Media Bias Fact Check selects and publishes fact checks from around the world. We only utilize fact-checkers that are either a signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) or have been verified as credible by MBFC. Further, we review each fact check for accuracy before publishing. We fact-check the fact-checkers and let you know their bias. When appropriate, we explain the rating and/or offer our own rating if we disagree with the fact-checker. (D. Van Zandt)
Claim Codes: Red = Fact Check on a Right Claim, Blue = Fact Check on a Left Claim, Black = Not Political/Conspiracy/Pseudoscience/Other
Fact Checker bias rating Codes: Red = Right-Leaning, Green = Least Biased, Blue = Left-Leaning, Black = Unrated by MBFC
With Midterms coming up in November, we will be publishing as many politician facts checks as we can find.
| MOSTLY FALSE |
Claim by Ted Cruz (R): Only Democratic cities take “‘days’ to count their votes” while “the rest of the country manages to get it done on election night.”
PolitiFact rating: Mostly False (It will inevitably take longer for high-population cities to count their ballots quickly than small-population rural areas will, meaning that simple math is at least as big a factor as partisan control. Cities operate under ballot-handling parameters set by their states, which in many cases have been set by Republicans who occupy state-level offices.) Ted Cruz’s misleading claim that only Democratic cities take days to count votes |
| FALSE | Claim by Tom Harris on Fox News: Scientists have found no consistent correlation between CO2 and temperature; scientists do not know whether earth will warm or cool in future
Climate Feedback rating: Inaccurate (Past climate data show a correlation between CO2 concentration and global temperature, and physics shows CO2 is a greenhouse gas that strongly influences the temperature of the Earth’s surface. Research has shown that solar activity variations are not enough to offset human-caused warming.) Link between CO2 and Earth’s temperature is well-established, despite claims on Fox News |
| BLATANT LIE |
Claim by Technocracy News & Trends: CDC data show more than 18 million people “were injured so badly” by a Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine “that they had to go to the hospital.”
FactCheck.org rating: False (A rigorous vaccine safety monitoring system has shown that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and only rarely have serious side effects.) Posts Distort Misleading Analysis of COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Data |
| FALSE | Claim by thegatewaypundit.com: Democratic officials in Pennsylvania mail out 255,000 ballots to unverified voters.
Lead Stories rating: False (As required by state law, county election offices mailed applications for mail-in or absentee ballots to any registered voter who requested an application. An application for a mail-in or absentee ballot is not the same as an actual ballot.) |
| BLATANT LIE |
Claim via Social Media: Today’s high food prices were planned during a 2015 food shortage simulation.
Politifact rating: Pants on Fire (Current high food prices and instability are driven by inflation, Russia’s war in Ukraine and other factors, not anything that happened in this simulation.) Food shortage simulation planned to solve, not create, global crisis |
| FALSE | (International: Philippines): The Philippines will receive free stealth fighter jets from the US from a $100-million modernization deal.
Rappler rating: False The PH will not receive free stealth fighter jets from the US |
Disclaimer: We are providing links to fact-checks by third-party fact-checkers. If you do not agree with a fact check, please directly contact the source of that fact check.