Today will be “Fact-Check Day” on The Fifth Column. Some articles will come directly from fact-checking sites, while others will simply expose the balatant lies that politician seem to enjoy telling.
The Fact Checker – The Washington Post
The truth behind the rhetoric
A common complaint by politicians is that they are misquoted by the media. Donald Trump, the tycoon-and-possible-presidential candidate, is not yet a politician, but he’s come up with a new grievance: No one asked for my side of the story.
We were reading an article about Trump in the New York Observer in which he once again claimed that Obama has not fessed up to the truth about his birth certificate. The article said:
“I’m amazed that the press gives him such a free ride on that,” he said. When told that the Washington Post fact-checked many of his claims on this issue and found them to be inaccurate, Trump held his ground.
He said the paper should have called him for [his] side of the story.
The Facts
Hmm, we thought we did call him. In fact, didn’t we quote him in the column, which looked into his assertion (and also Sarah Palin’s claim) that Obama has spent $2 million covering up questions about his birth certificate?
On Monday, we actually contacted two people who work for Trump: Michael Cohen, a spokesman, and Rhona Graff, vice president and assistant to the president (Trump) of the Trump Organization. We asked both the same basic question: “Donald Trump says that Obama has spent more than $2 millions on legal fees on the birth certificate issue. Where does he get that figure from?”
Cohen never responded. However, Graff sent us an e-mail at 5:06 p.m. which said this:
Hi Glenn:
Below is Mr. Trump’s response to your question.
“It is well known in legal circles that this is the kind of time they are spending on the issue. Isn’t it a shame when all he has to do is produce his birth certificate, which he has not done.”
Thank you.
Rhona
That’s the quote that was used in the article. Obviously, if he had wanted to get on the phone, that would have been preferable. But he chose to give us a statement through an assistant.
The Pinnochio Test
Arguing with Donald Trump about the truth is obviously a fool’s errand. He will say what he wants, even if it is easily proven false.
Four Pinnochios
Related Articles
- Karl Rove: Birther Issue Turned Donald Trump Into A ‘Joke Candidate’ (mediaite.com)
- Donald Trump: Obama Didn’t Write His First Book (towleroad.com)
- White House Insider: President Obama and The Trump Palin Clown Parade (Birth Certificate Included) (socyberty.com)
- Donald Trump? (gesvol.wordpress.com)
- Donald Trump on Obama: Investigate Rezco! (gunnyg.wordpress.com)
- “Sarah Palin on Donald Trump’s attempts to investigate President Obama’s birth certificate: “More power to him!” Do they NOT have any sense of irony in Wasilla?” and related posts (theimmoralminority.blogspot.com)
- Donald Trump For President: Are You Serious? (huffingtonpost.com)
- Trump an Obama Insider to split GOP (frankpaulgambino59.wordpress.com)
- HuffPost TV: HuffPost’s Alex Wagner Discusses Donald Trump On MSNBC (VIDEO) (huffingtonpost.com)
- Donald Trump Calls Romney a ‘Small Business Guy’ (foxnews.com)
- Trump Knocks Obama, Calls Romney ‘Small’ (blogs.wsj.com)
