The Media Research Center continued its war on fact-checking with a Jan. 6 post by Tim Graham:
Liberals naturally gravitate to marking the fifth anniversary of the January 6 riot at the Capitol, and that includes the so-called “independent fact checkers.” PolitiFact promoted its January 6 category page, which demonstrates their liberal narrative enforcement function. They boasted of more than 100 “fact checks,” but the tilt is dramatic.
According to this topic page, there are 44 “checks” of named conservatives or Republicans, compared to just three for Democrats, almost 15 to 1. Of those 44, there were 14 “Pants On Fire” rulings, and only one is not “Mostly False” or worse. In September of 2022, then-Rep Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) drew a “Mostly True” for noting every time a Republican has been elected president over the last few decades, House Democrats have objected to the result.
[…]There’s no check of an actual member of Congress or President Biden or Vice President Harris on this topic page, although PolitiFact repeatedly pounced on anyone suggesting Nancy Pelosi did anything wrong. No member of the Pelosi-Picked Panel on January 6 drew any attention, including the “RINOS,” suggesting those hearings were factually perfect.
But Graham offered no evidence that things were otherwise. And if he didn’t want a “Pelosi-Picked Panel” to run those hearings, he should have told Kevin McCarthy — who pitched a hissy fit and withdrew all his nominees rather than work with Pelosi to seat Republicans both could agree on — to better cooperate with the process. Instead, he continued to whine:
Donald Trump was tagged eight times on this curated topic, and Tucker Carlson was attacked five times. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) drew several “Pants On Fire” critiques. Johnson drew one for arguing “To call what happened on January 6 an armed insurrection, I just think is not accurate.” Actually, he drew two “liar liar” ratings for that argument.
The next day, Graham had another PolitiFact complaint to make:
Everyone can easily see that the so-called “independent fact-checkers” work hand in glove with the so-called “mainstream media” in targeting Republicans as the people no one should trust in positions of power. Both groups preposterously claim that they are “fact-based” outlets that hold all sides accountable.
On New Year’s Eve, PolitiFact Executive Editor Katie Sanders appeared on the PBS News Hour.The PBS-PolitiFact partnership underlines our point about their mutual goals. When PBS interviewer Lisa Desjardins asked Sanders about allegations of bias, she denied that was a fact.
But a NewsBusters analysis of all the “Truth-O-Meter” ratings of elected or appointed officials in 2025 showed a dramatic tilt, as we’ve reported all year. From January 1 through December 31, Republicans were deemed “Mostly False” or worse in 124 of 146 fact checks (84.9 percent). The Democrats were tagged as “Mostly False” or worse in just 17 of 49 checks (34.6 percent).
So if you compare the numbers of “False” warnings, the party breakdown is 124 to 17, or 7.3 to 1. The number of checks are roughly 3 to 1.
Graham failed to explain why Republicans shouldn’t be fact-checked, which is implied in the headline on the accompanying graphic: “PolitiFact Undermines GOP With Fact Checks.” He also offered no proof that Democrats lie as much as Republicans do.
Graham further whined in a Jan. 14 post:
The left-wingers at PolitiFact used the breaking news of Renee Good’s death for several “fact checks” defending her activism and attacking Trump. When Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described Good as a “domestic terrorist,” many liberal-media operatives objected, from Jimmy Kimmel to The View, plus those “independent fact-checkers.” The PolitiFact headline:
Experts question Kristi Noem calling Renee Good a ‘domestic terrorist.’ Here’s what it means
You can be certain that the “experts” are all leftists with an agenda.
[…]FBI Director Christopher Wray has no page at PolitiFact, despite a March 2, 2021 AP report:“FBI Director Chris Wray condemned the January riot at the U.S. Capitol as “domestic terrorism” Tuesday as he defended the bureau’s handling of intelligence indicating the prospect for violence.”
Graham didn’t explain why he won’t consider the Capitol riot “domestic terrorism.” He went on to rant:
PolitiFact also rushed to defend Good from a “rap sheet” that’s circulating on social media: “A document shows Minnesota shooting victim Renee Good had a record of child abuse.” “FALSE,” they said, but then repeated more gush about Good.
If the purported rap sheet is fictional — something Graham does not dispute — why won’t Graham also denounce the false claim? It seems that he believes that he and his fellow right-wingers should be allowed to lie with impunity about those he personally despises.
Graham wasn’t the only MRC employee whining about PolitiFact. Alex Christy huffed in a Jan. 27 post:
On Monday, PolitiFact’s Maria Briceno and Amy Sherman teamed up to give President Trump and other critics of the Minneapolis unrest a “false” rating for their true claims that at least some of the agitators are paid.
This was despite Briceno and Sherman writing in the “if your time is short” section, “Although it’s common for professional community organizers to be involved in protests, reporting by multiple news outlets, statements from people on the ground and experts’ observations show thousands of Minnesotans have been voluntarily protesting” and “Experts in social and political movements told us the majority of protesters aren’t paid, but it’s a common talking point aimed at dismissing the legitimacy of grassroots activism and criticism of the government.”
In other words, Briceno and Sherman acknowledge the existence of paid protestors but choose to not factor that into their ranking.
Christy offered no reason for his considering “professional community organizers” to be the same thing as “paid protesters,” and he offered no evidence that anyone is specifically being paid solely to protest.