CNN fact-checker becomes network fixture during Trump's first 80 days after giving Biden far less scrutiny
CNN's star fact-checker Daniel Dale has made quite a splash during President Donald Trump's first 80 days in office, earning himself exponentially more air time in comparison to the same period under President Joe Biden.
Since Jan. 20, Dale has appeared on-air at least 23 times to fact-check Trump and members of his administration, according to Grabien transcripts reviewed by Fox News Digital.
Dale offered his first on-air fact-check of Trump just hours after he was sworn into office in response to remarks Trump made from the Oval Office. CNN anchors frequently have Dale on standby to refute Trump's claims following major speeches like the one he gave to the World Economic Forum and his address to the joint session of Congress as well as Trump's impromptu exchanges with reporters. On at least two separate occasions, Dale appeared on CNN three times in a single day.
The fact checks challenged Trump's claims on a wide variety of topics from tariffs and trade policy, Ukraine aid, to his commentary about the California wildfires and the deadly airplane-helicopter crash at Washington, D.C.'s Reagan International Airport.
The same, however, cannot be said about Dale's coverage of Biden in early 2021. During the same 80-day period, Dale offered just two on-air fact checks of Biden, according to transcript search results.
In fact, Dale appeared on CNN more often during Biden's first 80 days to fact-check Trump, who was no longer in office, as well as GOP lawmakers, who at the time did not control either chamber of Congress.
During a February 2021 appearance on the now-defunct "Reliable Sources" program, Dale vowed he wouldn't be "on vacation" during Biden's presidency.
"We know Biden speaks less, he tweets less, and he lies less when he talks and tweets," Dale told CNN's Brian Stelter at the time. "Trump was a unique case, but that doesn't mean Biden is perfect. He sometimes exaggerates, he sometimes embellishes."
Dale later compared Biden's "smattering of falsehoods" to "the daily avalanche we got from Trump" during Trump's first term in office.
The "smattering" and "avalanche" of falsehoods correlate with the amount of access (or lack there of) Trump and Biden have given, including in their first 80 days in office. Trump regularly makes public appearances and constantly takes questions from reporters, while Biden limited his visibility and curtailed his interactions with the press.
Still, there was certainly less of an urgency for Dale to appear on-air to fact-check Biden in 2021 versus Trump in 2025.
While Dale appeared on CNN to fact-check Trump on Inauguration Day earlier this year, it wasn't until March 25, 2021, more than two months after Biden was sworn into office, to fact-check him on air over his false claim that his administration was turning away migrant families at the southern border.
The second fact-check during the same 80-day period came on April 3, 2021, over what Biden had said about Georgia's election reform bill. Meanwhile, Dale spent more airtime fact-checking Trump about Jan. 6 and his 2020 election denial claims as well as Republicans on Capitol Hill over their comments on government spending.
"Biden has been generally factual so far, especially in scripted remarks," Dale wrote on X in March 2021. "Where he has been inaccurate, it has often been when he has been attempting off the cuff to refer to numbers he doesn't have nailed down."
This disparity also occurred in Dale's online coverage for CNN.com. Dale wrote at least 26 fact-checks against Trump during his first 80 days, dwarfing the eight fact-checks he dedicated to Biden at the same point in 2021. Notably, Dale fact-checked Trump before fact-checking the sitting president, published on Biden's Inauguration Day.
For both Biden and Trump, Dale offered a recap of their falsehoods to mark their first full month in office. For Biden, Dale's headline was "Fact check: Breaking down Joe Biden's first month of claims" while Trump's was "Analysis: Trump's 13 biggest lies of his first month back in office."
Dale previously shed light on his fact-checking methodology when it came to Trump and Biden during the 2020 election cycle, telling Stelter that Trump "makes the same false and misleading claims over and over" while suggesting it isn't as obvious for Biden.
"If Trump lies, you probably know it," Dale said in August 2020. "If Biden were to lie, you might not know it because it might be new."
