PolitiFact: Pols, Pundits, and Pant Fires

This completes the three-part series using PolitiFact truth ratings to score the credibility of politicians and pundits. Part one found voters preferred the more truthful candidate in Senate races. Part two calculated the combined accuracy of claims by presidents and their staffs.

PolitiFact has been fighting fake news since 2007. As of September 2020, they’ve checked the accuracy of 18,150 claims made by 4,217 persons and organizations. With their permission, I examined all their ratings to find who lies and who tells the truth.

PolitiFact’s Truth-O-Meter has six levels: True, Mostly True, Half True, Mostly False, False, and the dreaded Pants-on-Fire!. For each PolitiFact-checked source, I calculated a score between 0 and 1 (see methodology), based on the veracity of their claims:

• 1.00
  means all the statements were True.
• 0.00
  means all the statements were False.

My analysis updates one I did for RJI in 2017. It uses only data from people and organizations with four or more fact-checks: enough to establish a truth/lie trend. The dataset (see the spreadsheet) has 709 sources with a total of 13,442 checks. The charts below compare them as individuals and in groups.

Funny because it’s true

Comedians were the most truthful group in 2017 and remain so today, with an average score of .64. (John Oliver scored .80, Stephen Colbert .75, Doonesbury .67, Bill Maher .53, and Jon Stewart .45.) Print journalists were second, averaging .58, slipping from their 2017 score of .63.

PolitiFact scores by media or political type

Group	Sources	Checks	Score
Media: Comedy	5	38	0.64
Media: Print	10	105	0.58
Democrats	266	4,042	0.52
Female	117	1,575	0.47
Politicians	522	9,500	0.47
Male	472	8,531	0.46
People	590	10,110	0.46
Pundits	150	5,287	0.43
Media: TV News	34	329	0.42
Org: Union	3	20	0.42
Republicans	302	5,946	0.40
Org: Advocacy	41	321	0.39
Org: Party	29	486	0.38
Org: PAC	18	137	0.33
Organizations	119	3,332	0.31
Media: Talk Radio	6	68	0.15
Social Media	9	2,272	0.05
Sources are either a person or organization with 4+ checks.

The average score for all sources is also down, from .50 to .44. Democrats (.52) still lead Republicans (.4o). As a group, politicians (.47), pundits (.43), women (.47), and men (.45) were all about equally veracity challenged.

Other group averages: People (.46) were more accurate than organizations (.31). Unions (.42) beat out advocacy groups (.39), party committees (.38), and PACs (.33). TV news did okay (.42). Talk radio (.15) not so much.

So, if hearing truth is your goal: Heed comedians. Tune out talk radio. Ignore any utterance by parties, PACS, and advocacy orgs (progressive and conservative). Pay absolutely no attention to social media (.05), which scored abysmally: Tweets averaged 0.13. Facebook and Instagram posts were both .09. Viral-images, blog-postings, chain messages/emails, and YouTube videos were all below .02.

Assume. Everything. On Social Media. Is Wrong. Based on PolitiFact, it usually is.

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.

Proverbs 12:22

Relative media mendacity

The next table lists news outlets with two or more PolitiFact-checked people. New York Times writers topped the pack with a .68 score, the average of David Brooks (.80), Paul Krugman (.70), Nicholas Kristof (.70), and Gail Collins (.53). HBO (.66) was second, with comics John Oliver (.80) and Bill Maher (.53).

PolitiFact scores of news outlets

Outlet	People	Checks	Score
New York Times	4	36	0.68
HBO	2	20	0.66
Weekly Standard	2	9	0.56
CNN	4	29	0.56
ABC News	4	28	0.45
MSNBC	10	104	0.46
Fox News	12	119	0.31
Outlets with 2+ PolitiFact-checked people (4+ claims each). Score is their average.

Kudos to CNN’s Jake Tapper and NBC/MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, the highest-scoring broadcast journalists, both at 0.75. Unfortunately, Todd’s MSNBC colleagues dragged his network down into nearly last place.

Talking heads

The table below lists the PolitiFact score of 150 well-known pols and pundits, people either in the news or in the news biz whose claims have been checked 4+ times by PolitiFact (spreadsheet).

