PolitiFact parent institute's praise of Jen Psaki continues fact-checker's ease on Biden administration

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The Poynter Institute released a glowing tribute to outgoing White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday, calling the soon-to-be MSNBC figure one of the best to ever command the briefing room podium.

"Psaki has restored honor, dignity and class to the White House briefing room after four years of Donald Trump press secretaries, who seemed more interested in picking fights and criticizing the media than effectively communicating that administration’s policies and agenda," Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones wrote in part. 

The Poynter Institute, a nonprofit school for journalists, is the parent company of PolitiFact, which claims it is a "nonpartisan fact-checking website." However, critics say the website's record paints a different picture. 

According to the Media Research Center, a right-leaning media analysis group, PolitiFact is nearly six times more likely to defend President Biden rather than check him on the facts.

POLITIFACT'S PARENT COMPANY GUSHES JEN PSAKI WAS ‘ONE OF THE BEST PRESS SECRETARIES EVER’ IN GLOWING TRIBUTE

President Joe Biden speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Friday, May 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

From January 20, 2021, through January 19, 2022, NewsBusters found Biden was fact-checked 40 times, while those critical of the president were checked on 230 occasions.

"Over his first year, Biden landed on the "Mostly False" or worse side in 19 out of 40 fact checks (45 percent). But the ‘Fact Checks About Joe Biden’ were overwhelmingly negative – 201 out of 230 fact-checks were ‘Mostly False’ or worse (87.4 percent). There were only three that were ‘True,’' four were ‘Mostly True,’ and 22 were 'Half True,’" the group noted. 

There have been zero fact-checks of Biden that resulted in its harshest "Pants on Fire" rating since he took office. 

Vice President Kamala Harris has largely avoided the gaze of PolitiFact’s checkers, getting only four fact-checks since taking office and none since July. Psaki exited the White House having only been fact-checked twice since the beginning of the Biden administration. 

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Vice President Kamala Harris waves as she departs after speaking at the Tribal Nations Summit in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus, Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Last month, PolitiFact was slammed for defending the president, after social media users poked fun at Biden following a viral clip claiming he was attempting to greet non-existent people on the North Carolina stage he was standing alone on. 

"You might have seen a clip of President Joe Biden ‘shaking hands’ with thin air. It never happened. Here’s the truth, as well as how misinformers manufacture and embellish embarrassing presidential moments," PolitiFact wrote, noting that Biden was actually pointing at the audience with his whole hand. The fact-checking website even called upon a research scientist to dissect the clip and the subsequent social media reaction. 

Poynter’s PolitiFact was accused again of shielding Biden, as well as Harris, from criticism over their past rhetoric expressing distrust in the coronavirus vaccine during the Trump administration.

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While the administration pushed the American people to get their shots, social media users dug up comments made during the 2020 campaign trial by the then-Democratic ticket, which cast doubt in a vaccine developed under Trump and his administration. 

"Biden, Harris distrusted Trump with COVID-19 vaccines, not the vaccines themselves," PolitiFact wrote, claiming that the clips used in the video were "selectively edited to take the statements out of context."

Last May, PolitiFact hosted a virtual festival, "United Facts of America: A Festival of Fact-Checking," which was billed as a "celebration of fact-checking featuring some of the most important voices in media, health care, politics and technology." The event largely consisted of left-leaning voices, including CNN’s Brian Stelter and Christiane Amanpour, MSNBC contributor Charlie Sykes, and Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner. Dr. Anthony Fauci was also featured. 

During the event, PolitiFact editor-in-chief Angie Holan saluted billionaire Democratic donor Craig Newmark, a major provider of financial support for the "neutral" fact-checking website. Newmark supported President Biden's 2020 election campaign as well as a host of other Democratic candidates and causes over the years. 

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In November, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, an organization from the founder of Craigslist, shelled out over $3 million to set up the Commission on Information Disorder," a board that helps users discern "fact from falsehood" and "the trustworthy from the fringe." A report from the commission, focused on "information disorder" was co-authored by left-leaning journalist Katie Couric.

Fox News Digital reached out to Poynter for comment.

Fox News' David Rutz contributed to this report.