#NY Times’ Master of Misinformation and more

This column:

We say: In this New York Times whopper of a whopper, Master of Misinformation Ben Smith not only writes about misinformation; he engages in it. Smith — who, recall, is responsible for publishing the wholly spurious Steele dossier at BuzzFeed — cites The Post’s October 2020 story about Hunter Biden’s e-mails, claiming we insisted they “prove President Biden’s corruption.” That’s not quite true, but more important: The e-mails, which Hunter doesn’t deny are his and which have been corroborated by others, did connect the father to the son’s influence-peddling and do offer compelling evidence that Joe Biden lied when he said he knew nothing about his son’s business. Maybe Smith’s column was actually meant as an example of misinformation, rather than a discussion of it.

This flashback:

We say: The two men Jussie Smollett accused of attacking him in a hate crime testified this week that the actor paid them to “fake beat him up.” Smollett is facing six counts of felony disorderly conduct for lying to police and staging the hoax. Yet back in 2019, after Smollett made his allegations, then-soon-to-be-veep Kamala Harris raced to call it an “attempted modern day lynching.” No need to wait for the facts; the story fit her narrative — that America is filled with violent mysoginistic, homophobic racists — much in the way that President Biden once painted Kyle Rittenhouse as a white supremacist.

This story:

We say: Just last month, we noted how the Associated Press was blaming climate change for killing off polar bears, while offering no hard evidence. Now, the BBC is pushing a similarly wacky story of global warming causing albatrosses to “divorce.” The story cites a study claiming the birds generally mate with the same partner for life but warmer weather can drive up to 8 percent of them to find other mates. Yes, it’s headline does reflect the study, though the scientists involved were far more hedged. More important, though: Is this really such a major problem? Indeed, if true, it shows the birds adapt. Just as humans can. At least the BBC didn’t target “structural racism” — as did a 2020 headline in Food & Wine in citing (get this!) the difference between yams and sweet potatoes.

This statement:

“There are items every year that sell out, that are hard to find.”

— President Biden, Dec. 1

We say: President Biden really needs to think of new ways to lie. Early this year, he claimed the surge at the southern border was merely seasonal and would soon abate. Yet the number of migrants was far higher than in other years and only got worse. Now he claims shortages in stores, as Christmas shopping begins, happen “every year.” Sorry, but the supply-chain problems have little to do with Christmas; they started long before the season began, are expected to last longer and are worse than ever. We wonder: Will Biden now claim every problem he creates is just “seasonal”?

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board