Calling out Politifact for being Politically Incorrect

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The text below is from an email I sent to Politifact pointing out an incorrect fact check of a statement by President Trump and calling on them to retract and correct it.  I'm not holding my breath.

Ken Fody kenfody@gmail.com
to TruthOMeter,
https://twitter.com/PolitiFact/status/1171215126302732288 

Above is a link to your tweet about President Trump's comment.  I'm appalled but not surprised that you ignored what the President really said and fact checked something completely different.  Your action showed laziness and sloppiness at best, and complete bias at worst.  You should issue a retraction and correction.

Your article of February 20th has a headline as follows: "Trump falsely claims Northam said he'd let doctors execute newborns."  You rated the President's comment as false because "Northam, a physician, never said he would sanction the execution of newborns."  

So on February 20 (link below), you carefully reviewed the President's choice of words and used that to rate his statement false.  


Why didn't you use the same care in reviewing the President's choice of words on Monday?  

In your tweet, you quote the President as saying Gov. Northam said "after the baby was born the Dr. will talk to the mother and make a decision about whether the baby lives."  

That statement should be rated True.

In your own article of February 20, you quote Governor Northam as saying "The infant would be resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother." 

President Trump's comment is 100 percent consistent with what YOU said Governor Northam said until the last words "make a decision about whether the baby lives."  Given the fact that the Governor said the physicians and the mother planned to have a discussion, it's not an unrealistic leap to say they are going to discuss whether efforts will be made to keep the baby alive.  

Words matter.  The President changed what he said and his comment should be rated based on what he actually said.  Going by what the President actually did say - as you quoted it - the President's statement is true.  Your linking to the previous deserves a retraction and a correction.


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