Trump rips fact-checkers: ‘Some of the most dishonest people in media’

President Trump slammed fact-checkers as “some of the most dishonest people in media” at a rally in El Paso, Texas, on Monday night.

“Where are the fact-checkers? Some of the most dishonest people in media are the so-called ‘fact-checkers,’ ” the president said, echoing a tweet earlier in the day praising a segment by Fox News host Jesse Watters, who accused media fact-checkers of “lying” to the public while becoming “fake news.” 

“Fact checkers have become Fake News.” @JesseBWatters So True!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2019

On Dec. 10, The Washington Post fact-checker introduced “the Bottomless Pinocchio,” a rating inspired by Trump to rate politicians “who repeat a false claim so many times that they are, in effect, engaging in campaigns of disinformation.”

{mosads}“Trump’s willingness to constantly repeat false claims has posed a unique challenge to fact-checkers,” the Post’s Glenn Kessler wrote. “Most politicians quickly drop a Four-Pinocchio claim, either out of a duty to be accurate or concern that spreading false information could be politically damaging.”

The Post had always applied Pinocchios in rating public statements, ranging from one to four Pinocchios depending on the degree of the lie, with four being the most egregious.

Polls attempting to gauge public trust of fact-checking are scarce, but a 2016 Rasmussen poll showed that only 29 percent of likely U.S. voters surveyed “trust media fact-checking of candidates’ comments,” while 62 percent “believe instead that news organizations skew the facts to help candidates they support.”