Glenn Kessler, after 14 years as the fact-checker for The Washington Post, reflects on the changing landscape of political fact-checking. He highlights how the announcement of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign marked a significant shift, leading politicians to increasingly ignore fact-checks. Prior to Trump, politicians often modified their statements when confronted with discrepancies, but Trump’s approach to maintaining false claims despite evidence to the contrary altered this dynamic considerably. Kessler’s Pinocchio system rated the truthfulness of political statements, serving as a tool to hold politicians accountable.
Kessler noted that since Donald Trump's presidential announcement in June 2015, politicians began to disregard fact-checking, often doubling down on false statements despite being challenged.
Before the Trump era, politicians were more responsive to fact-checks and often altered their narratives based on what was factually accurate, which changed significantly post-2015.
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