Keller @ Large: A Call For More Fact-Checkers

BOSTON (CBS) -- The polls, the media, Hillary Clinton – these days, Donald Trump is calling everything he sees "crooked."

So I can't get too excited about his attack yesterday on fact-checkers, websites, and TV and newspaper reporters that specialize in analyzing candidate statements for signs of truth and falsehood.

Trump calls them all "crooked as [heck]," although he didn't say heck. But I beg to differ.

Let's take the Pulitzer Prize-winning site Politifact as a case in point.

We can see why Trump doesn't care for it.

Fully 70% of the Trump campaign statements fact-checked by Politifact have been found to be either mostly false, false, or in a category they reserve for an especially bald-faced lie, "pants on fire."

For instance, in his relentless quest to stir up anti-immigrant feeling, Trump recently claimed that "14 percent of non-citizens are registered to vote." Notes Politifact, after laying out its extensive research: "Trump is citing a study that has been refuted by the experts who actually gathered the underlying data."

Oh. Never mind.

Hillary Clinton fares somewhat better – only 26% of her statements were ruled false, with another 23% deemed half true, but this record hardly inspires confidence.

In one recent whopper, she "twists Trump's words on rescuing the auto industry during [the] recession."

Nice.

Without the fact-checkers, reflexive dissemblers like these two would run roughshod.

I say, give us more fact-checkers, and maybe the pols will be a little less casual about making up their own fake facts.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.

Read more
f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.