The Associated Press is taking media heat for apparently siding with President Joe Biden on one of his economic statements, claiming the Commander-in-Chief merely "misspoke" instead of giving out incorrect information.
The incident in question occurred Thursday, when the Biden administration announced its plans to release 1 million barrels of oil per day over the next six months, a move that could potentially drain the United States' strategic reserve.
During his public comments, President Biden said, "If your home is powered by safer, cheaper, cleaner electricity, like solar or heat pumps, you can save about $500 a month, on average."
Later that evening, the fact-checking AP reported Biden "misspoke" about the issue, and then referred to the White House's clarification that President Biden meant to say "$500 a year" — and not per month.
That's a difference of $5,500 per year in households, a significant chunk of change when factoring in how the U.S. inflation rate has reached a 40-year high.
In addition, as part of its fact-check, the AP cited a monetary figure from the U.S. Energy Information Administration: The average electric bill for homeowners never eclipsed $120 per month between 2009 and 2019, and was $115 per month in 2019.
Did Biden inadvertently offer up bad information, or was he intentionally misleading the public?
And would a Republican president, caught in the same dilemma, have been given the benefit of the doubt among AP writers?
In the aftermath, media critics were happy to weigh in:
"Biden didn't misspeak, he lied," tweeted the website ForAmerica.com.
"Every single 'misspeaking' a Democrat makes is to up-sell their BS policies, and 'fact-checkers' still refuse to call it a lie," wrote Townhall columnist Derek Hunter.
"The AP is a Democrat activist organization. If a Republican politician said this, the AP would accuse him of 'disinformation' (lying). But when a Democrat politician says it, he 'misspoke,'" wrote Christina Pushaw, press secretary to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
And the popular Twitter handle @LawyerForLaws, which has a following of more than 23,000 people, simply wondered:
"AP covers for Joe Biden's ... When does the phrase: 'Joe Biden Misspoke' become a pattern?'"
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