January 2016

The Huffington Post has started appending an editor’s note to the bottom of posts about Republican presidential contender Donald Trump, calling him a "racist," a "liar" and a "xenophobe," and reminding readers of his proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States. “Note to our readers: Donald Trump is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, birther and bully who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S.,” reads the note, which was added to an article about Trump’s feud with Fox News published Jan 27. The note also includes links to prior coverage of Trump's comments.

A Huffington Post spokesperson said that the note will be added to all future stories about Trump. “Yes, we're planning to add this note to all future stories about Trump," the spokesperson said. "No other candidate has called for banning 1.6 billion people from the country! If any other candidate makes such a proposal, we'll append a note under pieces about them.”

There is a new feud underway between Democratic presidential candidate Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and the Washington Post. On Jan 27, the Washington Post posted an editorial "A campaign full of fiction" with the Jan 28 print edition sub-headline contending, "Sen. Sanders is not a brave truth-teller. He's just telling progressives what they want to hear." It got even rougher from there. The editorial claimed that the senator from Vermont is making "fantastical claims about how he would make the European social model work in the United States," ignoring the fact that Wall Street reforms since the financial collapse are "significantly reducing the risks big banks pose," and distorting the fiscal implications of his proposals.

Sen Sanders fired back — again and again and again. "That's not a new argument. We've been hearing that months and months, and that's in a sense what this campaign is about," Sen Sanders said in response to a request for his reaction to the editorial. "People are telling us, whether it's the Washington Post editorial board or anybody else, our ideas are too ambitious — can't happen. Too bold — really? Well, here's something which is really bold. In the last 30 years, there has been a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class and working families of this country. The middle class has become poorer and trillions of dollars have been transferred to the top one-tenth of 1 percent." "That's pretty radical, isn't it?" Sen Sanders said. "Where was The Washington Post to express concern that the middle class was shrinking?" "Where was The Washington Post talking about this radical transformation of America?" he demanded.