PolitiFact landed itself in hot water with Twitter users after seeking to clarify a claim made by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) about Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Over the weekend, PolitiFact published a fact check on DeSantis’ claim that Bragg “has downgraded over 50% of the felonies to misdemeanors.”
The outlet felt the need to clarify, saying, “Are more than half of felony charges in Manhattan downgraded? Yes, but its common elsewhere, too.”
One user replied to the tweet, writing, “Look at them coping over being wrong yet again. All politifact cares about is carrying water for their party.”
Radio host Joe Cunningham added, “‘We regret to inform you that Gov. Ron Desantis of Florida is correct.'”
One tweet argued, “These are propagandists not fact checkers. They just can’t help themselves. Meantime, Bragg ‘upgraded’ a misdemeanor to a felony in going after Trump. The ‘but’ should be an ‘and.'”
Another user stated, “‘He’s right, as confirmed by our ‘fact check,’ but it’s inconvenient to the narrative so we must add our own personal commentary to distract from the point.'”
Read more replies below:
https://Twitter.com/PoliticalAbhor/status/1645823947391500288
https://Twitter.com/wavechaser2024/status/1645813777055580160
PolitiFact explained in the article Bragg’s website “confirms that 52% of felonies that were screened by prosecutors were downgraded to misdemeanors in 2022, the first year Bragg was in office. Data from 2023 show that so far, 54% of felonies have been downgraded to misdemeanors.”
It continues, “Experts said that downgrading charges is a common practice, and that it was done more often in three of New York’s other boroughs, according to state data from 2021.”
Bragg was thrust into the spotlight for his role in the investigation into hush money paid to Stormy Daniels by the Trump campaign in 2016.
Last year, Bragg became Manhattan’s first Black district attorney.