A spokesperson for CNN declined to comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US sends a shot across the bows of its allies over submarine deal
When Joe Courtney, a Democratic congressman, learnt the Pentagon was reviewing the Australia-UK-US deal designed to enable Canberra to Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
New York Times
14 minutes ago
- New York Times
‘Golden Share' in U.S. Steel Gives Trump Extraordinary Control
To save its takeover of U.S. Steel, Japan's Nippon Steel agreed to an unusual arrangement, granting the White House a 'golden share' that gives the government an extraordinary amount of influence over a U.S. company. New details of the agreement show that the structure would give President Trump and his successors a permanent stake in U.S. Steel, significant sway over its board and veto power over a wide array of company actions, an arrangement that could change the nature of foreign investment in the United States. The terms of the arrangement were hammered out in meetings that went late into the night on Wednesday and Thursday, according to two people familiar with the details. Representatives from Nippon Steel — which had been trying to acquire the struggling U.S. Steel since December 2023, but had been blocked by the Biden administration over national security concerns — came around to Mr. Trump's desire to take a stake that would give the U.S. government significant control over the company's actions. Nippon had argued that this influence should expire — perhaps after three or four years, the duration of the Trump administration. But in the meetings, which were held at the Commerce Department, Trump officials led by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick insisted that the golden share should last in perpetuity, the two people said. Under the terms of the national security pact, which the companies said they signed Friday, the U.S. government would retain a single share of preferred stock, called class G — as in gold. And U.S. Steel's charter will list nearly a dozen activities the company cannot undertake without the approval of the American president or someone he designates in his stead. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Newsweek
18 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Israel Says Goal Is Not Iran Regime Change as Trump Vetoes Ayatollah Strike
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said in an interview with CNN on Sunday said that his country's goal is not regime change even as Israel's forces expand their strikes in Iran. The admission follows the revelation that President Donald Trump had vetoed Israel's plan to target Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to Reuters. Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Department of State for comment outside of normal business hours through submission form. Why It Matters Israel struck Iran with a wave of airstrikes overnight on Thursday U.S. time, which it described as a "preemptive" offensive based on "high-quality intelligence" that Iran was close to developing a nuclear weapon. The strikes hit a variety of Iranian targets, including military personnel and nuclear scientists, in what Israeli leadership has called "Operation Rising Lion." Israel's strikes have killed at least 406 people in Iran and wounded another 654, according to a human rights group that has long tracked the country, Washington-based Human Rights Activists. Iran's government has not offered overall casualty figures. Israel has said 14 people have been killed since Friday and 390 have been wounded, the Associated Press reported. Khamenei condemned the attacks and promised to retaliate, saying Israel had "sealed for itself a bitter and painful destiny." Iran's military vowed a "crushing response," according to the state-run IRNA news agency, and fired salvos of missiles and drones at sites and cities across Israel. Iranian officials have always denied seeking a nuclear weapon. The United States and Iran have held five rounds of negotiations regarding the country's nuclear program, with a sixth round scheduled for Sunday that ultimately did not happen as Israel and Iran each continue to carry out attacks on each other. Rocket trails are seen in the sky above the Israeli coastal city of Netanya amid a fresh barrage of Iranian missile attacks on June 15. Inset: Iranian Supreme leader Ali Khamenei during the Friday prayer... Rocket trails are seen in the sky above the Israeli coastal city of Netanya amid a fresh barrage of Iranian missile attacks on June 15. Inset: Iranian Supreme leader Ali Khamenei during the Friday prayer ceremony on October 4, 2024, in Tehran, Iran. More Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images // Iranian Leader's Press Office - Handout/Getty Images What To Know Speaking with CNN anchor Bianna Golodryga, Sa'ar insisted that his country's goal is not to force regime change in Iran, saying, "The security Cabinet had decided on the objectives," and that regime change "was not one of the objectives." "This is for the Iranian people