The Credit Scoring Site A bleak account 

Washington Post errors about a U.S. Senate minority leader

Newspaper in Washington, D.C. falsely identifies a minority leader of the U.S. Senate as its majority leader

| By Greg Fisher

[Correction: The March 8, 2011 story page, referred to below, included a correction which was, apparently, made on the same day. The error on that page was left intact. - G. Fisher, creditscoring.com, 1/6/15]

Mitch McConnell has never been the majority leader of the U.S. Senate. However, news organizations regularly misreport that fundamental historical fact, falsely identifying Senator McConnell as Senate Majority Leader.

The Washington Post

Owner: Jeff Bezos
Publisher: Fred Ryan
Editor: Martin Baron
Correction policy: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-s...

Here are some examples of the misidentification; uncorrected factual errors under bylines at the news organization named the Washington Post.

2014

IMPORTANT: Senator McConnell is not the majority leader; he is the minority leader.

PHOTO CAPTION: "SEPTEMBER 09: U.S. President Barack Obama (C) meets with (L-R) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in the Oval Office at the White House September 9, 2014 in Washington, DC." - "The midterms were a big, dystopic groan from an electorate that knows something fundamental is broken and nobody’s trying to fix it," November 7, 2014




"The minimum-wage issue has popped up in some races (such as Alison Lundergan Grimes vs. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky), and student loan financing became a small issue in New Hampshire’s Senate race." - "Millennial turnout is crucial. Too bad pols have no idea what young people care about," October 31, 2014

"Republican Sens. John Barrasso (Wyo.), John Coryn (Tex.), and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) take questions from reporters after a Senate policy luncheons on Capitol Hill in September." (photo caption) - "What happens to tech policy if Republicans take the Senate?," October 14, 2014

2013

"Some Republicans, particularly Issa and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have argued that the administration was essentially bullying Obama’s opponents." - "IRS chief counsel's office involved in targeting controversy," July 17, 2013

"'Rand wants to accomplish things, not merely blow up the process in order to make news,' said Billy Piper, former chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell." - "Rand Paul is the most interesting man in the (political) world," June 18, 2013

"It's fitting that on the day Michele Bachmann announced her retirement from Congress, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell opted to defend his tenure with an ad that borrows liberally from Bachmann’s style of politics." (first sentence) - "Michele Bachmann is gone, but her paranoid politics has become the norm for GOP," May 29, 2013

IMPORTANT: Senator McConnell is not the majority leader; he is the minority leader.

"As for Perez, his nomination has drawn vastly different reactions from Democrats and Republicans. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who chairs the Senate committee that oversees Labor, described Perez last week as “eminently qualified” for a Cabinet post, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell described him as a “committed ideologue” who ignores the law and misstates facts to push a progressive agenda." - "Perez confirmation saga continues with upcoming committee vote," May 16, 2013

"The National Republican Senatorial Committee earlier this year announced Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) would serve as one of its two co-chairmen (both Rand Paul and Cruz upset heavily favored establishment candidates in primaries and have been among the most outspoken conservatives in the Senate), and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hired a top adviser to both Pauls, Jesse Benton, as his campaign manager." - "Rand Paul adviser signs on with American Crossroads," April 24, 2013

"And Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), said, 'Have they said yet how they're going to pay for all of this? That matters, of course. Last time, I think he wanted to tax the same people that were supposed to create the jobs.'" - "Obama to visit Miami tunnel project," March 29, 2013

"Since then, details of Boehner's "plan B" option became clearer, and Vice President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hashed out a final deal and got it passed." - "The fiscal cliff negotiations, in one chart," January 2, 2013

2012

"Outside of that trio, the options are sparse. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) is not the most dynamic of figures and is focused -- at least in part -- on his own re-election race in 2014." - "The leaderless Republican party — and why it matters," December 5, 2012

IMPORTANT: Senator McConnell is not the majority leader; he is the minority leader.

"Regarding the latter claim, we awarded Two Pinocchios to a group of Democrats who have asserted insisted that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky vowed to make Obama a one-term president from the start of the current administration." - "Did Gov. Romney ‘find a way’ to succeed where President Obama struggled?," October 24, 2012

"Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) contribute money to a former Paul aide who resigned from Paul's 2010 campaign after an image of a lynching appeared on his website." - "Obama’s ‘honest and trustworthy’ advantage — and what it means for the second debate," October 15, 2012

Here is a correction made after contact by creditscoring.com.

In fact, most of the Southerners speaking are big names that pretty much had to be invited: Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, former vice presidential hopeful and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, Senate Majority Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), and former Republican National Committee chairman Mike Duncan, a Kentuckian who now heads up the party's credentials committee." - "Who you won’t see on stage at the Republican National Convention," August 29, 2012

2011

In addition to Chambliss and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who are personal friends of House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), the Gang of Six includes Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), a close adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.); Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee; and Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate and a close Obama ally. - "'Gang of 6' senators launch public campaign to support deficit reduction," March 8, 2011 [Update, 1/6/15: That item, actually, contained a correction when this creditscoring.com page was written. See creditscoring.com's correction at the top of this page. G. Fisher]

IMPORTANT: Senator McConnell is not the majority leader; he is the minority leader.




Back to top