CNN fact checker Daniel Dale rose to national prominence for his real-time, often breathless, fact-checks of former President Donald Trump.
While Dale still fact-checks President Joe Biden from time to time, he announced at the end of Trump's presidency that he'd have more time to devote to combatting online disinformation.
Such was the case this week when Dale corrected Republican disinformation regarding Biden's policy on red meat consumption in the United States.
Prominent Republicans across the political landscape amplified a bogus claim that the Biden administration would be regulating red meat across the United States.
Far-right Congresswoman Lauren Boebert of Colorado falsely claimed that Biden's climate plan would cut "90% of red meat from our diets by 2030." Trump-era Economic Council head turned Fox News host Larry Kudlow said the Biden administration would forbid red meat for Fourth of July celebrations. Purported political analyst Matt Couch tweeted a picture of a large steak in protest and Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., and Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott also amplified the disinformation.
As Dale pointed out, the claim is entirely false.
In an expanded fact check, Dale said:
"The false claim about Biden trying to restrict people to four pounds of red meat per year appears to have originated with a deceptive Thursday article by the British tabloid The Daily Mail. The article baselessly connected Biden's climate proposals to an academic paper from 2020 that is not about Biden and says nothing about the government imposing dietary limits."
People weren't surprised to see prominent Republicans once again embracing lies.
Those who amplified the falsehoods saw pushback from social media users.
None of the most prominent amplifiers of this disinformation—many of whom decry the "fake news media"—have corrected this disinformation.
UPDATE 4/26/21:
After backlash, Fox News anchor John Roberts acknowledged the network's false reporting on Biden's non-existent red meat mandate.
"Not the case," indeed.
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