theoldschoolpatriot.com

The website of retired Lieutenant Colonel Allen B. West, a former This website generally maintains Florida congressman and conservative commentator, publishing U.S. basic standards of credibility political news. and transparency—with significant exceptions.

Score: 62.5/100 Ownership and It is not clear whether Allen West personally owns Financing TheOldschoolPatriot.com. Florida business records list Does not repeatedly publish  an Allen B. West Inc., but the site makes no mention of false content (22points) that company. West links to TheOldSchoolPatriot.com  Gathers and presents on his official Facebook page and Twitter account. information responsibly (18)

TheOldschoolPatriot.com generates revenue through  Regularly corrects or clarifies errors (12.5) advertising. The site also links to West’s books on Amazon and promotes his public speaking services. Handles the difference between  news and opinion responsibly (12.5) Content The Old School Patriot publishes conservative  Avoids deceptive headlines (10) commentary, generally written by West, on politics and current events. West comments on topics such as  Website discloses ownership and financing (7.5) gender, abortion, immigration. He regularly refers to Democrats as the “socialist left” and often blames them  Clearly labels advertising (7.5)

for what he perceives to be society’s ills. Reveals who's in charge,  including any possible conflicts Typical stories have run under headlines including of interest (5) “Freedom of Religion is a Right,” “Feudalism: Alive and The site provides names of Well in Our America,” and “Gun Grabbers.”  content creators, along with either contact or biographical The site links to West’s Twitter feed and YouTube information (5) videos, which also include his commentary. TheOldSchoolPatriot.com also promotes West’s media Criteria are listed in order of appearances, speaking engagements, and books. importance. More information. After West announced a campaign in 2019 to become chairman of Texas’ Republican party, TheOldSchoolPatriot.com included messages about West’s campaign at the end of every article, reading, “LTC West is running for Chair of the Republican Party of Texas! To support his efforts, please visit his campaign website!”

Credibility TheOldSchoolPatriot.com does not appear to produce original reporting. Articles generally include West’s commentary on articles that first appeared on conservative websites such as Fox News, the National Review, and TownHall. Headlines, while often opinionated, generally reflect the content of stories.

TheOldSchoolPatriot.com has published some misleading stories about the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

An April 2020 story about the virus, headlined “Something Smells,” claimed, “It cannot be debated, we have been hit with a massive biological agent. The question is not whether there was intent, but rather the level of intent.”

The notion that COVID-19 was manmade and intentional has been refuted by numerous studies and experts. A March 2020 study published in the journal Nature Medicine concluded that the virus “is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus.” An earlier study, published in February 2020 in the journal Nature, found that the COVID-19 virus is “96% percent identical at the whole-genome level to a bat coronavirus.” Both the World Health organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have stated that the virus was passed from animals to humans.

In approximately a dozen stories published in May 2020, West reported that the “recovery rate” from the COVID-19 virus is 99.6 percent. Typical examples include the May 2020 story “Vote Democrat? YGTBSOS!” in which West stated, “Have you ever asked yourselves why some are advocating for the shutdown of our nation’s economy over a virus that has a 99.6 percent recovery rate?”

West did not cite a source for the claim, nor could NewsGuard find one. Health authorities have cited the lack of available testing in the pandemic’s early stages and unreported deaths as factors that make the actual recovery rate difficult to determine. Despite this content cited above, because TheOldSchoolPatriot.com does not appear to regularly distort information, NewsGuard has determined that the site does not gather and present information irresponsibly.

TheOldSchoolPatriot.com does not articulate a corrections policy, nor does it appear to make corrections.

The site’s About page provides a biography of West, which identifies him as a “Christian constitutional conservative,” details his military career, and describes some of the legislation he introduced as a congressman. The page states West believes, “it will be conservative, free market policies -- not politics -- that secures a sound economic future for Americans -- with growth, opportunity and returning the promise of the American dream for this generation and those to come.”

TheOldSchoolPatriot.com does not have an opinion section or label opinion articles. Virtually all stories contain commentary, although they often include tags such as “world news,” “U.S. politics,” and “business.”

For example, a May 2020 story, tagged “U.S. politics,” stated, “If there is one thing you can count on the progressive socialist left to do, it is loudly broadcasting their nefarious intent.”

Another May 2020 story, tagged as “business,” claimed, “the last thing Texas needs are more progressive socialist locusts gathering in the Lone Star State.”

A third May 2020 article said that the stay-at-home measures taken to curb the spread of COVID-19 was about “the government’s usurpation of our freedoms and the imposition of a vision of tyranny.”

Because TheOldSchoolPatriot.com regularly publishes opinion in stories labeled as news, NewsGuard has determined that the site does not handle the difference between news and opinion responsibly. The site did not respond to NewsGuard’s three emails seeking comment on its handling of news and opinion and its lack of corrections.

Transparency TheOldSchoolPatriot.com does not disclose its ownership or identify its editorial leadership. The About page provides West’s biography, without specifying any role in the website’s production.

Display advertising is distinguishable from editorial content. Messages that announce West’s campaign for the Republican party chairmanship at the end of news articles state, “Political advertisements paid for by LTC Allen West for State Chairman.”

