Outspoken MSNBC host Rachel Maddow is no stranger to being called out by PolitiFact’s “Truth-o-meter” for her controversial and often over-reaching comments. This time around, however, the progressive talk show host qualified for the blog’s “Pants on Fire!” rating after claiming that Ohio’s new budget calls for a “mandatory vaginal probe at the insistence of the state.”
Maddow made the comment back on her June 28 show, when the state government was still in the process of approving its new operating budget. The Buckeye State’s final budget included a number of restrictions on abortions in the state, including one that mandated that an ultrasound be performed before a woman is allowed to have an abortion. In Maddow’s mind, the ultrasound requirement is akin to said vaginal probe.
Politifact Ohio, however, proved that her comment couldn’t be further from the truth. According to the site, the new Section 2919.191 of Ohio’s revised code spells out exactly what is mandated by the state’s new budget, and it is not the transvaginal ultrasound Maddow described.
PolitiFact and The Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Henry J. Gomez explained in his summary of Maddow’s rating that “Maddow was referring to a new requirement that women seeking abortions first receive ultrasounds to determine whether a fetal heartbeat is present” and the budget clearly states the examination “shall be performed externally.”
“That puts Maddow’s ‘vaginal probe’ claim about as far as can be from the truth, into the realm of the ridiculous,” Gomez continued.
Maddow, an outspoken opponent of PolitiFact, has critiqued the fact-checking website on many occasions, with her most recent being that the site is terrible and should be sued. She’s likely forgetting, however, that Politifact often calls out Republicans much more often than it does Democrats and chose a Romney campaign ad for its 2012 “Lie of the Year.”
Despite multiple calls for comment, MSNBC hasn’t responded to PolitiFact regarding Maddow’s comments.
