The Year in whoppers: The White House’s border bull, Pelosi’s name game and more
December 29, 2022
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi noted that the Inflation Reduction Act
was appropriately named in one of the year's biggest whoppers.
Diary of disturbing disinformation and dangerous delusions
Throughout 2022, the media, President Biden and his staff and other notables uttered radically distorted, outrageous and flat-out wrong statements. Here, a look at the year’s worst.
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
#1
“[The] Inflation Reduction Act — so beautifully named.”
— House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sept. 13
We say: Sorry, Madam Speaker, but that law had nothing in it whatsoever to reduce inflation, as several nonpartisan studies confirmed. You only think it’s “beautifully named” because it’s so outrageously misleading.
#2
“The president . . . has taken action to secure our border and build a fair, orderly and humane immigration system.”
— WH Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Dec. 6
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed that President Biden has taken action to secure the border.We say: America is facing the greatest border crisis in its history, with nearly 6 million illegal migrants crossing since President Biden took office. Either Jean-Pierre lied — or Biden is tragically ineffective.
#3
“I don’t think we [at CNN] ever were liberal.”
— CNN anchor Don Lemon, Nov. 28
Don Lemon said that CNN didn’t have a liberal bias.We say: Not liberal? Please: Everyone knows the network has long been far on the left, as rating groups and polls confirm. Which is why its new boss, Chris Licht, has been trying to steer it back to the center.
#4
“If Vladimir Putin opts to back away from invading Ukraine, even temporarily, it’s because Joe Biden . . . has matched every Putin chess move with an effective counter of his own.”
— Three-time NYT Pulitzer winner Thomas Friedman, Feb. 15
We say: Putin invaded Ukraine nine days later, launching a ruthless, criminal war that’s dragged on all year. What kind of chess did Friedman think Biden was playing?
#5
“Crime is not on the rise. It’s actually going down.”
— ‘The View’ co-host Joy Behar, Nov. 1
Joy Behar claimed on “The View” that crime is not an issue and is actually decreasing.We say: Behar claimed big-city murders were down 4% over 2021 but ignored the fact that they were up 50% over ’19. And that robberies rose 13% and assaults 3% over ’21. (NYC crime soared 30%, overall.)
#6
“[Overturning Roe v. Wade] was an unconstitutional act.”
— Karine Jean-Pierre, Aug. 3
We say: Is the White House Press Secretary unfamiliar with the US judicial system, Article III of the Constitution (giving “judicial power” to the court) and the concept of “judicial review”? Of course the Supreme Court had the constitutional right to overturn Roe.
#7
“The fact is that I had zero emails that were classified.”
— Hillary Clinton, tweet, Sept. 6
We say: The Clintons never hesitate to deny the truth. In fact, the Justice Department inspector general found “81 email chains containing approximately 193 individual emails” that were “classified.” (And who knows how many classified emails Hillary illegally destroyed?)
#8
“[Biden’s student-loan write-offs are] paid for and far more by . . . deficit reduction.”
— Biden economist Bharat Ramamurti, Aug. 26
We say: President Biden hasn’t reduced the deficit; he’s increased it. And even if he had reduced it, that wouldn’t “pay for” anything: Write-offs simply make deficits greater, i.e., they’re not “paid for.”
#9
“I don’t think [the lockdowns] irreparably damaged anyone.”
— Anthony Fauci, Aug. 23
Dr. Anthony Fauci said that COVID-19 lockdowns didn’t cause irreparable damage.We say: He’s got nerve, for sure. Lockdowns in the US, which he promoted, led to greater excess deaths per capita than in countries that resisted them — and to years of learning loss for kids.
#10
“Seniors are getting the biggest increase in their Social Security checks in 10 years through President Biden’s leadership.”
— WH tweet, posted Nov. 1, later deleted
We say: The truth? Laws passed under President Richard Nixon linked Social Security payments to inflation, which — under Biden — has skyrocketed. The prez gets no credit here.
#11
“I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted [inflation].”
— Ex-WH Press Secretary Jen Psaki, May 9
We say: Except that people, including top economists on the left like ex-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, gave numerous warnings that more government spending would trigger furious price hikes. Biden and the Democrats simply ignored them.
#12
“Stop complaining [about inflation]. Many Americans are not suffering as much as they think they are.”
— The Washington Post’s Michelle Singletary on MSNBC, Jun 22
We say: Singletary was claiming middle- and upper-income folks have no right to gripe about higher prices, but everyone is hurt by inflation’s erosion of savings and purchasing power, from the poor on up.
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