to decide," Sa'ar said. "We, Israel, don't see the Iranian people as our enemies. We had great relations with Iran until 1979 until the Islamic Revolution, when a very fanatic and barbaric regime came to power. And these are the people that chant 'Death to America,' 'Death to Israel.' And they put as an objective to eliminate the State of Israel." "It's not for us to decide: That's for the Iranian people to act or to do what they want to do," Sa'ar added. "We took as an objective the nuclear program, the ballistic missiles program, the elimination program. It's all things we must stop and create the conditions for moves afterwards that also will able to achieve these objectives." When asked about what kind of advanced notice the U.S. had about the attack, Sa'ar said Israel had informed the Trump administration that "we are going to act," which occurred after the U.S. and Iran had an opportunity to reach a diplomatic solution. He accused Iran of wanting to just "waste time and continue" pushing forward their nuclear plans "even during negotiations." "Iran is in a situation of non-compliance. They breach everything they were committed to," Sa'ar said, noting that Iran's foreign minister had cancelled his interview with CNN, which would have immediately followed Sa'ar's own. "After all other options are gone, we must take care of our security and of our existence. Of course, we informed the US as friends and allies that we are going to operate," he said. Meanwhile, Trump wrote in a Saturday social media post that the U.S. "had not nothing to do with the attack on Iran, tonight." Iran has said it believes the U.S. is involved. Israeli officials have reportedly asked the Trump administration to join in on efforts to attack Iran, with Iran's nuclear program having long been a focal point of U.S. and Israeli concern. Trump talked to ABC News' Rachel Scott on Sunday about the matter, saying, "We're not involved in it. It's possible we could get involved. But we are not at this moment involved." Trump Rejected Israeli Plan to Kill Khamenei Reports on Sunday from the Wall Street Journal and Reuters revealed that Israel had attempted to execute a plan to take out Khamenei, but that Trump put a stop to it. Both outlets cited unnamed senior U.S. administration officials. One of the sources told Reuters: "Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do we're not even talking about going after the political leadership," underscoring the U.S. desire to keep distance from the conflict. An unnamed U.S. official on Sunday told CNN that Trump did indeed reject the plan to assassinate Khamenei. Israel had the chance to kill Khamenei, but Trump opposed the plan, which prevented Israel from pursuing the opportunity. A second source told the outlet that Trump's opposition comes from a desire to avoid another protracted and involved war in the Middle East. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an interview on Sunday with Fox News said: "There's so many false reports of conversations that never happened, and I'm not going to get into that." He added: "But I can tell you, I think that we do what we need to do, we'll do what we need to do. And I think the United States knows what is good for the United States." Photo taken after an explosion in downtown Tehran amid Israel's two-day campaign of strikes against Iran on June 15. Photo taken after an explosion in downtown Tehran amid Israel's two-day campaign of strikes against Iran on June 15. Khoshiran/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images What People Are Saying President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social: "Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal, just like I got India and Pakistan to make, in that case by using TRADE with the United States to bring reason, cohesion, and sanity into the talks with two excellent leaders who were able to quickly make a decision and STOP! Also, during my first term, Serbia and Kosovo were going at it hot and heavy, as they have for many decades, and this long time conflict was ready to break out into WAR. I stopped it (Biden has hurt the longer term prospects with some very stupid decisions, but I will fix it, again!). Another case is Egypt and Ethiopia, and their fight over a massive dam that is having an effect on the magnificent Nile River. There is peace, at least for now, because of my intervention, and it will stay that way! Likewise, we will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran! Many calls and meetings now taking place. I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that's OK, the PEOPLE understand. MAKE THE MIDDLE EAST GREAT AGAIN!" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video address on Friday: "More is on the [Tehran] regime doesn't know what hit them. They don't know [what] will hit them." What Happens Next? Israel and Iran have shown no indication of decreasing their exchange of missiles, with more to follow as the U.S. seeks de-escalation and an end to the current conflict. This article included reporting by The Associated Press.
