Washington Post walks back claim that Tom Cotton lied about Boston Bomber's COVID stimulus check

The Washington Post has rescinded one of its “Pinocchio" ratings from a claim by Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, who said that the Boston Bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, received a stimulus check for COVID-19.

The publication uses the rating to indicate that the subject of the article, who in this instance would be Cotton, is lying about their claims.

The Post first reported that the claim was among many “hyped up claims about who’s getting stimulus checks,” suggesting that murderers and illegal immigrants were not, as Republicans were claiming, benefiting from policies intended to support impoverished American citizens.

The Post reported: “These quotes are an example of this process in action, with Cotton tweeting a talking point just hours after the coronavirus stimulus bill was approved. Cotton isn’t shy about his intentions either. On March 8, he tweeted that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston bomber, would also get benefits and declared, ‘Get ready for campaign ads.’”

“But for all the hype, there’s less to these claims than one might imagine — particularly because the previous stimulus bills passed last year under GOP control also did not bar payments to prisoners and the small subset of undocumented immigrants referenced by Barrasso,” it continued.

Cotton and Barrasso, the other subject of the article, received “two Pinocchios” from the Washington Post for their remarks.

As detailed by Cotton on Twitter, the Boston Bomber did in fact receive a stimulus check from Biden’s slush fund.

“I’m looking forward to the [Washington Post] updating this fact check,” he wrote.

CNN reported earlier today that the US Attorney’s office requested Tsarnaev to turn over  his funds, including the $1,400 federal stimulus payment he received.

“It turns out Tom Cotton predicted correctly -- Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston bomber, did get a stimulus check. So we've adjusted the Pinocchio rating on this 2021 fact check,” wrote Washington Post’s resident fact-checker Glenn Kessler.

The publication reduced its Pinocchio rating to one Pinocchio as a result of the newly surfaced fact, but refused to admit that it totally messed up.

“Cotton primarily received the Two-Pinocchio rating because his comments lacked context,” wrote the Post. “He suggested this problem was the result of something Democrats did, when he had previously voted for legislation with the same language that allowed for checks to be issued to prisoners. He also made it clear that he intended weaponize this debate for campaign ads.”

“Still, Cotton’s predictive powers should be acknowledged,” the publication added. “He said the Boston bomber would get a stimulus check — and Tsarnaev did. Now, if the government is successful, this money will go to victims. So Tsarnaev still will not keep it. But in retrospect, the use of the phrase of ‘scaremongering’ was inappropriate. Cotton had raised a legitimate issue of concern, even if he framed it in a political way. The term ‘hyped up’ in the headline went too far as well.”