CNN Caption Fact-Checks Trump's ISIS Lie

Trump Claimed Obama Founded ISIS; CNN Notes That Al-Baghdadi Actually Did

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

An on-screen graphic aired during the August 11 edition of CNN’s Wolf exposed yet another of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s lies, this time tackling his accusation that President Barack Obama and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton founded ISIS. The graphic read, “Trump Calls Obama Founder of ISIS (He’s Not)” and added at the bottom, “Fact check: al-Baghdadi founded ISIS.”

Veteran reporters have severely criticized cable news outlets for insufficiently pushing back against Trump’s obviously false statements, but CNN has been part of a recent trend of cable networks (other than Fox) fact-checking Trump’s lies by using on-screen graphics, which often get more attention than do the news reports themselves.