The Dumb BGA/Sun-Times Attack on Sen. Terri Bryant
Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro).
OPINION
The Better Government Association and Chicago Sun-Times took a swing at Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) this weekend and, frankly, I’m not sure why.
On a small AM station in southern Illinois last week, Bryant told the host 75 % of Illinois Republicans are vaccinated.
“I’m still trying to get some of the folks that travel down that line who want to basically say that Republicans are anti-vaccine and anti-science to explain that to me, because I believe right now that 75% of Republicans have been vaccinated in this state,” Bryant is quoted as saying in the interview, which she doesn’t deny.
But we know it’s not factual, as less than 70% of all residents of the state have received the COVID-19 vaccine. She’s not stupid, she knows it was probably a misstep, too. But, here’s the thing: it was said in passing in the interview and it’s not hard to see she misspoke and the host moved on.
Instead, the BGA and Sun-Times made a federal case out of the statement.
We contacted polling experts, surveyed news coverage and reviewed state data but found no evidence to back up Bryant’s claim. We also left multiple messages with the senator’s district office seeking comment, which she did not return.
On the day Bryant made her claim, 62% of Illinois residents age 12 and older had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health data. If Bryant were correct, that would mean Republicans are outperforming the state’s average.
Polling experts? Really? Did you need an abacus, too?
I asked the reporter, Kiannah Sepeda-Miller, why they focused so much fire at Bryant. This was her response:
“The BGA is PolitiFact's Illinois affiliate and we select statements to fact-check from a variety of sources, including radio interviews, based on the same process every PolitiFact newsroom follows (you can read more about our methodology here). A key tenant of that process involves keeping an eye out for claims that sound misleading or inaccurate.
As we explain in our story, Sen. Bryant's claim caught our attention because we hadn't heard of anything to suggest three-quarters of Illinois Republicans have been vaccinated. If that figure were accurate, it would mean Republicans here are getting vaccinated at a higher rate than the state overall even though national surveys show Republicans are among the least likely to report being vaccinated and Illinois counties that voted for Trump have a lower average vaccination rate than counties that voted for Biden.
As for whether Sen. Bryant meant to refer to something other than Illinois Republicans overall, I am wondering if you have listened to what she said on WJPF yourself. During her remarks, she made no reference to Republicans she personally knows and instead said "75% of Republicans have been vaccinated in this state" before going on to contrast that figure with the vaccination rate for black Chicagoans. If this wasn't what she meant to say, she is always welcome to give me a call and let me know that herself. As we note in the piece, I left multiple messages with her district office prior to publication that she did not return.”
I spoke to Bryant Monday and she said she did, in fact, misspeak.
“During the fast-paced interview, I made a remark regarding vaccination rates of Republicans offhand,” she said, surprising nobody except the BGA. “My point was that there is a large percentage of Republicans that I have spoken with who have disclosed they are vaccinated but feel it is a personal choice and not something they should be forced to disclose.”
Bryant has disclosed she and her husband are vaccinated.
Republicans in Illinois and nationally face a gigantic credibility problem. Too many in Washington have sold their souls to the powers pushing misinformation and that has created a party electorate more focused on personality than policy. And winning? Who gives a darn about that, we’ll just say we won and call the system rigged.
Terri Bryant is not some goon. Is she more conservative than your milquetoast moderate suburbanite? Duh. But she’s not the problem and one slip of the tongue certainly isn’t the problem.
When there are lawmakers out there pushing actual misinformation, maybe we should focus on them and not someone who misspoke on southern Illinois radio.
