Media 'fact checkers' come to Biden's defense after he lies about COVID vaccine

In response to a viral video showing President Joe Biden claiming in a CNN presidential townhall Tuesday that "we didn't have" the coronavirus vaccine when he entered office on Jan. 20, mainstream media 'fact checkers' came scrambling to his defense.

Glenn Kessler, Editor/chief writer of Washington Post's Fact Checker, who claims in his Twitter bio that he reveals "the truth behind the rhetoric" tweeted, "It was a verbal stumble, a typical Biden gaffe, as he had already mentioned 50 million doses being available when he took office. Ex Trump officials should especially cool the outrage meter, as it just looks silly."

Daniel Dale, Reporter for CNN, who claims in his Twitter bio that he fact-checks the president and other politicians tweeted,"Biden had said just prior that there were 'only' 50 million vaccine doses when he took office. I'm looking into that claim (and a bunch of other claims Biden made tonight), but he clearly wasn't trying to claim the vaccine did not exist at all under Trump."

Both were re-tweeting a post by former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany calling out the Biden lie in which she wrote,  "Biden says there was no vaccine when he came into office. That is abjectly FALSE. President Trump brought about the fastest vaccine for a novel pathogen in history. How does Joe get away with this?"

Biden said during the CNN town hall, "The biggest thing though, is you remember, when you and I took...I shouldn't say it that way as you remember, but when you and I talked last we talked about this one thing that the vaccine, which we didn't have when we came into office, but a vaccinator. How do you get the vaccine into someone's arm?"

The first COVID-19 vaccine candidate to gain authorization from the FDA was the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on December 11, more than a month before Biden took office. Next was the Moderna vaccine which gained FDA authorization on December 18. Intensive-care nurse Sandra Lindsay was given one of the first shots of the vaccine in the US on Monday, December 14, New York Magazine reported.