Glenn Kessler

Washington, D.C.

The Fact Checker

Education: Brown University, B.A. in history; Columbia University, M.A. in international affairs

Glenn Kessler has been editor and chief writer of The Fact Checker since 2011, making him one of the pioneers of political fact-checking. In a journalism career spanning more than four decades, Kessler has covered foreign policy, economic policy, the White House, Congress, politics, airline safety and Wall Street. He was The Washington Post’s chief State Department reporter for nine years, traveling around the world with three secretaries of state. Before that, he covered tax and budget policy for The Washington Post and also served as the newspaper’s national business editor. He joined the Po
Latest from Glenn Kessler

Democratic senator attacks his Pennsylvania rival with an invented claim

Sen. Bob Casey falsely says Republican Dave McCormick “made clear” he’d slash Medicare and Social Security.

October 14, 2024
Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) in an ad sponsored by his reelection campaign

Fact checking Harris’s round of media appearances

Harris misled on an immigration bill and success on curbing fentanyl.

October 9, 2024
Bill Whitaker interviews Vice President Kamala Harris on an episode of “60 Minutes” that aired Monday on CBS.

No, Biden didn’t take FEMA relief money to use on migrants — but Trump did

Donald Trump falsely accuses President Joe Biden of redirecting disaster funds, a budget maneuver Trump himself approved in 2019.

October 4, 2024
(Joel Angel Juarez for The Washington Post)

Trump campaign ad falsely claims Harris will raise taxes on families

New ad clips, snips and twists so many things that nearly every frame is deceptive.

October 4, 2024

Trump’s outrageously false claim of 13,000 migrant murderers ‘on the loose’

Convicted killers not held in ICE’s limited facilities are serving their time in state or federal prisons.

October 3, 2024
Former president Donald Trump in Prairie du Chien, Wis., on Saturday.

Fact-checking the VP debate between Vance and Walz

Vance dominated on the falsehood meter, with faulty claims on lost children, the environment, inflation, immigration and the Jan. 6 attack. 

October 2, 2024
Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), left, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at the vice-presidential debate Tuesday in New York.

No, Zelensky never said Trump ‘did absolutely nothing wrong’

Trump puts words in the mouth of the Ukrainian president he pressured to investigate Biden.

September 27, 2024
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump.

Trump campaign ad is stuck in an economic time warp

The Fed is cutting interest rates, inflation is down, stocks are soaring, but Trump acts as if it’s still 2022.

September 27, 2024
A screenshot of a Trump campaign ad

Harris flubs manufacturing jobs claim in MSNBC interview

Earlier, in a speech in Pittsburgh, the vice president correctly noted that manufacturing jobs were falling under Donald Trump before the pandemic.

September 25, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, touched on the subject of federal support for biomanufacturing and aerospace engineering, as well as semiconductors and clean energy. But a policy document released by the campaign did not provide details. (Justin Merriman for The Washington Post)

Obama and Biden achievements that Trump claims for himself

Trump claims credit for a law capping insulin at $35 a month that was approved under the Biden-Harris administration.

September 25, 2024
(Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)