The ‘Find The Fraud’ Lie Proves That The Legacy Media Don’t Care About The Truth

This week has made one thing abundantly clear: the legacy media doesn’t care about the truth.

For many, this is far from a sudden realization. For others, the behavior of the Washington Post and others in recent months has caused the veil of objectivity being held over their eyes to become almost transparent.

In early January, as Trump’s refusal to accept electoral defeat drove the legacy media into a Trump Derangement Syndrome frenzy — only further accelerated by their desire to celebrate the start of Joe Biden’s administration — one particular story became a central pillar in their narrative against Trump.

According to the Washington Post, “President Donald Trump urged Georgia’s lead elections investigator to ‘find the fraud’ in a lengthy December phone call, saying the official would be a ‘national hero,’ according to an individual familiar with the call who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the conversation.”

The report, written by Amy Gardner, was shared by numerous media outlets such as CNN, NBC News and ABC News. Some outlets even confirmed the reports, with NBC News confirming “The Post’s characterization of the Dec. 23 call through a source familiar with the conversation.”

There’s just one minor problem. Trump never said “find the fraud” or that the official would be a “national hero.”

It was all a lie.

On March 11, in an exclusive report, the Wall Street Journal released an audio recording of the six-minute call. No mention of “find the fraud” or “national hero.” The anonymous source cited by the Washington Post — and every other outlet which happily regurgitated their claims — was wrong.

What should astound us all is that the result of the Washington Post — supposedly the pinnacle of journalism — spreading overtly false narratives is … that nothing happens. The author, Amy Gardner, appears to remain employed by the Washington Post, whose slogan “Democracy Dies in Darkness” becomes even more darkly ironic with each passing day.

A handful of media outlets have offered muted retractions, subtly altering language while ignoring that the Washington Post promoted a false report. Even the “correction” on the original Washington Post article evades this central point.

Correction: Two months after publication of this story, the Georgia secretary of state released an audio recording of President Donald Trump’s December phone call with the state’s top elections investigator. The recording revealed that The Post misquoted Trump’s comments on the call, based on information provided by a source. Trump did not tell the investigator to “find the fraud” or say she would be “a national hero” if she did so. Instead, Trump urged the investigator to scrutinize ballots in Fulton County, Ga., asserting she would find “dishonesty” there. He also told her that she had “the most important job in the country right now.” A story about the recording can be found here. The headline and text of this story have been corrected to remove quotes misattributed to Trump.

No, they didn’t “misquote” Trump’s comments. They rebuilt them. They constructed a favorable narrative — either directly or with the willing assistance of an “anonymous source” — with little to no regard for journalistic integrity.

But who cares about journalistic integrity? This isn’t about journalism anymore. It’s about winning.

In the context of true journalism, Amy Gardner is an embarrassment. In the context of today’s journalism and our “objective” legacy media, she’s a hero.

When a narrative is required, they will always answer the call.

Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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