About
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
#NotIntendedToBeAFactualStatement is a Twitter hashtag used to preface fabricated statements about Arizona’s Republican Senator Jon Kyl, who made the false claim during the congressional debate on 2011 budget that “well over 90%” of Planned Parenthood’s activity is devoted to performing abortion. Within hours, it was revealed that the congressman’s statement was baseless and when inquired by the news media, Kyl’s spokespeople clarified that his claim was “not intended to be a factual statement.”
Origin
On April 8th, 2011, U.S. government stood still on the verge of shutdown as the Congress struggled to reach a compromise in budget plans. During the debate on Senate floor on that day, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl put forth a that Planned Parenthood, a maternal and child health service organization, spent 90% of its budget towards abortion-related activities.
The congressional debate was nationally broadcast via C-SPAN and several news publications including ThinkProgress 1 quickly reported on its inaccuracy, citing the organization’s 2009 budget which shows only 3% of the annual funds were accounted for abortion-related activities. In response to media inquiries, Senator Kyl’s office then released an ethically questionable statement saying that his remark was “not intended to be a factual statement.”
Days later on April 13th, Senator Kristen Gillbrand
pointed out that the law already prevents federal money“For my friends and colleagues, this is a factual statement — current law already prevents federal money from paying for abortions,” she said. “This has been the law of the land for over 30 years.”
hown below is an accurate graph of services performed by Planned Parenthood.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Spread
CNN, Huffington Post and other major news outlets picked up on , as well as late-night pundits like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. On April 11th, Stephen Colbert slammed on the Arizona senator’s gaffe, poking fun at the careless response that his argument wasn’t intended to be a factual statement, but only to be taken as true. That same night, Colbert began tweeting a series of baseless rumors about Kyl with the hashtag “#NotIntendedToBeAFactualStatement.”
Colbert Report
On the following night of April 12th, Stephen Colbert announced that he would be tweeting various “non-facts” about Senator Kyl and encouraged his audience and Twitter followers to participate using the designated hashtag.
Some of Colbert’s most re-tweeted #NotIntendedToBeAFactualStatement posts include “Jon Kyl thinks no one can see him when he puts a paper bag on his head,” “Jon Kyl was named after the Quebec town, Jonquière, which is fitting because he ate all of its residents” and "John Kyl is “90% prune juice.”
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
On Twitter
Factual Statemet
On April 13th, Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand also took a jab at Kyl’s remark on the Senate floor 2 while pointing out that “current law forbids federal money from paying for abortions”:
“For my friends and colleagues, this is a factual statement — current law already prevents federal money from paying for abortions. This has been the law of the land for over 30 years.”
External References
1 ThinkProgress – Kyl Walks Back Claim About Planned Parenthood / 4-8-2011
2 YouTube – Senator Gillibrand Fights Back for Women’s Health on the Senate Floor / 4-13-2011