PolitiFact tried so hard to bury the Hunter Biden laptop story in a June 14, 2021 story that it ended up accidentally telling the truth about it.
Donald Trump claimed that he was "right about everything" and PolitiFact published its article to contest that claim item by item. Trump said the "Biden laptop was real," apparently trying to make the point that the Hunter Biden laptop story the mainstream media largely ignored in the runup to the 2020 election was truly based on Hunter Biden's laptop.
PolitiFact's telling:
'Hunter Biden’s laptop was real'It was real in the sense that it exists, but it didn’t prove much.
Trump allies obtained a laptop or copies of a laptop during the 2020 campaign that allegedly belonged to Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son. Over time, there has been less doubt that the laptop did in fact belong to Hunter Biden, though how the laptop came to be obtained by Trump allies and Trump-friendly media outlets is unclear.
Conservative media have done quite a bit of reporting on how the laptop ended up in Rudy Giuliani's hands, not to mention those of the FBI. We find it interesting that PolitiFact declined to report on or link to any of those details. Instead of providing those details, PolitiFact gave us Hunter Biden's side of things and a link to that story:
Hunter Biden has been open about his history as a recovering drug addict; he’s said it’s possible the laptop was stolen from him.
Did you know the FBI is investigating Hunter Biden's business dealing with China? No? PolitiFact apparently doesn't, either. Or at least PolitiFact figured it's not relevant to this story
PolitiFact wraps up the section on Biden's laptop by accidentally telling the truth:
Nothing from the laptop has revealed illegal or unethical behavior by Joe Biden as vice president with regard to his son’s tenure as a director for Burisma, a Ukraine-based natural gas company.Though PolitiFact's statement isn't even necessarily true in itself, it tells a series of truths in what it doesn't say. It doesn't say whether the laptop shows illegal or unethical behavior as vice president not regarding Hunter Biden's (apparently well-paid) tenure with Burisma.
What can't we fit through the loophole PolitiFact leaves open?
PolitiFact's statement is compatible with each of the following prospective assertions about what the laptop shows:
- Illegal behavior by Joe Biden while not serving as vice president
- Unethical behavior by Joe Biden while not serving as vice president
- Illegal behavior by Vice President Biden unrelated to Hunter Biden's role as a Burisma employee
- Unethical behavior by VP Biden unrelated to Hunter Biden's role as a Burisma employee
We're not saying any of the statements on our list is necessarily true. We're saying PolitiFact's disclaimer about what the Hunter Biden laptop doesn't show is so laughably narrow that it's incriminating.
Why?
Why would any news organization, let alone a fact-checking organization, include such a preposterous caveat in a story? It looks designed to mislead readers.
If it's just simple incompetence, it's of the kind that looks much worse than simple incompetence. It looks like an attempt to deceive readers.
That's a bad look.
Typo correction June 15, 2021: Bursima=.Burisma
Correction June 16, 2021: Fixed some flawed text formatting and changed "It doesn't say whether the laptop shows illegal or unethical behavior as vice president regarding Hunter Biden's (apparently well-paid) tenure with Burisma" to "It doesn't say whether the laptop shows illegal or unethical behavior as vice president not regarding Hunter Biden's (apparently well-paid) tenure with Burisma." Our apologies for any confusion our error caused.
Politifactbias objecting to politicfact... really? So, all you do is scrutinize the website that allows you to exist? How boring
ReplyDelete**So, all you do is scrutinize the website that allows you to exist?**
ReplyDeleteThat's such a great point. And stupid old geologists scrutinize the planet that allows them to exist. How boring!
But seriously, how does PolitiFact do us any favors by supposedly allowing us to exist? Do we derive income from this website? We do not. And nobody pays us for this work, which does involve some modest expenses, despite the fact that we have maintained a free hosting arrangement via Google's Blogger platform.
Indeed, we are the ones benefiting PolitiFact by finding errors in its work that it (sometimes!) corrects, and offering suggestions for improvement that it (sometimes!) implements.
Of course, it never credits us for the improvements it has made at our behest.
Apparently it's enough that they allow us to exist.
Thank you for existing for people like me who know the biased jackasses who are paid well to lie to the American people! I can’t help but be pissed off when I read an article like the one I just read that politifact indicated 100% of illegals entering our country are tested. If they are found to be positive they are returned. This kind of bullshit reporting is why our country is experiencing the perils we find ourselves in right now. They make this a more dangerous place to live. So THANK YOU BRYAN WHITE for doing for free what others don’t even do for money, that’s TELLING THE DAMN TRUTH.
DeleteI’ve tried to post several post with my name with my name and address so I guess you don’t like getting back what you give out. Oh, you give out the truth, so you wouldn’t know what it feels like to get it!
DeleteWell Bryan I posted a THANK YOU for the work you do but it appears the biased ass fake checkers won’t post it, although it states it was posted. What a damn shame. I hope they all rot in hell.
ReplyDeleteIf you're talking about a comment to this site, that's just me taking a long time to approve your comment.
ReplyDeleteNotifications from Blogger are a bit spotty, so I don't always notice new comments.
Blogger's always been free, and that's our reason for using it, but the longer we use it the more we're reminded "You get what you pay for." It's not the automatic boost for search priority that it once was.
Thank you! For some reason I thought it was Politifact posting their BS. I guess they got ahead of the 3rd laptop that Hunter Biden was bragging about the Russians stealing! He said he was partying with the Russians. FAKEBOOK will not post it though. I’m going to make screen prints and see if I can post it that way. He is on the recording bragging about the sex he was having and recording and now the Russians have it and they will make all the money he should have gotten from releasing it. All while naked with a prostitute doing drugs!! Disgraceful and a total embarrassment for our country! Thank you for continuing to do what you do Bryan!
ReplyDelete