PolitiFact score of pols and pundits (150)

Name	Group	ST	#	Score
Mark Kelly	Dem	AZ	4	0.81
David Brooks	Media		5	0.80
John Oliver	Media		10	0.80
Stephen Colbert	Media		5	0.75
Jeff Flake	GOP	AZ	5	0.75
Jay Inslee	Dem	WA	4	0.75
Jake Tapper	Media		4	0.75
Chuck Todd	Media		7	0.75
Chris Dodd	Dem	CT	8	0.72
Sheldon Whitehouse	Dem	RI	25	0.71
Julián Castro	Dem	TX	19	0.70
Amy Klobuchar	Dem	MN	18	0.69
Paul Krugman	Media		18	0.69
David Plouffe	Dem		4	0.69
Michelle Obama	Dem	IL	11	0.68
Jim Jordan	GOP	OH	9	0.67
Michael Bloomberg	Dem	NY	24	0.66
Joaquin Castro	Dem	TX	8	0.66
Andrew Cuomo	Dem	NY	35	0.65
Rob Portman	GOP	OH	48	0.65
Donna Brazile	Dem		13	0.64
Jon Ossoff	Dem	GA	4	0.63
Cecile Richards	Adv	TX	4	0.63
Cokie Roberts	Media		6	0.63
Elizabeth Warren	Dem	MA	34	0.63
Cory Booker	Dem	NJ	32	0.62
Tim Kaine	Dem	VA	56	0.61
Mark Warner	Dem	VA	22	0.61
David Axelrod	Dem		18	0.60
Megyn Kelly	Media		5	0.60
Gavin Newsom	Dem	CA	21	0.60
Beto O’Rourke	Dem	TX	26	0.59
Jimmy Carter	Dem	GA	9	0.58
Hillary Clinton	Dem	NY	300	0.58
Bill Clinton	Dem	AR	44	0.58
Kirsten Gillibrand	Dem	NY	18	0.58
Al Gore	Dem	TN	6	0.58
Van Jones	Dem		6	0.58
Roy Cooper	Dem	NC	17	0.57
Barack Obama	Dem	IL	602	0.57
Stacey Abrams	Dem	GA	9	0.56
Roy Blunt	GOP	MO	14	0.56
George W. Bush	GOP	TX	4	0.56
Austan Goolsbee	Dem		4	0.56
Brian Kemp	GOP	GA	8	0.56
Bill Kristol	Media		4	0.56
Bernie Sanders	Ind	VT	169	0.56
Chris Wallace	Media		4	0.56
Pam Bondi	GOP	FL	10	0.55
Bill de Blasio	Dem	NY	6	0.54
Thomas Perez	Dem	MD	7	0.54
Michael Steele	GOP	MD	8	0.54
Bill Maher	Media		10	0.53
Pete Buttigieg	Dem	IA	15	0.52
John Kerry	Dem	MA	13	0.52
Andrew Yang	Dem	NY	7	0.52
Rand Paul	GOP	KY	60	0.51
George Will	Media		33	0.51
Chris Christie	GOP	NJ	102	0.50
Chuck Grassley	GOP	IA	4	0.50
Andrea Mitchell	Media		4	0.50
Chris Murphy	Dem	CT	9	0.50
Barbara Boxer	Dem	CA	10	0.49
Ron Johnson	GOP	WI	64	0.48
John McCain	GOP	AZ	184	0.48
Joe Biden	Dem	DE	160	0.47
Dianne Feinstein	Dem	CA	8	0.47
Kamala Harris	Dem	CA	29	0.47
Lawrence O’Donnell	Media		8	0.47
Greg Abbott	GOP	TX	64	0.46
Tulsi Gabbard	Dem	HI	7	0.46
Lindsey Graham	GOP	SC	13	0.46
Rachel Maddow	Media		28	0.46
Marco Rubio	GOP	FL	160	0.46
Charles Schumer	Dem	NY	21	0.46
Tammy Duckworth	Dem	IL	5	0.45
Doug Jones	Dem	AL	5	0.45
Claire McCaskill	Dem	MO	19	0.45
Mitch McConnell	GOP	KY	33	0.45
Jon Stewart	Media		7	0.45
Cal Cunningham	Dem		4	0.44
Ron DeSantis	GOP	FL	17	0.44
Michelle Malkin	Media		4	0.44
Michael Moore	Media	MI	18	0.44
Mitt Romney	GOP	MA	206	0.44
Karl Rove	GOP	TX	17	0.44
Joe Scarborough	Media	FL	13	0.44
Nikki Haley	GOP	SC	9	0.43
Rick Scott	GOP	FL	164	0.43
Mike Huckabee	GOP	AR	41	0.42
Ivanka Trump	GOP	NY	9	0.42
Whoopi Goldberg	Media		4	0.41
Nancy Pelosi	Dem	CA	51	0.40
Dick Cheney	GOP	WY	17	0.39
Rahm Emanuel	Dem	IL	13	0.39
Rudy Giuliani	GOP	NY	51	0.39
Sean Hannity	Media		25	0.39
Wayne LaPierre	Adv		9	0.39
Bill O’Reilly	Media		21	0.39
Sarah Palin	GOP	AK	64	0.39
Mike Pence	GOP	LN	58	0.37
Joni Ernst	GOP	IA	7	0.36
Terry McAuliffe	Dem	VA	34	0.36
Thom Tillis	GOP	NC	9	0.36
Newt Gingrich	GOP	GA	82	0.35
Kayleigh McEnany	GOP		4	0.35
Jeff Sessions	GOP	AL	23	0.35
Al Sharpton	Dem	NY	5	0.35
Rick Santorum	GOP	PA	62	0.34
Howard Dean	Dem	VT	10	0.33
Cory Gardner	GOP	CO	9	0.33
John Lewis	Dem	GA	5	0.33
Tony Evers	Dem	WI	25	0.32
Lori Lightfoot	Dem	IL	7	0.32
James Carville	Dem	LA	4	0.31
Ted Cruz	GOP	TX	142	0.31
Joy Reid	Media		4	0.31
Tom Cotton	GOP	AR	17	0.30
Matt Gaetz	GOP	FL	10	0.30
Eric Bolling	Media		7	0.29
Sean Spicer	GOP		11	0.29
Lou Dobbs	Media		6	0.28
Mick Mulvaney	GOP	SC	8	0.28
Kevin McCarthy	GOP	CA	11	0.27
Andrew Napolitano	Media		11	0.25
Ilhan Omar	Dem	MN	6	0.25
Donald Trump	GOP	NY	861	0.22
Herman Cain	GOP	GA	26	0.21
Ann Coulter	Media		16	0.20
Corey Lewandowski	GOP	NH	5	0.20
Ben Carson	GOP	MD	30	0.18
Kellyanne Conway	GOP		11	0.18
Martha McSally	GOP	AZ	9	0.18
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez	Dem	NY	9	0.18
Tucker Carlson	Media		10	0.16
Dana Loesch	Adv	TX	4	0.13
Rush Limbaugh	Media		44	0.12
Sarah Huckabee Sanders	GOP	AK	6	0.11
Paul Manafort	GOP		4	0.10
Laura Ingraham	Media		10	0.09
Vladimir Putin	Russia		4	0.08
Donald Trump Jr.	GOP	NY	10	0.07
Brit Hume	Media		4	0.06
Louie Gohmert	GOP	TX	13	0.05
Greg Gutfeld	Media		4	0.04
William Barr	GOP		5	0.03
Candace Owens	GOP		4	0.00
Jerome R. Corsi	Media		4	-0.03
Brian Kilmeade	Media		4	-0.03
Alex Jones	Media	TX	4	-0.05
Well-known political people with 4+ checks. # column is the number of claims by each person rated by PolitiFact.

