(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The so-called fact-checkers at The New York Times claimed Tuesday that President Donald Trump had no “evidence” of massive fraud—only to then cite evidence of actual government fraud.
The Times specifically targeted Trump’s comments about DOGE during his joint address to Congress, where he affirmed that the government had identified hundreds of billions in taxpayer money lost to fraud.
“This lacks evidence,” The Times’ Nicholas Nehamas wrote in a fact-check. He claimed that “even Elon Musk’s government overhaul team does not purport to have found that much in specific savings, much less in fraud alone.”
Nehemas made this assertion in the second paragraph of the so-called fact-check. Yet, three paragraphs later, he conceded that the Biden administration itself identified up to $521 billion wasted on fraud.
“The federal Government Accountability Office estimated last year, before the creation of DOGE, that the government loses $233 billion to $521 billion a year to fraud,” the reporter wrote, citing an October 2024 GAO report to Congress. At the time, Biden was president.
Distorting Trump’s comments about identifying fraud rather than cutting it, Nehamas added, “But it is unclear whether any of the Trump administration cuts announced thus far were canceled payments for fraudulent services.”
CNN had a similar fact-check fiasco in trying to comment Trump’s assertion that $8 million in taxpayer money has been spent on “making mice transgender.” CNN initially called that claim “false,” only to later retract that rating and say that the claim “needs context.”
CNN just quietly edited their "fact check" article after they reported that Trump's statement on spending $8 million for making mice transgender was "false."
It sounds so crazy that they thought Trump made it up…
It’s 100% true and now even CNN is forced to admit it pic.twitter.com/oVETMXbKQG
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 5, 2025
The GAO had previously issued a list of anti-fraud measures the government should implement to curb this massive waste of taxpayer dollars.
Among their recommendations:
- Designating agencies distributing more than $100 million as being “susceptible” fraud.
- Reinstating a risk management requirement in annual reports.
- Establishing fraud analytics systems.
- Implementing internal control and data sharing plans.
