CNN’s “fact-checker” Daniel Dale has been appearing on air over the past few weeks to criticize Republicans for making things up. Monday’s ad against Democrats was by Republicans using “defund police” ads.
Dale was fact-checking Donald Trump on October 15th and October 11th, respectively.
It was Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) who made it happen on October 5.
It was the Republicans who claimed that there was an “open frontier” under Biden on September 24.
He stated that at least 22 of the 36 Republican nominees to governor have denied or raised doubts about the results of the 2020 election. The same is true for at least 11 Republican nominees to secretary of state.
On September 16, Dale again criticised Republicans — on claims that Democrats favor defunding police. (Do you hear an echo?)
Dale singled Herschel Walker out for claiming that Sen. Raphael Warnock did not have a dog on August 27.
Dale posted a “fact-check” of Democrat ads on CNN.com last Monday — but he somehow never made it to TV to talk about it. He gave four examples of Democrats trying make Republicans appear more extreme than they are. “Some ads make it seem like Republicans who support exceptions to rape, incest, and the life of the mother oppose these exceptions. Others try to portray Republicans who oppose a federal ban on abortion as being supportive of it.
It’s not about whether Republican claims are true, but about which claims they make it on air. Chris Licht, the new CNN boss, met with congressional Republicans to insist he wanted to rebuild trust. Licht’s employees, however, are sticking to the Democrat-defending strategy. Take a look at the last Daniel Dale dig.
In California, Republican House candidate Kevin Kiley attacked Kermit Jones, his Democratic opponent, in an ad that said: “And if Pelosi wants her way, Jones joins her to defund police and raise gas tax even higher. Kermit Jones is not with us. He’s with Pelosi.”
Dale denounced him:
DALE: This double dose of nonsense is what I am referring to. It is fiction made up of thin air. We know that Speaker Pelosi repeatedly rejected the idea of defunding police officers, and that Jones, the candidate from California, supports it. She has done it in public and in interviews. Listen to one of her comments from this year, and one from 2020.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CA: This is not the position taken by the Democratic party. Our oath of office is to ensure community safety and to defend it in all ways. As you all know, funding a police force is a local matter. We are not going to fund that place from the perspective of our legislation. We are talking about how to change policies to make our police more fair.
DALE: It is more than just words under Pelosi’s speakership. Democrats have passed laws to provide additional funds for police, and not defund. This ad is completely fabricated.
HILL: It’s completely fake, but it draws a lot of attention.
Jones makes a pledge to oppose defunding police forces in an ad. It’s an internal dispute among Democrats over defunding police. Leftists and members of “The Squad” openly advocate defunding and “dismantling police.” Some of this was compiled by Republicans, with Pelosi muttering about “shuffling some money around”.
Democrats claim that they don’t support defunding the police.
Here are 7 minutes of them saying: DEFUND THE POLICY! pic.twitter.com/Y7lwPAnEiw
October 7, 2021 — RNC Research (@RNCResearch).
Dale also flagged “Moms for Safe Streets”, for claiming that Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D.Va.), joined “AOC”‘s effort defund the police. Dale correctly noted that Spanberger yelled against party leaders after last election, saying that she barely won due to the “defund police” advocacy. It was not covered by the networks. The group also noted that Spanberger voted in favor of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which sought to end qualified immunity for officers. This would allow them to be sued. Pelosi claimed that this was necessary to stop the “epidemic police brutality”. This doesn’t sound propolice.