Burden of proof: People who make factual claims are accountable for their words and should be able to provide evidence to back them up. We will try to verify their statements, but we believe the burden of proof is on the person making the statement.

Principles of PolitiFact and the Truth-O-Meter

Methodology

The above results are from PolitiFact data gathered at the end of September 2020. I used only data for those with four or more checks (enough truth ratings to show a pattern). This subset of PolitiFact data has 709 people or organizations with a total of 13,442 rulings (public spreadsheet).

Each person’s score is calculated by assigning a number value to each rating level, listed in the table below, then averaging all their PolitiFact rulings.

PolitiFact ratings as scores

Rating	PolitiFact description	Score
True	The statement is accurate and there’s nothing significant missing.	1.00
Mostly True	The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information.	0.75
Half True	The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context.	0.50
Mostly False	The statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression.	0.25
False	The statement is not accurate.	0.00
Pants on Fire	The statement is not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim.	-0.10
The negative “Pants” number makes below-zero scores possible.

Group scores are the average of the scores of all the people in the group (not the average of all the individual rulings of the people in the group). In the tables, a “PAC” designation includes “Super PAC” 501(c)(4) organizations, though technically not PACs. “Pundits” are those in the media and listed at PunditFact.

Media people are associated with the outlet they worked at when most of their claims were checked. So Stephen Colbert is grouped with CBS (not Comedy Central) and Megyn Kelly as Fox News (though she later moved to NBC).

This same criterion applies to people with dual roles: talk radio and TV news, politician and pundit. I assigned them the role in which they made the plurality of their PolitiFact-checked statements. Because of this, for example, Joe Scarborough is listed as part of MSNBC (not as a former congressman) while David Axelrod is listed as a politician (not as his current position with CNN). “Adv” in the Group column identifies a member of an advocacy group, like the NRA or Planned Parenthood.

Finally, I chose PolitiFact because I consider their checks thorough, nonpartisan, and among the best in the business. If you want to keep politics and facts together, please support PolitiFact (a project of the nonprofit Poynter Institute) with a tax-deductible contribution or membership.

Thanks to Josef Verbanac and Claire Golding for editing, and to Aaron Sharockman for Politifact permission. The top image is from a William Jennings Bryan campaign poster, “Shall the People Rule?” (circa 1900), at the Library of Congress.