That Didn't Last Long: PolitiFact Dumps Alan Grayson

By Sarah Rumpf | 8:40 PM on February 01, 2018

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Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., center, pumps up the crowd as Rep. Corrine Brown D-Fla., left, and Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-Fla. listen at a Florida Democratic Party rally in Orlando, Fla., Monday, Nov. 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

The aquatic insects known as mayflies live barely 24 hours, but these little bugs last longer than former Democrat Congressman Alan Grayson did at PolitiFact.

As RedState reported earlier today, the fact-checking project at the Tampa Bay Times announced that they had brought on two former Florida Congressmen to serve as “reader advocates,” Grayson and David Jolly, a Republican.

Response was swift and brutal. PolitFact was inundated with hundreds of tweets decrying their selection of Grayson, from Republicans and and Democrats alike, for his abrasive manner and reported history of domestic violence and assaulting reporters.

*Screenshot of original tweet from PolitiFact. (Note: timestamp reflects Central Time Zone, where this writer is located.)*

Barely two hours after their original announcement, PolitiFact deleted their original tweet and posted several new ones, saying that they had rescinded Grayson’s invitation to contribute to their site.

We sought out a Democrat and Republican to critique our work in order to try to improve the trust and credibility in fact-checking and PolitiFact. It has become clear our choice of Alan Grayson did not meet that threshold to many. pic.twitter.com/uJuoHhiObI

— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) February 1, 2018

We called Alan a short while ago and informed him that we would be canceling our agreement for him to write on PolitiFact. We remain committed to this experiment, however, and will be seeking out a Democrat to replace Alan. If you have a good suggestion, please reach out.

— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) February 1, 2018