Media

WaPo fact-checker fires back at Ocasio-Cortez criticism over rating: ‘She’s wrong’

by Joe Concha - 01/25/19 10:56 AM ET

Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler is defending a “three-Pinocchio” rating given to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) over her comments regarding minimum wage earners.

An article by Kessler published on Thursday had assigned three “Pinocchios” to Ocasio-Cortez over a comment made by the freshman congresswoman saying that “a vast majority of the country doesn’t make a living wage” during an interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Ocasio-Cortez also said that “it’s wrong that corporations like Walmart and Amazon can get paid by the government, essentially experience a wealth transfer from the public, for paying people less than a minimum wage.”

Kessler in his article disputed that “a vast majority of the country” was not making a living wage, while also noting that Walmart and Amazon pay more than the minimum wage.

Ocasio-Cortez took issue with Kessler’s rating, questioning whether he should use a “Walmart-funded think tank as reference material for wage fairness.”

“That’s like citing the foxes to fact-check the hens. Here’s 4 Geppettos for your contested Pinocchios,” Ocasio-Cortez said on Twitter on Thursday.

If the point of fact-checking is to enforce some objective standard, why would @GlennKesslerWP use a Walmart-funded think tank as reference material for wage fairness?

That’s like citing the foxes to fact-check the hens.

Here’s 4 Geppettos for your contested Pinocchios https://t.co/uERpcjqvwT

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 24, 2019

Kessler, the Post’s fact-checker since 2011, fired back at the congresswoman about the study used, saying it had been by Jason Furman, who served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers during the Obama administration.

“Since @AOC accused The Fact Checker of relying on a Walmart-funded think tank paper when we fact-checked her, we need to set the record straight,” Kessler tweeted Friday morning. “She’s wrong. Don’t always believe what you see on Twitter. The article has been updated with a note explaining the provenance.”

Since @AOC accused The Fact Checker of relying on a Walmart-funded think tank paper when we fact-checked her, we need to set the record straight. She’s wrong. Don’t always believe what you see on Twitter. The article has been updated with a note explaining the provenance. pic.twitter.com/9vVZNMuEPh

— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) January 25, 2019

The squabble comes almost three weeks after Ocasio-Cortez called into question “the standard of who gets fact-checked” and “how often” by fact-checkers, arguing that she was getting singled out for fact-checking despite just taking office.

“Facts are facts, America. We should care about getting things right. Yet standards of who gets fact-checked, how often [and] why are unclear,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote to her more than 2.1 million followers while sharing an opinion piece from Fair.org that was also published by Salon.

“This is where false equivalency [and] bias creeps in, allowing climate deniers to be put on par w/scientists, for example,” she added.

Ocasio-Cortez in December said that “accounting errors” totaling $21 trillion at the Pentagon could have paid for about two-thirds of the cost of a “Medicare for all” bill.

The Post called it a “flawed comparison” because “the two numbers are not apples-to-apples to begin with.”

Tags Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Jason Furman