Cross-Examination

• WaPo fact-checks Biden multiple times: The Washington Post became obsessed with “fact-checking” Donald Trump during his presidency. Indeed, it hit Trump with its “Bottomless Pinocchio” designation 56 times, a label given after WaPo deems a claim to be false but the individual keeps repeating it anyway. Since WaPo is a Leftmedia outlet, it has tended to classify more of Joe Biden’s false statements as “gaffes” rather than outright intentional lies, but there is evidently a limit even for the Post. The paper hit Biden with one of its “Bottomless Pinocchios” and proceeded to fact-check him on several other bogus statements, including his absolutely false claim that the price of gas when he took office was “over $5.” The Post uses a different source than we do and says the average price of gas upon Biden taking office was actually $2.48, down almost a dollar from the current national average of $3.39. Biden was also fact-checked over his claim that “on my watch, for the first time in 10 years, seniors are getting an increase in their Social Security checks.” Well, as the Post points out, this increase has everything to dow with sky-high inflation, as a 1972 law requires Social Security benefits to be adjusted to keep up with inflation. Unfortunately, the Post only saw fit to fact-check Biden on just four of his erroneous claims — but there’s a whole lot more than four. Ultimately, fact-checking an unpopular president like Biden won’t hurt the Post, especially given the likelihood that the Democrats will suffer significant defeats this midterm regardless.

• Twitter, Facebook layoffs: Elon Musk is clearly determined to take Twitter in a different direction, and that includes making the social media giant profitable. Musk has begun laying off thousands of employees. Unsurprisingly, these layoffs led to Leftmedia outlets fretting over the changes to Twitter allowing for the greater spread of “misinformation” right before the midterms. In other words, the Leftmedia is worried that more Americans will get information that hasn’t been filtered by a leftist “fact-checker.” Meanwhile, significant layoffs are also happening at Meta, the parent company to Facebook and Instagram. The reason for these layoffs has everything to do with declining revenue. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s massive investment to expand and diversify his social media company evidently isn’t working out as anticipated. His “Metaverse” gamble is not seeing the expected success and, therefore, a downsizing is now occurring as some 20,000 employee will be handed their walking papers. The bottom line for both Twitter and Meta is the bottom line, and the heads of both companies are acting accordingly.

• Good, bad, and ugly ballot initiatives: There are a slew of state and local initiatives on ballots across the country tomorrow that will have significant ramifications. Here are a few to keep an eye on. The good ones: On the ballot in Iowa is a measure that would enshrine the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in the state constitution. If approved, it would make Iowa the 45th state to explicitly protect 2A rights. Tennesseans will vote on the inclusion of a Right to Work amendment to be added to the state constitution. If passed, it would make mandatory union membership requirements illegal for condition of employment. The bad ones: Voters in Nevada will consider a measure to adopt ranked-choice voting for future elections. Far from offering greater choice, balance, and clarity, ranked-choice voting has proven to do the opposite, creating greater openings for election shenanigans. In California, voters are presented with Proposition 30, a measure that would “mitigate” wildfires by raising taxes 1.75% on personal income over $2 million. The ugly: In Oregon, voters will decide on measure 114, an anti-Second Amendment bill that would “prohibit manufacturing, importing, purchasing, selling, possessing, using, or transferring ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds and make violations a class A misdemeanor.” Hopefully, voters will choose the good over both the bad and the ugly.

Headlines

• Senior White House official involved in undisclosed talks with top Putin aides (WSJ)

• Ahead of midterm elections, Biden snaps at rally: “No more drilling! There is no more drilling!” (Daily Wire) | White House walks back Biden’s remarks about shutting down coal plants after Senator Manchin nuked him (Daily Wire)

• Stacey Abrams says her poll numbers are low because black men can’t see through misinformation (Daily Wire)

• Did the White House break the law by deleting its misleading tweet? (PJ Media)

• Top Georgia Democrat snubs Stacey Abrams, endorses Republican Brian Kemp (Fox News)

• James Clyburn: U.S. “on track to repeat” Nazi Germany, downplays inflation ahead of midterms (Fox News)

• NBC historian: If GOP wins “our children” could be potentially “arrested and conceivably killed” (Daily Wire)

• “White powder” discovered at Kari Lake campaign HQ, staffer under medical supervision (RedState)

• Conservatives hit back after Donald Trump takes pre-election shot at Ron DeSantis (Townhall)

• NBC deletes report with revelations about Paul Pelosi attack (Free Beacon)

• New data wipes out Democrat narratives on crime (Townhall)

• Subtropical storm forms, poses threat to Southeast, including Florida (TWC)

• High-ranking Church of England officials endorse gay marriage (Fox News)

• Policy: Count all the votes on Election Night (National Review)

• Humor: New Sarah McLachlan ad says for only $8 per month, you can sponsor a celebrity’s verified Twitter account (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.