When ‘Fact-Checkers’ Are Weaponized Partisan Public Relations
25th October 2025
Every once in a while, the “fact-checkers” at PolitiFact publish reader comments, and this one stuck out: “Your site seems to be mostly about Trump all the time,” read one comment. “How about a little less Trump, and write more about any other falsehood subjects?”
PolitiFact’s audience chief Ellen Hine acknowledged they’ve published over 1,000 “fact checks” on President Donald Trump—1,124, to be precise. But then she trotted out the false claim that their targeting is nonpartisan: “Without keeping count, we try to select facts to check from all sides of the political spectrum. At the same time, we more often fact-check the party that holds power or people who repeatedly make attention-getting or misleading statements.”
That “without keeping count” is an obvious excuse. Anyone who attempts to count what they’re doing will quickly realize they’re very partisan in their targeting—and in their ratings on truth and falsehood.