QUESTIONABLE SOURCE
A questionable source exhibits one or more of the following: extreme bias, consistent promotion of propaganda/conspiracies, poor or no sourcing to credible information, a complete lack of transparency, and/or is fake news. Fake News is the deliberate attempt to publish hoaxes and/or disinformation for the purpose of profit or influence (Learn More). Sources listed in the Questionable Category may be untrustworthy and should be fact-checked per article. Please note sources on this list are not considered fake news unless specifically written in the reasoning section for that source. See all Questionable sources.
- Overall, we rate the Democratic National Committee moderately left-biased and Questionable due to the promotion of propaganda, numerous failed fact checks, and controversies.
Detailed Report
Reasoning: Propaganda, Numerous Failed Fact Checks
Bias Rating: LEFT
Factual Reporting: MIXED
Country: USA
Press Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Organization/Foundation
Traffic/Popularity: Medium Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: LOW CREDIBILITY
History
Founded in 1848, the Democratic National Committee is a corporation acting as the governing body for the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates nationwide for local, state, and national offices. The current Chairman is former United States Secretary of Labor Tom Perez.
The DNC has been involved in numerous controversies over the years. Below is a bulleted list.
- In the 1970s, the DNC had its head office burglarized by people working for Richard Nixon’s administration during the Watergate scandal.
- 1996 United States campaign finance controversy
- In 2002, the Federal Election Commission fined the Democratic National Committee $115,000 for its part in fundraising violations in 1996.
- In 2015 and 2016, two competing Russian intelligence services were discovered on DNC computer networks.
- In 2016, the hacker Guccifer 2.0 claimed that he hacked into the DNC computer network and then leaked its emails to the newspaper The Hill and the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.
- On July 22, 2016, WikiLeaks released approximately 20,000 DNC emails. Critics claimed that the Committee favored Hillary Clinton while opposing the candidacy of her primary challenger Bernie Sanders. Donna Brazile corroborated these allegations in an excerpt of her book published by Politico in November 2017 and claimed that the Clinton campaign bought control of the DNC.
- On April 20, 2018, the DNC filed a lawsuit in federal court against WikiLeaks and others, alleging a conspiracy to influence the election. The case was dismissed in 2019.
- In January 2020, the DNC was accused of changing debate rules to allow Michael Bloomberg into the Nevada debate.
Read our profile on the United States government and media.
Funded by / Ownership
The Democratic National Committee is funded through donations. In 2016, they raised $279,892,065, with top contributors being:
| Renaissance Technologies | $1,318,507 |
| Blackstone Group | $1,261,204 |
| Carlyle Group | $755,814 |
| Microsoft Corp | $689,078 |
| Comcast Corp | $682,497 |
| Goldman Sachs | $649,323 |
As of this review date, the top donors for 2020 are:
| Renaissance Technologies | $860,000 |
| Microsoft Corp | $791,329 |
| Art Advisors LLC | $710,000 |
| Bain Capital | $700,000 |
| McArthurGlen Group | $695,500 |
Analysis / Bias
In review, the primary function of the DNC is to advocate, fund, and promote Democratic candidates for all levels of office. The bias of the DNC is obvious; they favor the Democratic party and their platform. However, progressive-leaning candidates and media organizations have accused the DNC of supporting centrist, establishment, and pro-corporate candidates: Tom Perez Stacks the DNC Deck Against Progressives.
The DNC website also publishes news from a moderately liberal perspective that frequently uses loaded emotional language such as this Trump’s Mismanagement Continues To Make The Crisis Worse and this In Latest Briefing, Trump Lies About His Coronavirus Response. Generally, the news reported is well sourced to credible media outlets such as the LA Times, NPR, and New York Times. However, statements made by the DNC have a poor track record with fact-checking.
Failed Fact Checks (this is 5 out of 20+ failed fact checks)
- Says Donald Trump is breaking a campaign pledge to bring manufacturing jobs back to Wisconsin and Pennsylvania since the two states “have lost the most manufacturing jobs in the past year.” – Mostly False
- Says it cost Massachusetts taxpayers $100,000 when Mitt Romney and his staff purchased computer hard drives. – False
- Says Mitt Romney has changed his position on supporting the TARP program. – False
- “Republicans actually doctored emails between administration officials about Benghazi. Then, they released them to the press, trying to pass them off as real.” – Mostly False
- Says Mitt Romney once supported President Obama’s health care plan but now opposes it. – Mostly False
Overall, we rate the Democratic National Committee moderately left-biased and Questionable due to the promotion of propaganda, numerous failed fact checks, and controversies. (D. Van Zandt 4/12/2020) Updated (07/31/2022)
Source: https://democrats.org/
Last Updated on May 22, 2023 by Media Bias Fact Check
Do you appreciate our work? Please consider one of the following ways to sustain us.
or
Left vs. Right Bias: How we rate the bias of media sources