Daniel Funke, a so-called fact-checker at USA Today and alumnus of the far-left PolitiFact,was humiliated with a major correction on an overtly biased “fact check” this week while carrying water for President Joe Biden.
As many of you already know, this story has been corrected. Biden checked his watch multiple times during the ceremony. I regret the error. https://t.co/F6bjQFYVbC
— Daniel Funke (@dpfunke) September 3, 2021
Funke (who includes his pronouns in his Twitter profile) attempted to smear Gold-Star parents who had accused Biden of repeatedly checking his watch during the dignified transfer ceremony Sunday for the 11 of the 13 service-members killed in Afghanistan.
Mark Schmitz (father of Jared Schmitz) and Shana Chappell (mother of Kareem Nikoui) were among those who offered their firsthand accounts of the solemn coffin ceremony, saying Biden looked at his watch after every coffin and generally treated the grieving families dismissively.
“I actually leaned into my son’s mother’s ear and I said ‘I swear to God if he checks his watch one more time…’ and [that] was probably only four times in,” Schmitz recalled.
“I couldn’t look at him anymore after that, considering, especially, the time and why we were there,” he continued. “I found it to be the most disrespectful thing I’d ever seen.”
But Funke dashed out his hatchet-piece on Wednesday, accusing the families of lying and insisting that the video showed Biden only checking his watch after the ceremony.
A simple examination of the film was all that was needed to debunk the baseless claim, reported RedState. That resulted in multiple corrections in the article itself and a few sheepish comments from Funke on social media.
However, like Biden, the lackey reporter refused to accept full responsibility or accountability for his mistake abject failure.
Journalists and fact-checkers are human (yes, even me!) We make mistakes. When we do, we correct them and try to make it right.
Read more about the principles we try to uphold at @USATODAY: https://t.co/LIQUSCORYT
— Daniel Funke (@dpfunke) September 3, 2021
That led some conservatives to call him out on Twitter, as well as to encourage followers to contact USA Today and voice their displeasure.
I asked the @USATODAY fact checker if he plans to apologize to the Gold Star families he falsely accused of lying.
If you know a veteran’s group, make sure they politely contact USA Today to ask why they smear Gold Star families. pic.twitter.com/xKMLZwomNL
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) September 3, 2021
