The White House has launched a new web page aimed at tracking what it calls “media bias” and inaccuracies—which itself contained inaccuracies.
The new “Media Bias” page went live on Friday, with the White House claiming it would help to expose “fake news.”
“Tired of the Fake News? We’ve got the place for you,” the official White House X account wrote. “Get the FACTS. Track the worst offenders. See the Fake News EXPOSED.”
However, the site was briefly taken down before reappearing with alterations. In the update, Fox News was removed as an “offender” after the White House incorrectly attributed questions asked in a press conference to a Fox News reporter.
“Fox News asked the White House to correct it and now there’s a 404 error where the page once was,” Washington Post media reporter Scott Nover wrote on X.
The site, which is once again live, currently includes 31 “fake news offenses” from 21 publications. The list includes the Daily Beast, which is accused of being part of a group of publications that did not cover the Trump administration’s illegal deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from Maryland to El Salvador in a way the White House liked.
Untangling the “offense” is difficult. The Beast’s Catherine Bouris, along with CBS News and The Independent, are accused of “describing him as a ‘Maryland dad,’” which is factual, and “omitting facts about his criminal history.”
Garcia has no criminal convictions, and the Beast and the other cited outlets have all reported on his arrests and the allegations against him.
The new tracker is the latest move in the Trump administration’s anti-media campaign. Since January, journalists have been suspended from the Pentagon and removed from the White House press pack for critical coverage, and news outlets have come under legal attack.
Stories that have displeased the White House and are logged on the site include: “Italian Pasta Is Poised to Disappear From American Grocery Shelves” from The Wall Street Journal, “The View’s Whoopi Goldberg Makes Up a Song to Slam Trump for Building White House Ballroom" from ABC News, and “Republicans are Losing the Political Battle Over the Shutdown” from MSNBC.
“The Trump White House is holding the Fake News accountable like never before,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote in a post announcing the site’s launch.
The site uses infographics from Flourish, a data visualization app owned by U.K. graphic design company Canva, to illustrate its messaging.
The website is an inversion of the media’s historic attempts to track false and misleading claims made by President Donald Trump during his time in office.
The Post estimated that Trump made 30,573 such statements in his first term as president, an average of more than 20.9 per day.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
