Beto O'Rourke's response to the NFL anthem protests went viral. But was it accurate?Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Tex.), who is mounting a strong challenge to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.),...
| |  | | Democracy Dies in Darkness | | | | | | | | | | The truth behind the rhetoric | | | | | | Beto O'Rourke's response to the NFL anthem protests went viral. But was it accurate? Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Tex.), who is mounting a strong challenge to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), became an Internet sensation for his defense of the right of National Football League players to kneel during the national anthem. O'Rourke pointed the America's history of civil disobedience and he concluded, "Black men, unarmed, black teenagers, unarmed, and black children, unarmed, are being killed at a frightening level right now, including by members of law enforcement without accountability and without justice." A reader queried whether unarmed black children are being killed by police at a "frightening level." At least that's how the quote sounded to the reader. But But O'Rourke's phrasing could also mean that unarmed black children are being killed, "including by members of law enforcement" at a "frightening level." Since the campaign didn't respond, we decided to look at the quote both ways. Since 2015, at least 12 unarmed teenagers were killed by police. Three were black, according to Washington Post data. The Post data found no unarmed black children had been killed by police. But when considering homicide victims overall, since 2007, 61 percent of homicide victims under 10 in 50 of the largest U.S. cities were black. 72 percent of victims between 10 and 19 were black. That means 70 percent of all homicide victims 19 and under were black — certainly a "frightening level." There's little question the black community faces extraordinary levels of violence. But whether O'Rouke's statement qualifies as Pinocchio or Geppetto-worthy depends on how you hear it. We offered no rating but invited readers to offer their opinion. |  | | Enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to someone else who'd like it! If this e-mail was forwarded to you, sign up here for the weekly newsletter. Hear something fact-checkable? Send it here, we'll check it out. | | Another day, another Democratic conspiracy A 47-page indictment alleges that Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-Calif.) and his wife spent more than $250,000 in campaign funds on personal expenses that ranged from family vacations to 30 tequila shots for a bachelor party. Hunter responded to the charges with a play out of the Trumpian playbook saying, "This is the new Department of Justice. This is the Democrats' arm of law enforcement." The Justice Department is still led by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who, last we heard is still a Republican. The indictment was authorized by a grand jury and signed by a U.S. Attorney who was appointed by Sessions. (So far, no Democrats in sight.) His beef is with two lower ranking prosecutors who are registered Democrats and a third who attended a Clinton fundraiser. But here's the rub. Before the indictment was filed, the Justice Department denied Hunter's request for the local U.S. attorney's office to sit out the case. In other words, the Trump administration found no conflict of interest or appearance of bias in the way prosecutors handled the Hunter investigation. He earned Three Pinocchios. | |  | | The trouble with Googling Trump President Trump googled himself. He didn't like what he saw, tweeting, "Google search results for "Trump News" shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of results on "Trump News" are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!" Trump set off a firestorm that provoked a response from a wide range of people including of tech experts, libertarians, constitutional experts, Democrats and even Republicans who see government regulation of search results as a potential violation of the First Amendment. For its part, Google denied Trump's allegations and said its search results aren't politically biased. Since the 2016 election, plenty of questions have been raised about the role tech companies play in aggregating news. But The Post's short investigation into Trump's claim makes clear, "Claims like this, of a massive conspiracy of bias against conservative ideas by all the big tech companies, don't have to be airtight to be viral. And now this one certainly is." | | We're always looking for fact-check suggestions. You can also reach us via email, Twitter (@GlennKesslerWP, @mmkelly22, @rizzoTK or use #FactCheckThis), or Facebook (Fact Checker). Read about our rating scale here, and sign up here for our weekly Fact Checker newsletter. Scroll down for this week's Pinocchio roundup. — Meg Kelly | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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