On February 9, 2020 we published an article entitled “Busted: Melania Lied Under Oath in 2013 About Graduating from College With a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture.” The article circled the globe through the nets and offended Facebook’s policy about being rude to the First Lady. Actually, that’s not a fact.

Our article was “Flagged” by Facebook under the pretense of being an effort to combat “fake news” on its newsfeed. Facebook likes to police its site for “fake news.” They prefer you just purchase an ad if you need to lie. This all happened, of course, despite the fact that there was nothing “fake” about our story, nor Melania’s clear as day lie. Under oath.

To the extent that it matters anymore, Politifact, which admits it works in partnership with Facebook, yes same Facebook that pulled us as “faking” it – declared the story to be “mostly true,” and wrote:

Evidence and previous reporting shows that Melania falsely stated she graduated college with a bachelor’s degree while under oath. But Political Flare’s inflammatory headline, along with others published by left-leaning websites, makes readers believe this is a new piece of information. It isn’t.

The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. We rate it Mostly True.

Here is what “needs clarification,” we linked to the same “Racked” story that Politifact linked to, and we pointed out it was several years old, within the story itself, and that the website was defunct.

Additionally – and this is truly special, Politifact states that Melania’s lie under oath had been previously reported even outside the defunct “Racked.” As if it this was well-established. But with respect to the actual lie under oath, Politifact only cited one 2016 article published well before the election in Vanity Fair, which asked if Melania lied, and stated:

But the revelation that Melania may have lied under oath is concerning for two reasons. First, it points to the Trump campaign’s underlying tolerance for playing fast and loose with the truth—from the candidate’s repeated claims to have been against the Iraq war, despite documentation of his past support for the invasion, to claims about the size of his fortune (or hands, for that matter), to ongoing obfuscation about the breadth of his charitable donations.

“May” have lied.

Politifact? One cannot construe this one Vanity Fair equivocation as “well-established” reporting that “Melania Trump lied under oath, which is a crime.” The only publication cited by Politifact beyond the one we cited, stated Melania “may” have lied.

No need to apologize, Politifact. (Wait, yes, you do need to apologize about partnering with Facebook, but we’ll leave that fight for another day.)

Moreover, one of our ongoing points here in reporting Melania’s lie under oath, is that it is disgraceful that this “impolite” fact has been allowed to be swept from the internet, and from consideration. Indeed, every single article that Politifact cited with respect to Melania’s education, her website, all of it, was writen prior to the fall of 2016. Melania’s past has not undergone any real examination since that point in time. Politifact actually did a nice job of tracing back through all the stuff that has been scrubbed clean from the net. Politifact also contacted the White House for comment on our story, and of course, the White House said nothing because what are they going to say? “We were meaning to get around to addressing the “fact” that the First Lady lied under oath …”

No, they are not going to say that, at least not until the second term.

So, to the extent that Politifact wants clarification? Okay, I’m game:

It is a “fact,” that Melania lied under oath. It is a fact that Melania and the Trump campaign undertook a serious effort to sweep the net of knowledge of Melania’s past. It is a fact that I cannot find not a single reputable, ongoing website that has published a story about the transcripts since Vanity Fair in the summer of 2016, and if you can – please cite one since you did not when reviewing our article. It is a fact that Vanity Fair didn’t even call it an outright lie under oath! Vanity Fair asked the question in the title, and said it was a concern that Melania “may have lied.” It is a fact that, with respect to published news since Trump has been president, no other major website has reported on the basic “fact” that Melania lied under oath. 

It is also fact, that IF Melania also lied in her immigration documentation, then she should – under the law – lose her citizenship, which we also pointed out in our article.

So there is the clarification.

Of course, none of this matters because nothing ever matters about Melania, which I guess means she’s just another Trump. She can plagiarize Michelle Obama’s speech, she can lie under oath, she can tell us she doesn’t care about immigrant children, she can fake outrage about a harmless reference to “naming Barron” during impeachment and castigate it as an abusive reference, she can wear stilettos to tree plantings and not a single traditional news site will come out and say, “You lied.” “You said you don’t care about the immigrants.” “You broke the law.” “You are a hypocrite.” Very simple, obvious, truths. 

Indeed part of the problem, as we noted just yesterday, is that with respect to Melania, there is almost self-enforced “equivocation” by the media in all her coverage. As if there’s some confounding mystery as to why she does things like wear a coat stating she didn’t “care” to a child detention center, or a colonial pith helmet visiting Africa. The media reports her justifications as if they need be considered seriously. It is the equivocation one always seems to see from the more traditional media when it comes to Melania – who most always gets a soft pass, which is one of the reasons why we here do feel a greater obligation to report on her. Nobody else will.

Anyway, Politifact, no hard feelings. On your report that our article was “Mostly True,” I will give you a “Mostly True,” too. Now, let’s walk away in partnership, having each grown a little, and say together: “Melania lied under oath, which is a crime, and she should be … busted. That’s a fact.”

Do you have a moment to discuss Facebook?

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Peace, y’all – Except you, Facebook

Jason

[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom