In a near-empty arena on the river in his hometown, Joe Biden accepted the Democratic nomination for president, promising hope over fear, fairness over privilege, love over hate. And, he said, “Facts over fiction.” Let’s see about that. Here are claims made by Biden, fact-checked or put in context. See Figure 2 on PolitiFact.com […]
President Donald Trump is distancing himself from a private border wall project after federal prosecutors allege that some of those involved defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors and used the money on lavish purchases and personal expenses. “I know nothing about the project other than I didn’t like when I read about it, I didn’t […]
Twice in the past week, reporters have asked President Donald Trump what he thinks about QAnon. The conspiracy theory falsely claims that a cabal of prominent Democrats and movie stars are Satan-worshipping pedophiles. Twice, Trump has demurred — and even encouraged QAnon followers. A reporter during an Aug. 19 press conference asked: “During the pandemic, […]
Sen. Kamala Harris of California became the first Black and Asian American woman to accept the vice presidential nomination of a major political party during the third night of the 2020 virtual Democratic National Convention. And — fact-check us — we’re pretty sure she was the first vice presidential nominee to speak in Tamil during […]
The internet responded to Joe Biden’s selection of Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate with heaps of misinformation about her mixed-race heritage and personal biography. Harris is the first Black woman and first person of Indian descent to be nominated on a major party’s presidential ticket. Since Aug. 11, the day Biden announced Harris […]
Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris was on the radio show “The Breakfast Club” in 2019 when she said she smoked marijuana when she was in college. The senator from California had announced her own presidential candidacy the previous month, and the interview, which included questions about her musical tastes, quickly became fodder for political […]
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had one minute in the virtual spotlight on the second night of the Democratic convention, and she used it to second the nomination of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for president. But, but, but … Isn’t this all about party unity, and rallying behind Joe Biden as the nominee? Was Ocasio-Cortez, a representative from […]
One Twitter user claimed that it was “cheating 101.” Another used the hashtag “#TRUMPSTEALINGELECTION.” Social media posts are populating feeds with images of the blue mailboxes being loaded into trucks. Why is the removal of mailboxes across the country provoking such controversy? Many fear that the operation is related to President Donald Trump’s efforts to […]
The traditional roll call to formally nominate Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee sent viewers on a virtual journey from sea to shining sea. Socially-distanced presenters at night two of the Democratic National Convention included somber delegates in suits discussing topics like racial injustice, but also an Ohio man in a field talking about how […]
The sequel to a video filled with conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic is so far not the viral hit that the original was. On Aug. 18, a website that hosts videos removed by YouTube aired “Plandemic: Indoctornation.” The video is a pseudo-documentary that spins a conspiracy theory about the spread of COVID-19 over 75 […]
With former President Bill Clinton slated to speak on the second night of the Democratic National Convention, some Americans were incredulous. “Anyone wanna explain to me how Bill Clinton who was photographed with the young women raped on pedophile island and on a flight log 26 times is the honored guest speaker at the 2020 […]
Gov. Andrew Cuomo recreated a coronavirus press briefing complete with PowerPoint, Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke in front of an impressive amount of firewood, and a guy only identified as Eric from Illinois recorded a message from his phone holding what looked like a glass of whiskey. The first night of the first-ever virtual Democratic National […]