West did not respond to NewsGuard’s four emails seeking comment on the site’s lack of ownership disclosure and information about editorial leadership. NewsGuard was not able to reach West through his Facebook page.

The site generally attributes stories to West. His biography is available on the site’s About page.

History West served in the Army in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War. West’s military pay was reduced in 2003 as punishment for threatening to shoot an Iraqi detainee during an interrogation, according to The New York Times and other news organizations. West retired from the military in 2004 and moved to Florida, where he taught high- school social studies.

In 2010, West was elected to represent Florida’s 22nd congressional district. He served from 2011 to 2013. He has served as a contributor at Fox News and contributing columnist at the conservative site Townhall.com.

West is known for making provocative comments such as, “if Joseph Goebbels was around, he’d be very proud of the Democrat party” and that Obama supporters are “threat[s] to the gene pool.” West has also described himself in interviews as an “old school patriot.”

TheOldSchoolPatriot.com launched in 2018.

Editor’s Note: This Nutrition Label was updated on June 1, 2020.

Written by: Evan Haddad Edited by: Amy Westfeldt, Jim Warren

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Sources

Ownership https://mailchi.mp/01afc6b057c9/the-old-school-patriot- memo?e=be5b51ffc5 https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/ads/ https://twitter.com/AllenWest?lang=en https://www.facebook.com/AllenBWest https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/books/

Content https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/tale-of-two-accusations/ https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/bizarro-world-gender- dysphoria/ https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/new-change-planned- parenthood/ https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/islamic-terrorists-want- nov-dem-win/ https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/doesnt-kill-makes- stronger/ https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/abolish-ice-idiots/ https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/traitorous-revision- history/ https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/situational-ethics-left/ https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/right-religious-freedom/ https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/gun-grabbers/

Credibility https://web.archive.org/web/20200526192211/https://th eoldschoolpatriot.com/coronavirus-something- stinks/(virus claim) https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/vote-democrat- ygtbsos/(recovery rate claim) https://www.google.com/url? q=https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/voter-fraud-covid- 19/&sa=D&ust=1590596049285000&usg=AFQjCNHi1J 8Ii91gYoR5GNCsPLu-AAEN6A(recovery) https://www.google.com/url? q=https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/covid-19-courage- cowardice/&sa=D&ust=1590596049288000&usg=AFQj CNFqLk4H3tv-1Y6kmnNrdO61gWbaOw(recovery) https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/0 5/05/covid-19-fact-check-coronavirus-mortality-rate- misleading/3019503001/(USA Today fact check) https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm( CDC mortality data) https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/story-broke-my- heart/(recovery claim) https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/locust-effect- progressive-socialism/(opinion) https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/voter-fraud-covid- 19/(opinion) https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/de-blasio-v- constitution/(opinion) https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/about-allen-west/ https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/left-enables-real-war- women/ https://www.politifact.com/truth-o- meter/statements/2018/may/24/donald-trump/donald- trumps-false-claim-nancy-pelosi-came-out-fa/ https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/susan- jones/pelosi-trump-does-he-not-believe-spark-divinity- dignity-and-worth-every https://www.factcheck.org/2018/05/trumps-and-pelosis- immigration-spat/ https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/05/17/nan cy_pelosi_ms- 13_gang_members_are_not_animals.html https://www.politifact.com/truth-o- meter/article/2018/may/17/context-donald-trumps- comments-about-immigrants-an/ https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/evil-leftists-enabling/ https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/islamic-terrorists-want- nov-dem-win/ https://www.un.org/unispal/document/waiver-and- certification-of-statutory-provisions-regarding-plo-office- us-presidential-memorandum-for-secretary-of-state- non-un-document/ https://www.politico.com/story/2009/04/obama-signs- plo-office-waiver-021096 https://www.jta.org/2008/04/14/news-opinion/bush- extends-plo-office-waiver-2 https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/rule-of-law/ https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/tale-two-protests/ http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct- tyshawn-lee-the-march-turner-20151104-column.html https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/tale-of-two-accusations/ https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/category/news/ https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/bizarro-world-gender- dysphoria/ https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/situational-ethics-left/ https://www.politifact.com/truth-o- meter/statements/2017/sep/11/eric-schneiderman/has- daca-been-ruled-unconstitutional/ https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/destroy-republic- constitution/ https://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/01/14/obama-on- executive-actions-ive-got-a-pen-and-ive-got-a-phone/ https://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm

Transparency https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/security-clearances- constitutional-right/ https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/site-policies/disclosure/ http://www.foxnews.com/person/w/allen-west.html https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/abw/mrctv-ltc-west- addresses-media-censorship/

History https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/27/world/struggle-for- iraq-interrogations-colonel-risked-his-career-menacing- detainee.html https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2004-05-27- 0405270137-story.html https://www.politico.com/story/2012/11/how-allen-west- blew-it-084108 https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/1 1/30/army-officers-actions-raise-ethical- issues/758ec173-c119-4da1-9f47-d3072d9bbf32/ https://thinkprogress.org/rep-allen-wests-15-most- outrageous-statements-5eab1b70d7f4/ http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/12/12/sprj.nirq.west.ruling / https://www.waynedupree.com/facebook-restores- stolen-page-to-allen-west-includes-2-7-million-followers/ https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/31/insi de-the-beltway-allen-west-ready-to-run-again/