Washington Submit “Reality Checker” Glenn Kessler was a State Division reporter, so he tends to place essentially the most swagger into his foreign-policy Pinocchio-throwing. On March 1, he threw Three Pinocchios at Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who was Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations.

The headline was “Nikki Haley’s bogus claims about overseas assist {dollars}” and it centered on what she mentioned to Maria Bartiromo on the Fox Enterprise present Sunday Morning Futures on February 26. Requested how she would differentiate herself from the opposite Republicans, she answered “The primary factor I might do is cease giving overseas assist to our enemies.”

In abstract, he claimed: 

Bashing overseas assist may be good politics, however one would suppose somebody along with her degree of expertise may need greater than a passing familiarity with the fundamentals.

As a substitute, she suggests that overseas assist goes on to governments, particularly ones with insurance policies which are at odds with the pursuits of the US. That’s flawed. The soiled little secret of overseas assist is that almost all of it by no means leaves the US — and it goes proper into the pockets of U.S. firms. Some nations obtain direct grants of assist, however these are actually not “enemies.”

You may sense Kessler’s hostility to the isolationist echoes of questioning foreign-aid spending. However as Haley’s workers responded to Kessler when he inquired, “The US sends billions of {dollars} to nations and entities that undermine and oppose American pursuits. That’s a truth.” However Kessler quibbled that (a) the particular quantities she cited had been flawed, and (b) the help didn’t all the time go on to governments, however to help teams.

That’s extra the “Reality Quibbler” than Checker.

So when Haley mentioned we’re sending taxpayer {dollars} to communist Cuba, Kessler quibbled the quantity was tiny, and was for firefighters:

“USAID offered 100 units of fire-resistant coats, pants, gloves, boots, and helmets for Cuban firefighters,” a USAID spokesperson mentioned. “U.S. Authorities officers transferred 43 [personal protective equipment] kits to the Cuban hearth brigade on Sept. 13, 2022, and on Jan. 13, 2023, delivered the remaining 57 units of firefighter PPE to the Cuban nationwide firefighter’s college.” The price was $364,511.

None of that “corrects” Haley on sending assist to enemies. Does he suppose the “nationwide firefighter’s college” isn’t the federal government? It’s the precept.

Kessler quibbled with Haley like this:

Haley: “You take a look at China. We’re giving China cash for the setting. Are you kidding? We shouldn’t be giving them a single penny.”

Her remark refers to about $270,000 spent on applications geared toward ending unlawful commerce in endangered species and decreasing unlawful consumption of endangered turtles.

That is overseas assist to China, not simply turtles.

You could possibly recommend that most individuals may not agree that Iraq or Pakistan involves thoughts on an inventory of our enemies. But when I had been on the Haley press workforce, I would give Kessler this quote: “We’re confused at why The Washington Submit would throw ‘bogus claims’ shade and provides Three Pinocchios to our candidate, however bizarrely could not discover the Pinocchio bucket when it reviewed Stacey Abrams claiming ‘I’ve by no means denied that I misplaced.'”