{"id":2471882,"date":"2025-08-07T10:49:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T14:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-last-washington-post-fact-check-trump-lies-maga-are-lemmings-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T10:50:51","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T14:50:51","slug":"a-last-washington-post-fact-check-trump-lies-maga-are-lemmings-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-last-washington-post-fact-check-trump-lies-maga-are-lemmings-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"A last Washington Post fact-check: Trump lies, MAGA are lemmings &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fa-last-washington-post-fact-check-trump-lies-maga-are-lemmings-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2471882&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the departure of Glenn Kessler, the longtime fact-checker for the Washington Post, who left the newspaper after 27 years wiht strong criticisms of both former President Donald Trump and his own former employer. In an exit interview, Kessler blamed Trump and social media for the rise of falsehoods in public discourse, accusing Trump of creating a reality based on &#8220;alternative facts&#8221; that his followers readily accept. He also highlighted Trump&#8217;s rejection of official data, such as firing the Bureau of Labor statistics commissioner after <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >inconvenient job numbers<\/a> were released, as an example of dangerous disregard for facts.<\/p>\n<p>kessler criticized the washington Post for its anti-Trump stance, which has alienated conservative readers, and expressed disappointment with the paper&#8217;s direction under Jeff Bezos&#8217;s ownership, describing the institution metaphorically as a sinking ship with an inattentive leadership. Additionally, he pointed to the reduction of fact-checking support from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ga-poll-watcher-it-expert-non-trump-supporter-affidavit-sudden-surge-of-20000-mail-in-votes-for-biden-in-early-hours-on-nov\/\" title=\"GA Poll Watcher, IT Expert, Non-... Supporter Affidavit: Sudden Surge of 20,000 Mail-In-Votes For Biden In Early Hours On Nov\">social media companies<\/a> like Meta, suggesting Mark Zuckerberg withdrew funding to appease Trump, who opposed fact-checking efforts. Kessler plans to continue his work through a Substack newsletter and writing projects after leaving the Post.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">A last Washington Post fact-check: Trump lies, MAGA are lemmings<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1867654\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The former &ldquo;fact-checker&rdquo; for the liberal <em>Washington Post<\/em> has departed with both barrels blazing, one at President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Donald-Trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Donald Trump<\/a> and his &ldquo;followers,&rdquo; and the other at his ex-employer, where he dished &ldquo;Pinocchios&rdquo; for years.<\/p>\n<p>In an exit interview, Glenn Kessler blamed Trump and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">social media<\/a> for the rise of &ldquo;falsehoods&rdquo; and ripped the president&rsquo;s supporters, potentially half the nation, for lapping up his &ldquo;alternative&rdquo; facts.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-secrets\/3492297\/one-big-beautiful-bill-act-opens-door-to-ending-some-gun-controls\/\">One Big Beautiful Bill Act opens door to ending some gun controls<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-secrets\/3491147\/nra-endorses-earle-sears-governor-virginia-elections\/\">NRA endorses Virginia&rsquo;s Earle-Sears for governor<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-secrets\/3490442\/washington-post-patriotism-jonathan-capehart-liberal-media-scream\/\">Washington Post reporter quit over patriotism request: Liberal Media Scream<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Asked by the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cjr.org\/the-interview\/glenn-kessler-interview-fact-checker-easy-ignore-washington-post-trump-lies.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Columbia Journalism Review<\/a><\/em>  why he believes &ldquo;falsehoods are winning,&rdquo; Kessler said, &ldquo;I attribute it to the rise of Donald Trump, combined with the rise of social media. Trump has made it acceptable to lie with impunity. He creates his own reality, his own world, composed of alternative facts. And his followers fall right in line, and their news organizations echo all of that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Kessler, who took a <em>Washington Post<\/em> buyout offer after 27 years with the newspaper, cited Trump&rsquo;s firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner as the latest example of the president rejecting facts after the agency offered a stunning revision of past job creation numbers.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s living in your own alternative reality. Presidents, for decades, have never questioned the numbers produced by the government workers at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. I mean, there were bad numbers &mdash; they said, &lsquo;Okay, we&rsquo;ve got to work harder.&rsquo; And Trump is just going to say, &lsquo;No, the numbers are great. It&rsquo;s just that these people are manipulating them.&rsquo; That&rsquo;s a very dangerous situation for this country to be in,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Washington Post<\/em> has never been a fan of Trump since he made politics his career. Its promotion of the Russia collusion hoax, cheerleading for two impeachments of the president during his first term, and other anti-Trump campaigns have driven conservative readers away.<\/p>\n<p>Kessler, who plans to write books and has started a <a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/inbox\/post\/170093251?r=leoe8&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;showWelcomeOnShare=true&amp;triedRedirect=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Substack column,<\/a> had one of the more popular columns on the <em>Washington Post<\/em> site and was eager to find a replacement after deciding to take the lucrative buyout that several other prominent reporters and editors also took.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This &#128071; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9UEmzI3X2c\">https:\/\/t.co\/9UEmzI3X2c<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Rasmussen_Poll\/status\/1953223569661694328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 6, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>    <\/p>\n<p>But he indicated that the paper wasn&rsquo;t interested. He said that there has been a move away from fact-checking by the high-tech moguls who fund it, even naming Meta&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Mark-Zuckerberg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Mark Zuckerberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He told CJR that after bankrolling fact-checking, Zuckerberg stopped, and he blamed Trump. &ldquo;But then, in order to curry favor from Trump &mdash; who doesn&rsquo;t like fact-checks and doesn&rsquo;t like the idea that social media platforms are actually rooting out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/are-republicans-ready-to-respond-to-post-election-chaos\/\" title=\"Are Republicans Ready To Respond To ...-Election Chaos?\">false information &#038;mdash<\/a>; Zuckerberg decided to stop the funding for fact-checkers in the United States, and is probably going to roll it back across the world, [though that may be] more difficult because other countries have higher standards for social media platforms,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-secrets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SEE THE LATEST POLITICAL NEWS AND BUZZ FROM WASHINGTON SECRETS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>He was also critical of the newspaper&rsquo;s libertarian shift under Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, joining other former insiders who took the buyout.<\/p>\n<p>In his Substack, he wrote, &ldquo;working at the <em>Post<\/em> feels like being on the Titanic after it struck an iceberg &mdash; drifting aimlessly as it sank, with not enough lifeboats for everyone. The Carpathia (i.e., Bezos) appears too far away and too distracted to help. And the captain is shouting commands that the solution is a different ship.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1867654\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1867654\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ex-Washington Post fact-checker blasts Trump, MAGA fans<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2647,"featured_media":2471883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Post-Fact-Check-scaled-1024x693.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[13420,5656,3634,32293],"class_list":["post-2471882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-fact-check","tag-maga","tag-trump","tag-washington-post"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Post-Fact-Check-scaled-1024x693.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2647"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2471882"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2471886,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471882\/revisions\/2471886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2471883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2471882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2471882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2471882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}