Biden labeled ‘recidivist’ by Washington Post fact checker for repeating trio of false claims
The president has already been awarded ‘Four Pinocchios’ but continues to repeat debunked info
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Biden could wind up with the "Bottomless Pinocchio" moniker after the Washington Post noted he's repeated a trio of "false or misleading claims," including a whopper about a new Georgia voting law.
Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler wrote Biden is a repeat offender because he continues to make three already-debunked claims "that appear impervious to fact-checking," repeating the inaccurate statements after they were proven false. Kessler on Friday penned an updated fact check headlined, "President Biden, recidivist."
BIDEN EARNS ‘FOUR PINOCCHIOS’ FROM WASHINGTON POST FOR FALSE CLAIM ABOUT GEORGIA VOTING LAW
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Biden’s most egregious gaffe so far, in the eyes of Kessler, is the falsehood that a new Georgia law "ends voting hours early," which has already been slapped with the dreaded "Four Pinocchios."
The label is the most severe scolding handed out by the Post until the whopper is repeated 20 or more times, which is then considered a "Bottomless Pinocchio."
"The bar for the Bottomless Pinocchio is high: Claims must have received Three or Four Pinocchios from The Fact Checker, and they must have been repeated at least 20 times," Kessler explained. "Twenty is a sufficiently robust number that there can be no question the politician is aware that his or her facts are wrong."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PSAKI DOUBLES DOWN ON BIDEN'S GEORGIA VOTING COMMENTS AFTER MAJOR FACT-CHECK
While Biden has not yet repeated the falsehood about the Georgia law 20 times, he’s mentioned it in multiple public appearances over the past week. He repeatedly claimed last week the law signed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, R., would make it harder for working-class people to vote.
"What I’m worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It’s sick. It’s sick," Biden said. "Deciding that you’re going to end voting at five o'clock when working people are just getting off work."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Biden doubled down the following day in a written statement: "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."
Kessler wrote Biden's claim couldn't be substantiated, but it hasn’t stopped the president from spreading misinformation.
"On Election Day in Georgia, polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and if you are in line by 7 p.m., you are allowed to cast your ballot. Nothing in the new law changes those rules. However, the law did make some changes to early voting. But experts say the net effect was to expand the opportunities to vote for most Georgians, not limit them," Kessler wrote.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Biden made the same false claim during an appearance on ESPN on Wednesday night, after the Post awarded him Four Pinocchios. White House press secretary Jen Psaki has also defended Biden’s comments despite their inaccuracy.
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Kessler also noted Biden has repeatedly claimed coronavirus killed more Americans than "World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War combined," which is not true. The White House claimed Biden meant to "refer to combat deaths," but the Post doesn’t buy the explanation.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Biden has also received Two Pinocchios for repeatedly making a "misleading claim about what percentage of the savings flowed to the top 1 percent of taxpayers in Trump’s 2017 tax."