On the cusp of her confirmation vote, let’s look over how the fact-checkers rigged the coverage of Ketanji Brown Jackson.
My daily Townhall column where I cover the media malpractice, I noted a number of ways the press was all-in with their support of President Biden’s SCOTUS replacement, Ketanji Brown Jackson. They were focused on supporting the White House message during the confirmation process.
It began with the uniform coverage of Senator Josh Hawley revealing KBJ’s judicial history of leniency towards sex offenders, with a long record of depleted sentences for offenders found guilty. Numerous examples have been given to me of news outlets all running the same analysis, calling his findings “misleading,” like a flock of media Mina Birds. Next day, the White House proclaimed that Republicans were pandering for Qanon with their abusive questions. Followed right alongRepeating the same message.
(Similar: A takedown was done of outlets that were adhering to the Qanon charge on a recent Lie-Able Sources podcast.)
The fact-checking addition was another way in which the press supported KBJ. The journalistic truth detectors have a clear pattern in their approach to the hearings. This is very evident. All the outlets used the same method; Jackson was never the focal point of their jobs description.
Starting with the Associated Press the syndicate conducted three fact-checks throughout the hearings. These are the headlines of the three fact-checks by AP on confirmation
– Republicans Skew Jackson’s Record…
– Republicans Twist Jackson’s Judicial Record…
– Senators Falsely Represent Jackson’s Views on Abortion…
Next we check FactCheck.org. There they also gave a trio rectifications. All of them were directed at items raised by GOP senators. She was excused from Hawley’s findings on child porn sentencingCleared from any involvement Sentences and Critical Race TheoryOn the issue of Brown representing Gitmo prisoners, this outlet only repeats what was said in the hearing, giving some historical details, without any judgement. The hearing ended with Patrick Leahy applauding Brown and then an extended passage from her reply.
On the Gitmo issue, however, CNN’s Daniel Dale did make a judgment, and it was as daft as one might expect. Jackson, representing detainees, indicted a number of rights violations, and held government culpable. Dale’s contention is that Lindsey Graham was wrong to state that she characterized George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld as war criminals. This, Yet, I still showed that in her filed amicus brief she directly states war crimes took place — and both Bush and Rumsfeld were the named respondents.
PolitiFact also has a dozen fact check on KBJ. All of these are addressing questions from Republicans and accusations regarding the justice system found via social media. Jackson made no comments. These comments range from Most FalseTo False,To Get your pants on fire. In one case, they bickered over a FaceBook post that declared — accurately, mind you — that the KBJ hearing was not featured on the news networks live like Brett Kavanaugh’s hearing had been. Their only exception is their assessment of the war crime issue. They gave the exact statement. It’s Half True rating.
Snopes merely gave a brief overview of the hearing, where it asserted the Republicans “interrogated” Jackson, “accused” her of things, “labeled” her, and “attempted to frame her.” Snopes also trotted the approved assessment of the questioning from the GOP.
The attention on Jackson’s rulings in child pornography cases …may have also winked at members of a particular strain within the Republican Party with QAnon-adjacent beliefs.
Snopes has also lamely addressed a key issue in her confirmation – While they were both at Harvard, did she participate in dramas with Matt Damon??! It is also a deeply insignificant fact.This site also does not provide a fact-check. It has this listing with an inconclusive. You are making progress rating. However, it’s possible that the entry was a hot subject with a Hollywood celebrity in the headline. This would have brought in some clickbait suckers.
Great work, you dedicated seekers of the truth, you really got to the bottom of the mysteries of this SCOTUS hearing – just how mean are those Republicans???