Politifact Writer Debunks Lies About Hillary, Then Declares ‘Both Sides’ Are Egregious

Tommy ChristopherAug 27th, 2016, 3:51 pm

1thumb A funny thing happened on MSNBC’s Saturday afternoon MSNBC Live program, if by “funny” you mean infuriating. Weekend anchor and correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin hosted Politifact Senior Writer Lauren Carroll for a segment that wound up confirming that two of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s lies were, in fact, lies, while something that Hillary Clinton said about Donald Trump was, in fact, true.

Carroll debunked the smear against The Clinton Foundation that we covered in these pages this week, as well as Trump’s more recent assertion that Hillary’s tax plan hurts black-owned businesses, and rated Hillary Clinton’s statement about a “Trump Effect” that’s led to an increase in bullying as “Mostly True”:

So far, so good. But then, Mohyeldin asked Carroll which side was more egregious with the falsehoods, and Carroll gave an answer that didn’t quite seem right:

Ayman Mohyeldin: Let me ask you this. In terms of the comments you’re hearing on the campaign trail from both candidates so far, what is the most egregious statement made by one side or the other that you say is false?

Lauren Carroll: I feel like it changes every week. We hear an egregious spin about her e-mails, and then that thousands of people were cheering on 9/11. and that Mexico is sending in the bad people. We are hearing it from both sides.

Even on its own terms, two horribly racist smears versus one example of “spin” doesn’t hold water, but maybe there’s something in Politifact’s ratings that supports Carroll’s conclusion that both sides are equally bad. Or maybe not. Here’s how Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump stack up according to Politifact’s own ratings:

1thumb1

You read it right, Donald Trump is triple the liar that Hillary is, and was only rated “True” four percent of the time! But that’s the power of the media’s devotion to a notion of “objectivity” that no longer applies, if it ever did.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.