Cockburn’s monocle popped out of his head and plopped into his oatmeal yesterday morning as he perused the Washington Post. “A Bottomless Pinocchio for Biden — and other recent gaffes,” read the headline.
Surely “gaffe” has come to mean “lovable quirk” when applied to Democrats? And “Pinocchio” must refer somehow to the way in which Italian puppets are marginalized? But no — the Post straight-up published “a roundup of some of the president’s recent errors of fact” and reiterated, a day before the midterm elections mind you, the “gaffe machine” nickname Joe Biden gave himself.
First on the Post’s fact-check list is Biden’s repeated claim that he “spent a lot of time — more time with Xi Jinping than any other head of state. …I’ve traveled 17,000 miles with him.” The Post called this claim a “bogus statistic” that Biden has used twenty-one times, despite its having been debunked long ago. It is this statement that earned Biden a “Bottomless Pinnochio,” a term the Post adopted during the Trump administration to refer to a statement that “had earned a Three or Four Pinocchios rating and been repeated at least twenty times.”
Elsewhere on the Post’s timely list are fact-checks on Biden’s claims about the high price of gas when he took office and how seniors getting a boost in their Social Security is a good thing — as opposed to a result of soaring inflation. The Daily Mail notes, “The White House was forced into an embarrassing walk back Tuesday, deleting the tweet that claimed Biden was responsible for seniors getting the biggest increase in Social Security checks in a decade.”
Also making the list is a breakdown of a bizarre instance when Biden “misspoke” about his student loan forgiveness plan.
If you’re anxious about the midterm election results, Cockburn recommends a strong drink and cheering yourself up by giving this Post piece a read.
