We reported earlier on the astounding “fact check” by the USA Today fact-checker and the subsequent “correction” on the issue of Joe Biden checking his watch at the Dover Air Base dignified transfer ceremony.
The fact-checker, Daniel Funke, seemed invested in trying to disprove the claims that Biden checked his watch during the ceremony. The claims came from multiple sources, including from Gold Star families who were actually at the ceremony and saw what Biden did.
The claim was misleading, Funke initially stated.
New fact check: A viral photo makes it look like President Biden checked his watch during a ceremony honoring U.S. service members killed in Kabul. But that's misleading. https://t.co/F6bjQFYVbC
— Daniel Funke (@dpfunke) September 1, 2021
But it wasn’t misleading. Funke called it misleading based upon his conclusion that Biden checked the watch toward the end of the ceremony.
First, claiming it was toward the end of the ceremony is a pretty lame excuse to call the claim wrong. If it happened at the end, it still happened. Of course, the problem with this was that Biden checked it repeatedly during the ceremony, according to some of the families.
USA Today later conceded this and corrected it to now say that the claim he checked his watch was “missing context.”
— Dr. Nickarama (@nickaramaOG) September 3, 2021
What was the “missing context?” That you were wrong completely? That you wanted to find some why to cover for Biden? What a fact check! The claim was obviously true.
But Funke received so much backlash for the ridiculous fact check that today he spoke out on Twitter.
As many of you already know, this story has been corrected. Biden checked his watch multiple times during the ceremony. I regret the error. https://t.co/F6bjQFYVbC
— Daniel Funke (@dpfunke) September 3, 2021
Journalists and fact-checkers are human (yes, even me!) We make mistakes. When we do, we correct them and try to make it right.
Read more about the principles we try to uphold at @USATODAY: https://t.co/LIQUSCORYT
— Daniel Funke (@dpfunke) September 3, 2021
Yes, everyone does make mistakes.
It wouldn’t have taken more than a few minutes to have figured out that it was wrong, from the beginning. The fact that he didn’t was because he had a preconceived notion about where he wanted to go. So the actual facts were unimportant, even if meant he was implicitly attacking what Gold Star families said in the process.
The problem, too, is that the mistakes always seem to run against the folks on the right or to the defense of the folks on the left. Funny how that seems to happen.
It’s easy to dunk on journalists when we get things wrong. I get it – to many, we’re just another name on a screen. But behind that screen is a person trying to do their best.
— Daniel Funke (@dpfunke) September 3, 2021
So who’s the victim here to Funke? He is. Not the people — including the Gold Star families — whose remarks he besmirched.
Let’s also fact-check that claim that it’s easy to dunk on him. Not so much, at least not to his face, since he limits those who can respond to him. So, no, it isn’t.
Hm. https://t.co/qpAfR9ImKl pic.twitter.com/9bBXzVK6hr
— Kate Paul Dillon. (@KatePaulDillon) September 3, 2021
He really didn’t want to hear what people had to say if he’s limiting those who can respond. That’s a bad tactic for someone who claims to care about facts. A little too late to try to clean it up now.
Maybe first ask yourself why you felt the need to "fact check" a claim that was corroborated by multiple Gold Star families in the first place.
Was the need to protect Joe Biden that intense for you? https://t.co/g4c70KOACj
— Bongino Report (@BonginoReport) September 3, 2021
It was pretty easy for you to “dunk” on families who had just lost a child…. So….. https://t.co/Ro9stu7DM5
— BiasedGirl (@BiasedGirl) September 3, 2021
Daniel figured out who the true victim is in the saga of the ISIS-K suicide bombing of U.S. service members. https://t.co/fwkLG38Jh1
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) September 3, 2021
This wasn't a mistake, it was confirmation bias. You 'fact-checked' this because of headlines you did not want to believe. You found a preferred answer & did not delve further into it, despite people *present* confirming his behavior. That's called a 'decision' not an 'error.' https://t.co/H9EmAVRI6d
— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) September 3, 2021
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