Headline RoundupFebruary 18th, 2021

Fact-Checking Biden's CNN Town Hall

Summary from the AllSides News Team

President Joe Biden did a town hall event with CNN Tuesday night in Milwaukee, taking questions in his first public appearance as president outside of Washington D.C. According to fact-checkers, the president made several false, misleading or conflicting statements during the event, about subjects such as school reopening, the COVID-19 vaccine and the minimum wage. These became a focus of media coverage across the spectrum, but more for right-rated media outlets. Many right-rated fact-checkers focused on Biden's remark during the town hall that "we didn't have" a COVID-19 vaccine when he took office, a false sentiment echoed earlier in the week by others in the Biden administration. Many on the right framed this as a clear lie worthy of scrutiny. Left-rated fact-checkers attempted to place this remark in context with some of Biden's other comments from earlier in the night about the vaccine, framing his statement as a blunder instead of an intentional falsehood. Some right-rated voices then accused left-rated outlets of media bias, comparing their scrutiny of former President Donald Trump to their scrutiny of Biden, and alleging that they covered for Biden by explaining his remarks as "gaffes" instead of purely fact-checking them.

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