THE WEEK IN WHOPPERS
A diary of disinformation and the delusional
Crime is not on the rise. It’s actually going down.
— ‘The View’ co-host Joy Behar, Tuesday
[There’s been a] dangerous rise... in voter intimidation.
— President Biden, Wednesday
THIS CLAIM
We say: With elections near, the left’s desperate to get voters to ignore crime they see with their own eyes. “The View’s” Joy Behar says she “looked it up” and found murders in major cities down 4%. Which proves nothing: As a report from the Major Cities Chiefs Association found, robberies through June 30 this year rose 13%, aggravated assaults 2.6%. And murders were up 50% vs. 2019. (In NYC, overall crime’s up 30% just this year.) Sorry, but voters’ eyes aren’t lying.
THIS WARNING
We say: President Biden warned of rising voter “intimidation” no less than nine times in his Wednesday speech but offered absolutely no evidence to back it up. Why? Because there isn’t any. Yes, rhetoric (from both the left and right) can get ugly, and someone, somewhere, might’ve threatened some voter. But turnout this year is already breaking records.
THIS STORY
We say: The Times is doing its part to help Democrats scare voters into thinking GOPers will cut Social Security and Medicare. President Biden, for example, made the absurd claim that Republicans “want to take [Social Security] away.” Yet the Times provided few quotes or other evidence the GOP would do anything even close to that. Instead, it mostly quoted Democrats who merely made that charge.
THIS TWEET
We say: Team Biden will try anything to deceive voters. Laws actually passed under President Richard Nixon tied Social Security payments to inflation, which (thanks to Democrats) has soared, eroding incomes and savings. Indeed, pushback on the tweet was so great, eventually the White House had to delete it.