An old story made the rounds on Facebook recently, claiming that former congresswoman Michele Bachmann (whose name the article misspells right off the bat) said “white people have suffered more in the last 8 years than blacks did during couple years of slavery.”
The quote is fake, as many have noted in the past. But the article begins with accurate quotes from Bachmann by plagiarizing the website Right Wing Watch.
Bachmann argued that President Obama has “sanctioned” violence, as long it protects the “people favorable to the Obama position, politically.” She insisted that the president is sending “a signal to Donald Trump supporters: Don’t attend Donald Trump events because you could be physically assaulted.”
And here’s Right Wing Watch:
Bachmann argued that President Obama has “sanctioned” violence, as long as it protects the “people favorable to the Obama position, politically.” She insisted that the president is sending “a signal to Donald Trump supporters: Don’t attend Donald Trump events because you could be physically assaulted.”
Furthermore, the article has two buttons (which, at first, I thought were part of some advertisement) titled “Show Facts” and “Hide Facts.” The former highlights the first paragraph—a plagiarism job, remember—and nothing else, while the latter removes the highlight. On the webpage of the article there is no other marker suggesting or clarifying that the quote and majority of the article are codswallop. Readers would have to find the about page (which, data tells us, they hardly ever will) in order to figure out the “hybrid” game Politicot, aka Newslo, is playing. The page explains:
TWS Fact Check calls bull. A “hybrid of news/satire” is another way of framing “fake news.” The website made up a quote purportedly from Bachmann without clarifying in or around the article that it was all an alleged joke. Additionally, Politicot plagiarized the only accurate information in the post.
As TWS contributing editor PJ O’Rourke sharply observed on the different types of humor, “there is parody, when you make fun of people who are smarter than you; satire, when you make fun of people who are richer than you; and burlesque, when you make fun of both while taking your clothes off.” But plagiarism? That’s when the only person you’re making fun of is you.
If you have questions about this fact check, or would like to submit a request for another fact check, email Holmes Lybrand at [email protected] or the Weekly Standard at [email protected]. For details on TWS Fact Check, see our explainer here.
