Despite publishing an “In Context” article showing otherwise, PolitiFact published a fact check repeating the false allegation that President Trump used the phrase “very fine people” to refer to neo-Nazis.
Zebra Fact Check requested a correction on July 30, 2020.
PolitiFact had not corrected the item as of March 11, 2021.
Dear Truth-O-Meter,
Back in April 2019 PolitiFact published an “In Context” item centered on President Trump’s “fine people on both sides” remark associated with protests and counterprotests in Charlottesville.
Unfortunately, that item failed to prevent a mistake in a July 27, 2020 fact check of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, despite the latter article listing the former article as one of its sources.
The July 2020 fact check states:
As president in 2017, Trump said there were “very fine people, on both sides,” in reference to neo-Nazis and counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Va.
Readers would conclude Trump was saying there were very fine people among the neo-Nazis.
In context, however, Trump stated plainly he was not classing neo-Nazis or white nationalists as fine people. Instead, Trump said “And you had people -- and I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists -- because they
should be condemned totally. But you had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists. Okay?”
Where the context shows clear evidence Trump was not talking about neo-Nazis, it is not the place of the fact checker to instruct readers that Trump was talking about neo-Nazis regardless of what the context shows.
Please fix this false and misleading reporting in accordance with your stated policies on open and honest corrections.