On Jan. 30, 2021 Zebra Fact Check requested a correction from PolitiFact, which falsely reported the total number of U.S. dead from World War II using the total number of U.S. military dead from World War II.
Dear Truth-O-Meter,
Your fact check of President Biden’s inaugural address contains an error in need of correction.
In fact-checking Mr. Biden’s claim that the coronovirus has caused more deaths than Americans suffered in WWII, you used figures specific to those serving in the military. There were at least 10,000 civilian casualties (nearly 10,000 from the civilian merchant marine) not reflected in the source material you used.
This line from the fact check is therefore false: “That is just shy of the 405,399 U.S. deaths during World War II, according to the Congressional Research Service.” Rather, it comes to 405,399 total U.S. military deaths in World War II.
Please correct the mistake, owning up to your readers that it counts as a methodological blunder to judge the total number of American deaths from WWII (apples) using data only for American military deaths from WWII (oranges).
Thanks & cheers.