Today At CPAC: Chronically Dishonest Blogger Jim Hoft To Receive Accuracy In Media Award

Written by Andrew Lawrence

Published

Right-wing blogger Jim Hoft will reportedly receive an award from Accuracy in Media at the Conservative Political Action Conference, despite his track record of dishonesty and incompetence.

At the annual CPAC gathering, Hoft, who founded the Gateway Pundit blog, will receive the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award. According to the press release from Accuracy in Media, Hoft is being recognized for his “groundbreaking contributions to New Media,” and the fact that his blog has become “one of the country's top resources for right-of-center news and commentary.”

What makes the choice of Hoft for an award presented by a group billing itself “Accuracy in Media” so surprising is the consistent lack of accuracy, fact-checking and the general incompetence displayed in his writings:

  • In May 2010 Hoft smeared former Department of Education official Kevin Jennings, claiming seminars meant to adjust freshmen to high school, sponsored by Jennings' former organization, the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, were “secret GLSEN gay sex classes”  that were a part of President Obama's “teen sex indoctrination.”
  • In June 2010 Hoft warned his readers that Obama was planning to give a “Major Swath of Arizona Back to Mexico.” In fact, the five-mile square area was part of a refuge, had been closed since 2006, and was never going to be given to Mexico.
  • In December 2011, Hoft cited a Swedish Tabloid to suggest that Obama was actually photoshopped into the now-famous war room photo from the day of the Bin Laden raid based on the tabloid assertion that he looked “way too small” in the image.
  • Following the 2011 Tucson shooting Hoft claimed shooter Jared Loughner “idolized Barack Obama” on his Facebook page. The page turned out to be one of many fake Facebook profiles created in the wake of the tragedy.
  • Hoft also attacked Obama following the Tucson shooting by claiming the White House tried to get applause for the president's memorial speech by “ask[ing] for it” on the Jumbotron. The word “applause” that appeared on the screen, however, was part of the live captioning for the event.
  • Hoft claimed the logo for the Nuclear Security Summit looked like an Islamic crescent, using the resemblance to question Obama's faith. After the claim was picked up by the right-wing media, The Daily Show reported that “the inspiration for the logo is actually the Rutherford-Bohr Model of the atom.”
  • In February 2011, Hoft blamed CBS reporter Lara Logan for sexual assault that she experienced while covering the Egyptian protests.