DAVE ROSS

David Fahrenthold: Fact-checking in post-Trump era ‘won’t be all-consuming’

Jan 26, 2021, 12:09 PM

Fact checking, Trump...

Donald Trump talks with reporters before boarding Air Force One in February of 2020. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Over the course of the Trump presidency, fact-checkers were known for working furiously to keep up with his speeches, rallies, and public statements. So, what’s the future of fact-checking now that Joe Biden is in office?

According to Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold, there will certainly still be a need for ensuring that the messaging coming from the White House is accurate. The difference is the level to which that will be needed.

“It won’t be sort of an all-consuming, dozens-of-lies-per-day business the way that it was under Trump,” Fahrenthold told KIRO Radio’s Dave Ross. “We’ve never had a president as thoroughly dishonest as Trump, so I don’t think you’ll see anybody breathlessly trying to keep up with Joe Biden during a rally with a different lie in every sentence.”

Despite that scaled back need, though, he also points out that it’s still crucial to engage in frequent and robust fact-checking regardless of who’s in office.

“The business of holding people to account and figuring out whether they’re lying to us still goes on — it just may not be quite as busy,” Fahrenthold noted.

You can listen to Dave’s full interview with Fahrenthold below: 

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News weekday mornings from 5 – 9 a.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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David Fahrenthold: Fact-checking in post-Trump era ‘won’t be all-consuming’