The 2022 FactCheck Awards

We are very serious fact-checkers, but we also like to have a bit of fun. That’s why every two years, on Election Day, we recognize a few of the many political ads we see during the campaign cycle with some not-to-be-taken-seriously awards.

A couple of things that stood out among this year’s honorees: historically bad logic, comically bad rapping and dancing, and a lot of tragically bad acting.

Vote, if you haven’t already, and then read on.

This late submission just made the cutoff for awards eligibility. But the ad-makers overlooked an important detail in their haste to meet our deadline.

A deep-voiced narrator begins: “And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said: ‘I need a protector.’ So God made a fighter.”

As the narrator — reminiscent of the late radio broadcaster Paul Harvey — continues to recount all of the reasons that God made a fighter, black-and-white photos of DeSantis are shown on screen.

We weren’t sure if the ad was the last one of his Florida gubernatorial reelection campaign, or the first of his rumored 2024 presidential run. Something else about the ad stumped us.