Neetu Chandak on January 7, 2019
Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had a meltdown in a series of tweets Monday over getting fact-checked by organizations like The Washington Post and PolitiFact.
“Facts are facts, America,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Monday. “We should care about getting things right. Yet standards of who gets fact-checked, how often + why are unclear. This is where false equivalency+bias creeps in, allowing climate deniers to be put on par w/scientists, for example.”
Facts are facts, America. We should care about getting things right. Yet standards of who gets fact-checked, how often + why are unclear.
This is where false equivalency+bias creeps in, allowing climate deniers to be put on par w/scientists, for example.https://t.co/87c6kVzIuI
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 7, 2019
She also took issue with being fact-checked the same number of times as White House press secretary Sarah Sanders by PolitiFact, which is owned by nonprofit Poynter Institute for Media Studies.
“She’s been serving for almost 2 years,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “I’ve served 4 days. Why is she fact-checked so little? Is she adhering to some standard we don’t know about?”
For example, it looks like @PolitiFact has fact-checked Sarah Huckabee Sanders and myself the *same* amount of times: 6.
She’s been serving for almost 2 years. I’ve served 4 days.
Why is she fact-checked so little? Is she adhering to some standard we don’t know about?
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 7, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez also told PolitFact some officials have their statements rated as “true” often.
Another question for @politifact: some officials’ statements (ex. Andrew Cuomo) get rated “true” frequently.
I say true things all the time – I’d hope most do. When does Politifact choose to rate true statements?
Is there a guide? I’d be happy to repost if there is.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 7, 2019
“I say true things all the time – I’d hope most do,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “When does Politifact choose to rate true statements?”
Another tweet called out WaPo for giving her four “Pinocchios” — the same number President Donald Trump received over the number of people who died in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria — for her “confusing tweet” about how the Pentagon’s alleged $21 trillion in accounting discrepancies could pay for two-thirds of Medicare for All.
Or why did @washingtonpost give my confusing tweet on military accounting offsets the same “Pinocchios” as Trump’s flat denial of how many Americans died in Puerto Rico?
These are legitimate questions not intended to attack. Who makes these decisions? How? Is there a rubric?
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 7, 2019
$21 TRILLION of Pentagon financial transactions “could not be traced, documented, or explained.”
$21T in Pentagon accounting errors. Medicare for All costs ~$32T.
That means 66% of Medicare for All could have been funded already by the Pentagon.
And that’s before our premiums. https://t.co/soT6GSmDSG
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 2, 2018
Ocasio-Cortez referenced the $21 trillion number from an article from The Nation, but the numbers and math were questionable.
WaPo pointed out the $21 trillion estimate covers 17 years, “whereas the Urban Institute’s $32 trillion estimate for Sanders’s Medicare plan covers 10 years,” so the two numbers aren’t “apples-to-apples to begin with.”
WaPo fact-checker Glenn Kessler responded to Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet, suggesting she was awarded the Pinocchios for not admitting she was wrong.
“FYI: The Washington Post Fact Checker generally does not award Pinocchios when a politician admits error,” Kessler tweeted. “We may still do a fact check, but we don’t try to play gotcha. We understand that everyone makes mistakes, especially at a live event. (PS: few take us up on this offer.)”
FYI: The Washington Post Fact Checker generally does not award Pinocchios when a politician admits error. We may still do a fact check, but we don’t try to play gotcha. We understand that everyone makes mistakes, especially at a live event. (PS: few take us up on this offer.) https://t.co/PMApLxTI4x
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) January 7, 2019
Both PolitiFact and WaPo have guidelines for their fact-checking process.
Ocasio-Cortez’s team did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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