Daniel Dale, the renowned fact-checker for CNN, has been a prominent figure during the initial 80 days of President Donald Trump's tenure, enjoying a significantly higher on-air presence compared to the same timeframe under President Joe Biden.
Following the inauguration on January 20, Dale has been featured on CNN at least 24 times to scrutinize the statements of Trump and his administration, as per the Grabien transcripts examined by Fox News Digital.
Dale's first on-air fact-check of Trump occurred mere hours after the latter's inauguration, in response to Trump's comments from the Oval Office. CNN anchors frequently have Dale ready to debunk Trump's assertions after significant speeches such as his address to the World Economic Forum, his speech to the joint session of Congress, and his spontaneous interactions with journalists. Dale has even appeared on CNN thrice in a single day on two separate occasions.
Dale's fact-checks have questioned Trump's assertions on a broad range of subjects, from tariffs and trade policy, aid to Ukraine, to his remarks on the California wildfires and the fatal airplane-helicopter collision at Washington, D.C.'s Reagan International Airport.
However, Dale's coverage of Biden in early 2021 does not mirror this. During the same 80-day period, Dale only conducted two on-air fact-checks of Biden, as per transcript search results.
Interestingly, Dale was more frequently seen on CNN during Biden's first 80 days to fact-check Trump, who was no longer president, and GOP lawmakers, who did not control either chamber of Congress at the time.
During a February 2021 appearance on the now-defunct "Reliable Sources" program, Dale assured viewers that he would not be "on vacation" during Biden's presidency.
"We know Biden speaks less, he tweets less, and he lies less when he talks and tweets," Dale informed CNN's Brian Stelter. "Trump was a unique case, but that doesn't mean Biden is perfect. He sometimes exaggerates, he sometimes embellishes."
Dale later contrasted Biden's "smattering of falsehoods" with "the daily avalanche we got from Trump" during Trump's first term in office.
The "smattering" and "avalanche" of falsehoods correspond with the level of access (or lack thereof) Trump and Biden have granted, including in their first 80 days in office. Trump frequently makes public appearances and constantly fields questions from reporters, while Biden has limited his visibility and reduced his interactions with the media.
Nevertheless, there was decidedly less urgency for Dale to appear on-air to fact-check Biden in 2021 compared to Trump in 2025.
While Dale was on CNN to fact-check Trump on Inauguration Day earlier this year, it was not until March 25, 2021, over two months after Biden took office, that he fact-checked Biden on air regarding his false assertion that his administration was turning away migrant families at the southern border.
The second fact-check during the same 80-day period occurred on April 3, 2021, concerning Biden's comments about Georgia's election reform bill. Meanwhile, Dale dedicated more airtime to fact-checking Trump about January 6 and his 2020 election denial claims, as well as Republicans on Capitol Hill over their remarks on government spending.
"Biden has been generally factual so far, especially in scripted remarks," Dale wrote in March 2021. "Where he has been inaccurate, it has often been when he has been attempting off the cuff to refer to numbers he doesnt have nailed down."
This discrepancy was also evident in Dale's online coverage for CNN.com. Dale penned at least 27 fact-checks against Trump during his first 80 days, far surpassing the eight fact-checks he dedicated to Biden at the same point in 2021. Remarkably, Dale fact-checked Trump before fact-checking the then-sitting president, published on Biden's Inauguration Day.
For both Biden and Trump, Dale provided a summary of their falsehoods to mark their first full month in office. For Biden, Dale's headline was "Fact check: Breaking down Joe Biden's first month of claims" while Trump's was "Analysis: Trump's 13 biggest lies of his first month back in office."
Dale previously illuminated his fact-checking methodology regarding Trump and Biden during the 2020 election cycle, telling Stelter that Trump "makes the same false and misleading claims over and over" while suggesting it isn't as obvious for Biden.
"If Trump lies, you probably know it," Dale stated in August 2020. "If Biden were to lie, you might not know it because it might be new."
A spokesperson for CNN declined to comment on the matter.
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