FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, has released its list of the Whoppers of ’22, its annual review of the year’s worst political and viral deceptions.
This year, FactCheck.org’s staff writes, political appeals to fear were as popular as ever. Republicans falsely alarmed Americans with claims that Democrats were authorizing the IRS to target middle-income taxpayers with tens of thousands of new IRS “agents,” while Democrats tried to scare voters by claiming Republicans had a plan to “end” Social Security and Medicare programs based on a proposal few Republicans supported.
The year’s whoppers also include:
- President Joe Biden won a mention for giving his policies too much credit for a significant reduction in the federal deficit — and for claiming to have rescued an economy “in decline.”
- Former president Donald Trump, who has dominated the Whoppers list in years past, continued to earn a place on it — this year, by deflecting from his mishandling of classified White House documents by falsely claiming that other past presidents had done something similar.
- Covid-19 misinformation continued to be a huge problem online: One viral video promoted a conspiracy theory that the disease was caused by snake venom being injected into the public water supply.
FactCheck.org has spotlighted misinformation about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well.
To read the full list with these and more, go to the Whoppers of ’22.
