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PolitiFact’s 2018 Lie of the Year coverage

Angie Drobnic Holan
By Angie Drobnic Holan December 13, 2018

Here are links and summaries of our 2018 Lie of the Year coverage.

The 2018 Lie of the Year: Online smear machine tries to take down Parkland students. Read our special report on how attacks after the Florida school shooting were the most significant falsehoods of the year. We documented how attacks on the Parkland students set off a shared outrage in nearly all political corners.

Lie of the Year Readers’ Poll results. Every year, our readers pick their most significant fact-check out of a list of finalists. This year Donald Trump won for what he said about a migrant caravan. 

The Trump file: Trump's 10 top falsehoods of 2018. President Donald Trump is the only two-time winner of PolitiFact’s Lie of the Year, and he would hold the trophy for a third time if readers had their way. PolitiFact editors selected 10 of his inaccurate statements that offered strong competition for the year's most significant falsehood.

Why PolitiFact doesn’t use the word ‘lie’ — except once a year. We usually avoid the word "lie." That’s because of the tricky issue of claiming to know a person’s intention. PolitiFact Editor Angie Drobnic Holan explains our reasoning. 

A look back at previous years’ winners. We recap the Lies of the Year from 2009 to 2017.

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PolitiFact’s 2018 Lie of the Year coverage