CNN is under fire for not fact-checking President Joe Biden’s recent interview with Erin Burnett. Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade referenced a New York Post editorial accusing Biden of making 15 false statements during the 17-minute interview.
Kilmeade criticized the media for not challenging Biden, calling it a “Biden protection program.” One of the lies highlighted was Biden’s statement about Iraq’s nuclear weapons, despite his past support for the Iraq War.
Another falsehood mentioned was Biden’s inflation claim upon entering office, which was contradicted by fact-check reports showing inflation was at 1.4%, not 9%.
Critics on the conservative side have been taking aim at CNN for not challenging or providing context during the Biden interview.
Biden frequently mentions the 15 million job creation figure, describing it as a “record” during his State of the Union speech.
Fox News contributor Joe Concha criticized CNN for not having their fact-checker present to address Biden’s inflation claim.
Fox News host Trace Gallagher questioned CNN’s commitment to truth, highlighting their refusal to air speeches by former President Trump due to his “misleading claims.”
The New York Post’s list of Biden’s questionable statements also included claims about job creation and losses under Trump, with the board providing context such as the impact of the pandemic and the return of workers to the workforce after vaccine distribution.
However, a Washington Post analysis deemed this claim as “misleading.” Snopes also weighed in, labeling the 15 million job creation assertion as a mix of truth and falsehood, attributing it to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
During Monday’s Fox & Friends show, Lawrence Jones highlighted the absence of CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale to verify the president’s statements post-interview, a role Dale often played with Trump, attracting significant attention for his continuous fact-checking of the former president.
“If you notice, Brian, there was no CNN or MSNBC pulling out of the coverage as they do with Donald Trump and saying, ‘listen, in fairness to our audience, we can’t show you this,’ or bring in the analyst, I forgot his name, to fact check every single thing that he said,” Jones said. “The CNN guy,” Kilmeade offered.
