Media Research Center executive Tim Graham has an irrational hatred of fact-checkers, and it’s no surprise that he has spent this year raging at them as well. For example:
- NewsBusters Podcast: ‘Fact Checkers’ Are Not Heroes Like Firefighters!
- Only ONE ‘Fact Checker’ Actually Evaluated Facts in Biden’s Farewell Address
- Fox News Reports CNN’s Daniel Dale 80-Day Mark for On-Air Fact Checks: Trump 23, Biden 2
- ‘Nonpartisan’?? PolitiFact’s ‘Truth-O-Meter’ TILTS Dramatically Against Republicans
- Column: PolitiFact Seeks to Spoil the Spin of Scott Jennings
- PolitiFact in July: Zero ‘False’ Dems, 10 ‘False’ for GOPers (3 ‘Pants On Fire’ Slams for Trump)
- Premature Fact-Checkulation: PolitiFact Pounces on Negative Net Migration Boast by Trump
Graham spent a July 12 post ranting that PolitiFact backed up a Democrat:
PolitiFact threw a “False” flag at Scott Jennings for suggesting on CNN Newsnight with Abby Phillip “There are like almost 5 million able-bodied people on Medicaid who simply choose not to work.” But that is less shocking than this “factual” website rushing to defend former Rep. Jamaal Bowman saying on that CNN show a few weeks ago that black people have worse health outcomes because there are all these people calling them the “N-word.”
[…]“I’m a Black man in America,” Bowman said during the June 25 segment. “The reason why heart disease and cancer and obesity and diabetes are bigger in the Black community is because of the stress we carry from having to deal with being called the N-word directly or indirectly every day.” Of course, Abby Phillip didn’t interrupt or seek to correct this in any way.
Scott Jennings accurately citing a Congressional Budget Office figure on people losing Medicaid over imposing work requirements was “False,” perhaps because he said people “choose not to work.” Phillip pounced on that. That offends liberal sensibilities. But the liberals love to underline America is horribly racist. PolitiFact noted Bowman’s comment was ripped by conservatives, and then “corrected” it:
[…]It is clearly bizarre that you can NOT say there are lazy people who won’t observe work requirements for government benefits, but you CAN say black people facing obesity or diabetes or cancer can be directly blamed on “N-words” that you don’t have to prove anyone actually said. “Science” has spoken?
Naturally, then, the liberals at PolitiFact don’t just blame supposed N-word throwing for worse health outcomes, but they roll out leftist experts to hit the predictable note of systemic racism:
For all his ranting, however, Graham made no effort to dispute the accuracy of PolitiFact’s claim or otherwise prove that systemic racism doesn’t exist.
Graham used an Aug. 18 post to parse criticism of Trump for whining about the “Russia hoax” (which his employer has wholeheartedly embraced):
When Trump says “hoax,” he’s not denying the Russians interfered in the 2016 election. He’s denying that he was in bed with Putin or was literally a Russian agent, as the lefties tried to smear him. The “hoax” refers to the Steele Dossier and the “pee tapes” and all the unproven garbage that was thrown from 2016 to 2019.
Graham doesn’t cite Trump himself ever making that distinction, however — he’s just pretending to read Trump’s mind — and he ignores that the 2016 Trump campaign did, in fact, have numerous contacts with Russian operatives that warranted an investigation. He went on to parse Trump’s claim (disputed by PolitiFact, of course) that President Obama had “given” Crimea to Putin and Russia:
“You can’t say Obama ‘gave’ Crimea to Putin.” Well, Putin took it, and Obama did nothing — except for some strongly worded statements “refusing to recognize” the obvious takeover. The facts remain: Putin invaded Ukraine under Obama and under Biden — but never under Trump.
Graham sounds much more like a Trump operative than a “media researcher.” Not a good look for someone who claims to care about facts.