stories purporting to correct Trump’s errors. More often than not, the “fact checkers” are merely relating the other side–the Democratic Party’s side–of the story.
This story by Politifact is typical: “Fact-checking President Donald Trump’s Florida rally.” Politifact claims to correct five things that Trump said:
Trump takes Jefferson out of context
Trump used the words of President Thomas Jefferson to make the case that the media, and newspapers, are illegitimate.
Trump used the words of President Thomas Jefferson to make the case that the media, and newspapers, are illegitimate.
Wrong. Trump made the case that the news media are biased and frequently lie about him. Which is true.
“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper,” Trump quoted Jefferson as saying on June 14, 1807. That quote checks out.
It checks out, and it is not “out of context.” Trump actually quoted a little more of the letter, and you can read the whole thing here. The context merely elaborates on the theme, e.g., Jefferson also wrote:
I will add, that the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods & errors. He who reads nothing will still learn the great facts, and the details are all false.
