The Washington Post Struggles With The Difference Between An Op-Ed And A Fact Check
In an effort to fact check President Donald Trump, The Washington Postâs fact check team wrote an article criticizing his tweets on the stock marketâ not because they were incorrect, but because Trump has not addressed previously held concerns regarding inflation and the stock market overall.
WaPoâs âAbout The Fact Checkerâ section explains that it is âinterested only in verifiable facts, though on occasion we may examine the roots of political rhetoric.â
On one of these seemingly frequent occasions, WaPo decided to give Trump an âUpside-Down Pinocchioâ on a tweet of his from Monday.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/892366646542782464
The upside-down Pinocchio rating is defined as, âA statement that represents a clear but unacknowledged âflip-flopâ from a previously-held position.â
In the past, Trump has voiced concerns that the stock market was bloated and if interest rates rose âeven a little bit, thatâs going to come crashing down.â
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WaPo criticized Trump for touting the stock marketâs all-time high numbers because he âhas never explained his shift in position on the stock market, especially now that the Fed has raised interest rates three times since he was elected.â
So, according to WaPo, the fact that is being checked âthe thing Trump said that was incorrect or misleadingâ is the mere fact that Trump has not recently addressed his opinion on inflation and other concerns about the stock market. That is apparently enough to warrant a negative fact-check rating.
Complaining that someone has not explained something is clearly not a fact check. The article would perhaps fit more aptly in the op-ed section of the site.
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