McCaskill: Media Must Stop Fact Checking Joe Biden

Jonathan Turley ^ | February 24, 2024 | Jonathan Turley

[george76]

MSNBC contributor and former Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill has been one of the most vocal voices attacking critics of Joe Biden and opposing any investigations into his family or his policies. She attacked journalists and others who spoke in favor of free speech, calling them “Putin apologists” and Putin lovers. Now she is lashing out at the media for fact checking Joe Biden’s false claims . . . any false claims.

McCaskill called The New York Times “ridiculous” for a story correcting Biden’s false claims about the economy. She warned the media that they are only helping Trump by pointing out Biden’s false or misleading claims:

“What everyone says when you travel, ‘Well, you wouldn’t elect him again, would you? Hasn’t the country learned? You wouldn’t ever give this guy power again, would you? Tell us that he’s not going to be re-elected. Please, tell us you’ve learned your lesson.’ So The only blemish on the great country of America worldwide is, in fact, Donald Trump.”

She then added,

“Can I make a suggestion? I move that every newspaper in America quits doing any fact checks on Joe Biden until they fact check Donald Trump every morning on the front page. It is ridiculous that The New York Times fact check Joe Biden on something. I mean, he vomits lies, Trump vomits lies. And he, every day over and over and over again. And it’s just ridiculous that The New York Times is doing a fact check on Biden while they let Trump- they’re numb to the torrent of lies coming out of Trump’s mouth.”

It is that easy. Just stop fact checking. Of course, the media has always fact checked Trump with a certain glee. Such fact checks are a good thing and Trump has been legitimately criticized for many claims. However, McCaskill and others believe that the media must fall in line with the effort to reelect Biden.

The Washington Post previously gave Biden a rare “bottomless Pinocchio” for his false claims. According to McCaskill, that must stop at least until after the election. The public simply does not need to know such facts when democracy is at stake. It appears that ignorance is bliss when it comes to politics.

Of course, it was Benjamin Franklin who said “being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.”

[FrankRizzo890]

(Starts reading) This is really odd! (Only helps Trump) AHH! There it is. Now it makes sense.

[Blueway]

Exactly. We could have gotten rid of her in 2012 if Todd Akin hadn’t self-destructed and then refused to
withdraw in time for any one of several well qualified replacements to step in.

I still hold a grudge against Mike Huckabee for his interference in the matter.

McCaskill was in our town promoting Obamacare...can’t describe how condescending she was.

It is hard not to hate these elitist leftist politicians, I have to pray about it regularly.

[jacknhoo]

“She attacked journalists and others who spoke in favor of free speech, calling them “Putin apologists” and Putin lovers.”

_________________

She and her comrades must have an account here. I see them posting on another recent thread on a post of an article that is lying about who killed the peace deal.

[beef]

“I think there is a genuine debate on the left about what to do about Biden.”

Biden is a senile figurehead. The country is being run by someone else. They will keep him around as long as they need him to be a facade. The people who are not down with this will be ignored.

[Eagles6]

She’s got TDS bad, real bad.

[Bullish]

The men who opposed suffrage were wary of fools such as this.

[Drew68]

“Can I make a suggestion? I move that every newspaper in America quits doing any fact checks on Joe Biden until they fact check Donald Trump every morning on the front page.

The media already fact-checks everything Trump says, even when he is clearly joking or being sarcastic.

[Old Grumpy]

Is this woman for real? I thought the article was a joke, but I kept checking and concluded it IS REAL and she is nuts, just like the Demented One.

[Republican Wildcat]

They’ve hardly been hostile toward him except briefly during the 2020 primary season when they were considering throwing him overboard and were actually reporting on the corruption through Hunter - then the same networks called those things Republican conspiracies.

[frank ballenger]

But where’s the fun of being a Leftist authoritarian tyrant if you can’t push some peasants around? Why go to the trouble of becoming a politician?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

"Why go to the trouble of becoming a politician?"

For the betterment of the USA? To make sure all of our citizens are treated with respect, that we have a blind and honest judicial system, to root out corruption wherever it's found, to make sure we don't have pols sucking up millions of graft? To be good stewards of our hard-earned tax money? To assure a fiscally sound nation with sound money supply? To make sure that citizenship is meaningful and that citizens have different rights and privileges from criminals who sneak into the USA?

That's what Mr. Smith thought when he went to Washington...

[frank ballenger]

Instead of wicker baskets of letters, today Claude Rains would come in to say the thousands of texts attacking Jimmy Stewart were AI generated fakes from falsified IPs and emails came from untraceable accounts covered up by companies in Latvia and the Seychelle Islands.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

So sad but true!

That’s also the way Obama hoovered up money from all over the world via untraceable accounts.

[missnry]

Why do these broadcasts not have the “PAID FOR BY THE DEMOCRAT PARTY” at the end of them? Oh, that’s right because they’re not paid for! They are free donations to the Democrat party that are unreported advertisements/broadcasts! The Democrat party has all of these talking heads spewing 24/7 party talking points and instructions to their faithful followers. The media has placed all of these loser political hacks in these positions to spew the party line. Claire got elected to the Senate when the media crucified her opponent over the abortion issue over two words, ‘legitimate rape’. The Democrat media parsed the words and ran with it 24/7 to give her enough votes to win in Missouri. Her opponent was referring to the ‘rape’ charge of a 16 year old girl with an 18 year old BOY friend who was charged. The media ran with ‘rape is rape’ 24/7 until the election all free to the Democrat party. People have to realize that the Claire’s of this world are for real. They eat, sleep and drink CNN/MSDNC/NBCDNC/CBSDNC every day and they are brainwashed that Biden is a mentally fit pResident!

