The Babylon Bee stings again.
USA Today’s “fact-checkers” this week expended energy and ink in adjudicating a headline by the Bee, a conservative satirical website, which, in its own inimical style, reported that President Joe Biden had sold Alaska back to Russia.
Biden’s reason, according to the Bee: So we could drill for oil there.
The Bee claimed the move showed Biden’s “new resolve” to address the energy crisis after his administration had second thoughts about “the importance of energy independence.”
USA Today sprang into action on Wednesday, assuring readers that Alaska was, in fact, still part of the United States.
“With gas prices rising and tensions in Eastern Europe worsening, social media users are sharing satirical claims about how the U.S. plans to respond,” USA Today noted of the Bee’s piece, which was shared on Facebook by an account named Being Libertarian.
“The post, which was published by the page Being Libertarian, racked up more than 2,000 shares within two days. But its claim is not based in fact – it’s satire,” USA Today dutifully reported.
Although the paper allowed that Biden had blocked imports of Russian oil, it added down in the column, “There is no evidence Biden said he plans to sell Alaska.”
Then to make sure readers got the point, the finding was repeated as the article’s conclusion.
“Based on our research,” USA Today noted, “we rate SATIRE the claim that Biden plans to sell Alaska to Russia. The claim stems from an article published by The Babylon Bee, a satire website. There is no evidence Biden plans to sell Alaska.”
Two possible explanations for this.
Either USA Today’s “fact-checkers” are bored or utterly lacking a sense of humor. Or given how often the Bee’s fake headlines have later been fulfilled, and after witnessing Biden’s harebrained foreign and energy policies, USA Today thinks and fears Biden might actually consider such a move
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