WashPost’s Kessler Touts ‘Most Popular’ Fact Checks of 2021; Only One for Biden!

Washington Post Glenn Kessler (fact-checker) displayed his top ten articles that were most popular on CNN this morning. It was remarkable that our president, who is known for making blunders, only got one spot. This surprised even Glenn Kessler, the journalist who famously left a falsehood database in order to interview President Biden. 

You can find more information here Day of the New, guest host John Avlon welcomed Kessler for this “thankless job,” before discussing the most popular fact check of the year with Post readers, “debunking the claim that the Taliban had seized $85 billion” dollars of U.S. weapons.”

Avlon scoffed at this “partisan stat” from the right. Kessler We tried to minimize the reality that millions of dollars worth of weapons were still in Afghanistan following President Biden’s catastrophic evacuation.

That’s right, that was $85 billion. But technically it was 83. This number represents all the money that was appropriated for Afghan security forces. It was only 75 billion that got to Afghanistan. And then, less than 30 percent of the money went towards weapons. So you can see already way lower than $85 billion, you’re in the $20 billion dollar range, and a lot of those weapons, that’s a figure over 20, 25 — 20–20 years, so uh, the actual number of weapons that were abandoned, most of which before the army left they disabled is much, much smaller. 

And this was supposed to make Biden’s Afghanistan debacle look better? 

Kessler also fact-checked Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert over an exaggerated personal story about why she open-carries and dunked on Republican Congressman Jim Jordan for saying Nancy Pelosi denied a request for National Guard presence prior to January 6 by the Capitol Police when he could find no evidence to support this. This is the Post likes to go after Republicans’ tall tales but avoids Democrats’ fake stories like the plague. 

That is why President Biden, who has a long history of lying and gaffes, only secured one entry in the top ten.

AVLON: For sure. And I want to go– to point out it is not just Republicans telling tall tales all the time. Biden falsely claimed that Georgia’s new voting restrictions had ended early voting hours. It wasn’t true. 

KESSLER: No. While there are many issues that people could raise regarding certain aspects of the law, the President continued to insist that the legislation would reduce voting hours. However, it actually increased voting opportunities in large areas of Georgia. The law didn’t impact voting hours on election day. We could not understand why he repeated it three times.

Hmm, maybe because Biden kept hearing this lie on CNN?

Kessler faked shock that his Biden fact-checks didn’t appeal to the Post’s far left readers. “Interestingly, we fact checked Joe Biden more than any other politician or person this past year, but fact checks about Biden don’t initially get the eyeballs you would expect,”He shrugged. Avlon seemed unbothered by it as well, quipping, “Well, maybe a volume issue as well.” But in 2019, CNN was enthralled by Kessler giving President Trump tens of thousands of fact checks.

While Biden got one fact-check from Kessler, the journalist actually defended Biden twice in this top ten list: on the Afghanistan pullout, and a “viral” tweet that was only up for a few hours misquoting Biden. Which follows Kessler’s partisan pattern. 

Fact checking was done on the Wuhan laboratory leak theory being the source of COVID-19. Kessler didn’t blame CNN, his paper or CNN. The New York TimesThis theory was dismissed by Ted Cruz and Senator Tom Cotton as fringe conspiracies.

CNN’s segment skipped Kessler also defending Anthony Fauci from twice being criticized for not paying for Wuhan gain-of function research by the NIH.

CNN and Washington Post were sponsored by Whole Foods. You can contact them through the Conservatives Fight Back Page linked.

Take a look at the transcript:

CNN Day of the New

12/28/2021

JOHN ALON: Fact check can be difficult. It’s still a job that someone has to do. The political landscape in 2021 has provided a seemingly endless supply of work for journalists like the Washington Post’s Glen Kessler, who’s tasked with setting the record straight and doling out the Pinocchios. We are pleased to have him join us for a discussion about the top fact-checks of this year. Glen, it’s great to meet you. 

WASHINGTON POINT FACT-CHECKER GLENN KESSLER. Glad to be there. 

AVLON : Let’s begin with the number one article, which was the most popular this year. It debunked the claims that the Taliban had stolen $85 billions (billions with a B) of U.S. weaponry. Let’s go through this one. 

KESSLER: That’s right, that is the $85 billion figure, but technically it was 83. It was all that money allocated to Afghan security forces. Only 75 billion went to Afghanistan, and less than 30% was used for weapons. So you can see already way lower than $85 billion, you’re in the $20 billion dollar range, and a lot of those weapons, that’s a figure over 20, 25 — 20–20 years, so uh, the actual number of weapons that were abandoned, most of which before the army left they disabled is much, much smaller. 

It is important to note that this fact can disrupt the party stat. 

The lab leak theory about the origins and spread of coronavirus was another popular topic. Although there was initial resistance, evidence soon started to appear that prompted some serious investigations. That is no conspiracy theory. Let’s go through this. 

KESSLER: Right. KESSLER: Right. The fact check allowed readers to see how scientific consensus has changed in the intervening years. 

AVLON Fact check also number 3 the story about Lauren Boebert (Republican from Colorado) regarding her political roots. After a victim was shot and killed at her restaurant, Boebert claimed that she started allowing her staff members to own guns. Glen, is that the truth? 

KESSLER: Right, yeah. KESSLER, right. This had nothing whatsoever to do with a crime. According to her, it was a fight. It took place in a faraway area from her restaurant. Within a few days, however, it became clear that the victim had taken a high dose of drugs. It was an easy story for her to tell, and it helped her understand why she became a politician. But it wasn’t the whole truth. 

AVLON: For sure. And I want to go– to point out it is not just Republicans telling tall tales all the time. Biden falsely claimed that Georgia’s new voting restrictions had ended early voting hours. It wasn’t true. 

KESSLER: No. KESSLER: No. The law didn’t impact voting hours on election day. He repeated this three times and it was something we couldn’t understand. We fact-checked Joe Biden the most than any politician or individual this year. However, Biden fact checks don’t always get as many eyes. 

AVLON Let me quickly get to number 5, because January 6th is around. Jim Jordan claimed that Nancy Pelosi had denied the request to the National Guard for additional reinforcements of the Capitol Police. What’s the truth about that?

KESSLER: There is absolutely no proof to back that. Here’s an example of Republicans trying to change January 6th into something else. Pelosi can be blamed because he is common. The tweet was sent by Jim Jordan. After looking into the case, it turned out that there had been plenty of evidence. 

AVLON: Glenn Kessler, thank you for everything you did to wrap up 2021. Here’s to 2022, I know there’ll be more fact-checks ahead.