[missnry]

Why do these broadcasts not have the “PAID FOR BY THE DEMOCRAT PARTY” at the end of them? Oh, that’s right because they’re not paid for! They are free donations to the Democrat party that are unreported advertisements/broadcasts! The Democrat party has all of these talking heads spewing 24/7 party talking points and instructions to their faithful followers. The media has placed all of these loser political hacks in these positions to spew the party line. Claire got elected to the Senate when the media crucified her opponent over the abortion issue over two words, ‘legitimate rape’. The Democrat media parsed the words and ran with it 24/7 to give her enough votes to win in Missouri. Her opponent was referring to the ‘rape’ charge of a 16 year old girl with an 18 year old BOY friend who was charged. The media ran with ‘rape is rape’ 24/7 until the election all free to the Democrat party. People have to realize that the Claire’s of this world are for real. They eat, sleep and drink CNN/MSDNC/NBCDNC/CBSDNC every day and they are brainwashed that Biden is a mentally fit pResident!

[hanamizu]

For those that don’t know, McCaskill ran ads during the primary season for Todd Akin. The first time I saw one, I thought it was a mistake. Akin self-destructed when a leftist reporter asked him out about abortion in the case of rape.

She obviously wanted to run against Akin and spent her own money to ensure he was her opponent. I can’t tell you how happy I was when Josh Hawley sent her to being an MSNBC regular.

[Ancesthntr]

We should thank the old battle axe for trying her best to help Trump. After all, our best chance of having DJT being 47 is for corrupt Grandpa Hairsniffer to be the Dem nominee all the way through Election “Day”. (because it isn’t on a day any more, which is a big part of our problem).

Keep it coming, Senator Battle Axe!

[Political Junkie Too]

For the record, I don't blame Akin for his loss. I think his gaffe was fixable, but Mitch McConnell didn't want Akin in his Senate.

McConnell has a history of letting candidates hang out to dry against the LAAP-dog media's onslaughts if he has a personal grudge against them. He'd rather lose the seat to Democrats than gain an undesirable Republican.

For consideration:

• Christine O'Donnell of Delaware defeated McConnell-favorite Mike Castle in 2010 primary for the seat vacated by Joe Biden.

  O'Donnell was, at the very least, more qualified than AOC is today. O'Donnell was a youth leader for the Bush–Quayle campaign in 1992, worked for two years in the communications office of the Republican National Committee (RNC) in Washington D.C., and became involved in Christian values advocacy groups before she began running for Congress.

  We ended up with Democrat Chris Coons, who later got Jeff Flake to turn against Brett Kavanaugh in his SCOTUS confirmation hearing.

• Todd Akin of Missouri used the phrase "legitimate rape" in his 2012 campaign.

  Akin was an 11-year Missouri state House Representative and 12-year Missouri Congressman, but McConnell ran away from him instead of supporting him through the media frenzy.

• Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock made a similar gaffe in 2014 ("God intended it [rape] to happen").

  Mourdock was the seven-year state Treasurer for Indiana, beating Pete Buttigieg in his 2010 reelection. McConnell abandoned Mourdock because he had the audacity to defeat McConnell's pal Dick Lugar in the Senate primary.

  We ended up with Democrat Joe Donnelly, who was defeated by Mike Braun four years later. Donnelly is now the ambassador to The Vatican (replacing Callista Gingrich).

• Chris McDaniel of Mississippi ran in the 2014 election against senile Thad Cochran.

  McDaniel was a six-year Mississippi state Senator. McConnell's Super PAC ran racist ads against McDaniel and solicited illegal Democrat run-off votes to keep Cochran in office. McDaniel again ran in the 2018 special election for the same seat after Cochran stepped down (and died 11 months later) and lost in an open primary with two Republicans and two Democrats.

• Three-time Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore ran in 2017 for the Senate in the special election to replace Jeff Sessions (who became Attorney General). McConnell refused to support Moore (and Mo Brooks) when the Democrats used a forged yearbook to smear Moore with a 30-year-old charge of sexual assault on a minor. Democrats used that playbook the following year against SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh (IMHO because of McConnell's weakness with Moore).

  Democrat Doug Jones won the seat, but lost to Tommy Tuberville in the next election.

• McConnell didn't fund Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters in 2022 because Masters aligned himself with Donald Trump.

  Democrat Mark Kelly won the election.

• Gen. Don Bolduc won the New Hampshire Republican primary in 2022, and was endorsed by Gen. Mike Flynn and former New Hampshire Bob Smith.

  McConnell supported New Hampshire Senate President Chuck Morse, and didn't support Bolduc in the general election because of his MAGA positions.

  Bolduc lost to Democrat incumbent Maggie Hassan.

• In 2022, the Alaska Republican Party endorsed Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration Kelly Tshibaka for the Senate instead of incumbent Lisa Murkowski.

  Tshibaka was also endorsed by Donald Trump. McConnell's Super PAC spent $5.5 million in attack ads against Tshibaka, to the point where the Alaska Republican Party censured McConnell for contradicting the state party's endorsement.

  Murkowski, arguably the weakest Republican Senator, won the election.

Many of these races were winnable if McConnell had put the full backing of the Senate Republican caucus behind them, but he didn't because the candidates would not be McConnell sycophants. Look at all the damage that was done because McConnell refused to fight for these seats and settled for a razor-thin minority in the Senate.

-PJ