One Piece Of Important Campaign Season Information: Check The Facts

There is one piece of information everyone needs that is especially relevant during campaign season: Social media offers some sort of ridiculous information about at least one, if not all, of the presidential candidates on a daily basis. It is your job to check the facts before sharing any piece of questionable information on social media.

While all the candidates have endured their own fair shares of ill-informed social media madness, no one has been targeted quite as much as Donald Trump. For example, Trump’s comment concerning the type of immigrants trying to reach the United States from Mexico garnered much attention from both sides of the party line.

“When do we beat Mexico at the border? They’re laughing at us, at our stupidity. […] When Mexico sends its people they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you; they’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people. But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we’re getting.”

According to one piece of information published by Salon in December 2015, even members of the media who are not Trump supporters are becoming tired of the way his comments are being used by the media. In the piece, a self-proclaimed Sanders supporter defends Trump by presenting a long list of misrepresentations of Trump’s comments and by pointing out that Trump did call some of the immigrants “good people,” which is something he has rarely been given credit for saying.

Although the subject of many jabs, Trump is not the only target. Some fans of Hillary Clinton became so tired of hearing lies about her presented as truths that they have worked together to debunk the lies, creating a piece of information they have shared publicly via Google Docs. In the piece, written in her defense, the first question answered is “Did Hillary Clinton use a private email account to illegally send classified information?”

“While it’s true that Secretary Clinton used a personal email for her convenience, she did not use a personal email illegally. The U.S. Department of State as well as almost every other major government agency allowed the use of a private email account under the 2009 National Archives regulations, which were the regulations being used during her tenure.”

Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, and John Kasich have all had to endure social media’s wrath during this campaign season, and Bernie Sanders is no different. However, the most recent piece targeting Sanders is more amusing than most of the political attacks. This time, the social media piece attacked his New York to Rome in-flight menu.

. @BernieSanders is about to take off for NY. We’ve been served a menu for the 9 hour chartered flight he’s taking pic.twitter.com/1nR15R3aQQ

— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) April 16, 2016

As one can see, the menu gave passengers a choice between several dishes. Not one was anything extraordinary, and not one was vomit-inducing, as the title of one recent article on the topic in BizPacReview promised. Missing were decadent items like caviar; instead, the menu featured standard airline fare such as ravioli and chicken. In truth, the pre-paid meal choices available from British Airways sound just as enticing as Bernie’s choices.

While this piece attacking Bernie is not a lie, it is information that has been presented in a misleading manner. Additionally, it is information that should cause questions of relevance to arise. During the campaign season, responsible voters should take care to share information that is both true and relevant. In this case, anti-Sanders voters have claimed that the information has relevance by questioning why the pro-environment, anti-elite candidate chartered an airplane to fly to Rome to see the pope, charging that his claims of being an average American and environmentally friendly are nothing more than words designed to get him elected.

In reality, the recent trip was not a visit to the pope, who was actually on the island of Lesbos dealing with the migrant crisis during Sanders’ visit. Instead, the trip was to a Pontifical Academy of Sciences-hosted conference, where Sanders was part of a group discussing “social, economic and environmental issues,” according to a piece about the trip published by the New York Times.

Furthermore, Sanders left New York City for Rome shortly after his debate with Clinton, and he was on the ground in Rome for less than 24 hours before boarding a return flight to New York. Anyone who has tried to book a direct international flight with a very tight travel window understands why Sanders chartered an airplane. Additionally, anyone who has ever flown transatlantic in coach also understands why, if one has the opportunity to charter an airplane, one charters an airplane.

Not one of the candidates for president is perfect, but neither is anyone else. Every decision a candidate makes will not be the best decision, but it is rare for a candidate to make terrible decisions day after day. As tempting as it is to believe the worst about the candidates one does not support, it is of utmost importance for one to do his or her part in stopping the spread of irrelevant and false information, and the first step is simple: Check the facts before sharing a piece of information.