Under the old Twitter regime, it was primarily popular right-wing Twitter accounts that were “fact-checked” and then either summarily put in time out, suspended, or permanently banned ostensibly on grounds that they were peddling dangerous misinformation or whatever.
But Elon Musk is the new sheriff in town, and we’re already seeing good ideas being floated and necessary changes being made on the platform that are a welcome development after years of one-sided, wildly (and deliberate) partisan rule.
One thing we’ve been seeing a lot more of is the Twitter contributor-based fact-check mechanism “Birdwatch” being utilized on the accounts of leftist “thought leaders” and politicos, including President Joe Biden himself, as my colleague Bob Hoge previously reported.
But in a shocking turn of events Wednesday, the Biden White House was apparently so embarrassed over a Birdwatch fact-check of one of their tweets crediting Joe Biden for his supposed “leadership” on the upcoming Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA), they ended up deleting the tweet entirely and not replacing it with a new one (as of this writing).
Here’s how things went down.
First, a screengrab of what was originally posted:
Next came the Birdwatch fact-check, where context was added under the tweet to note that Joe Biden in fact was not who should be given props for the automatic increase – though it is coming as a result of inflation caused by (drumroll, please) Biden’s disastrous policies:
Sometime after that, the tweet got quietly pulled down by the White House but not before others took notice of it:
Back in October, we noted the preposterous spin the White House was putting on the COLA, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre incredibly claiming that, “This means that seniors will have a chance to get ahead of inflation, due to the rare combination of rising benefits and falling premiums.”
“We will put more money in their pockets and provide them with a little extra breathing room,” she continued.
Unfortunately, because Democrats are so used to supposedly “respectable” fact-checkers at Politifact and elsewhere letting them get away with outright highway robbery, Joe Biden has recently jacked up his own scare tactics rhetoric on issues that impact senior citizens, lying about the Republican position on Social Security and Medicare to the point that even the Dem apologists at the Washington Post have called him – and his party – out.
In any event, seeing the Biden White House get shamed into deleting what they wrote after years of Twitter stifling legitimate conservative content, and also after Biden and his fellow Democrats have repeatedly urged Big Tech to get even more heavy-handed in how they operate, is just chef’s kiss perfection.
More, please.
Related: GOP Groups Put on Clinics After Purported ‘Racist’ Crime Ads Prompt Media Pearl-Clutching
