The Most Significant Falsehood That Tried To Undermine Truth In 2023? PolitiFact Has The Answer

PolitiFact’s “Lie Of The Year” Didn’t Go To Trump!

First a little disclaimer: DWT’s liar of the year, liar of the decade and all time biggest liar in American history is Donald J. Trump. Period. No one comes close— not George Santos, not RFK, Jr., not Marjorie Traitor Greene. But this post is PolitiFact’s party, not ours.

The other day, during his interview with with Ziwe, George Santos, who others may have dubbed the liar of the year, said that on Capitol Hill if a politician’s mouth is moving, they’re lying. He also lied that he himself is not a politicians, just a public servant. Trump might say the same thing— and in terms of lying to undermine truth, he makes Santos look like a piker. But PolitiFact didn’t conclude either of them produced this year’s Lie of the Year. The honor went, instead, to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

Trump and Santos are practiced liars who have spent their lives trying to manipulate people. RFK, Jr. was a normal-ish person who turned into a crackpot. But what PolitiFact was looking for was an impactful lie, not a serial liar. The prize went to RFK’s campaign based on false theories. I would have liked to hear the arguments before the decision was made, since both Santos and, most of all, Trump, meet all the the criteria… and in spades.

Yesterday, Madison Czopek and Katie Sanders wrote that “Kennedy’s political following is built on a movement that seeks to legitimize conspiracy theories. His claims decrying vaccines have roiled scientists and medical experts and stoked anger over whether his work harms children. He has made suggestions about the cause of COVID-19 that he acknowledges sound racist and antisemitic. Bolstered by his famous name and family’s legacy, his campaign of conspiracy theories has gained an electoral and financial foothold. He is running as an independent— having abandoned his pursuit of the Democratic Party nomination— and raised more than $15 million. A political action committee pledged to spend between $10 million and $15 million to get his name on the ballot in 10 states… [He] draws bogus conclusions from scientific work. He employs ‘circumstantial evidence’ as if it is proof. In TV, podcast and political appearances for his campaign in 2023, Kennedy steadfastly maintained: 

• Vaccines cause autism.

• No childhood vaccines "have ever been tested in a safety study pre-licensing."

• There is "tremendous circumstantial evidence" that psychiatric drugs cause mass shootings, and the National Institutes of Health refuses to research the link out of deference to pharmaceutical companies.

• Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine were discredited as COVID-19 treatments so COVID-19 vaccines could be granted emergency use authorization, a win for Big Pharma. 

• Exposure to the pesticide atrazine contributes to gender dysphoria in children.

• COVID-19 is "targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese."

Czopek and Sanders pointed out that he didn’t limit his conspiracy theory propagation to public health. “He claims ‘members of the CIA’ were involved in the assassination of his uncle, John F. Kennedy. He doesn’t ‘believe that (Sirhan) Sirhan’s bullets ever hit my father,’ Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. He insists the 2004 presidential election was stolen from Democratic candidate John Kerry. Kennedy has sat for numerous interviews and dismissed the critics, not with the grievance and bluster of former President Donald Trump, but with a calm demeanor. He amplifies the alleged plot and repeats dubious scientific evidence and historical detail. Will his approach translate to votes? According to polls since November of a three-way matchup between President Joe Biden, Trump and Kennedy, Kennedy pulled 16% to 22% of respondents. Kennedy’s movement exemplifies the resonance of conspiratorial views. Misinformers with organized efforts are rewarded with money and loyalty. But that doesn’t make the claims true.”