To: major news outlets
Tell the media: Hold Donald Trump and his supporters accountable
Donald Trump and his supporters have built a campaign on a foundation of lies. News reporters have let these lies go unchallenged for far too long, and American voters deserve to know the truth.
As the election heats up, we demand that all major news channels implement a policy of fact-checking Trump and his supporters live, and challenging them when they distort the truth.
As the election heats up, we demand that all major news channels implement a policy of fact-checking Trump and his supporters live, and challenging them when they distort the truth.
Why is this important?
The Republican National Convention may be over, but with Donald Trump at the top of the Republican presidential ticket, voters are in for a long election season filled with inflammatory rhetoric and blatant lies—unless we take action now.
The fact-checking site PolitiFact found that 76% of Trump's statements were lies. And it doesn't stop with him. Earlier this week at the Republican National Convention:
- Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions claimed that wages are falling and more Americans are unemployed than ever before in the past 40 years. Both statements are false.
- New Jersey Governor Chris Christie claimed that Hillary Clinton tried, for two years, to keep the terror group Boko Haram off the terrorist watch list. This is also false. Terrorist watch list designations are not made by the Secretary of State, and the group Boko Haram was added to the watchlist in 2013.
- Florida Governor Rick Scott claimed that our economy is not growing, despite the fact that the GDP increased every year since 2010.
The list goes on, but one thing is clear: without reporters holding these Republicans accountable, they will continue to tell lie after lie in their bid to win back the White House.
Without on-air fact-checking, these mistruths are corrected in small print, sometimes days later, which means that viewers may never hear the correct information. That's exactly what Donald Trump and his cronies are counting on. Our media must do better by its viewers and all voters.
The fact-checking site PolitiFact found that 76% of Trump's statements were lies. And it doesn't stop with him. Earlier this week at the Republican National Convention:
- Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions claimed that wages are falling and more Americans are unemployed than ever before in the past 40 years. Both statements are false.
- New Jersey Governor Chris Christie claimed that Hillary Clinton tried, for two years, to keep the terror group Boko Haram off the terrorist watch list. This is also false. Terrorist watch list designations are not made by the Secretary of State, and the group Boko Haram was added to the watchlist in 2013.
- Florida Governor Rick Scott claimed that our economy is not growing, despite the fact that the GDP increased every year since 2010.
The list goes on, but one thing is clear: without reporters holding these Republicans accountable, they will continue to tell lie after lie in their bid to win back the White House.
Without on-air fact-checking, these mistruths are corrected in small print, sometimes days later, which means that viewers may never hear the correct information. That's exactly what Donald Trump and his cronies are counting on. Our media must do better by its viewers and all voters.