Ana Navarro Blames ChatGPT for Spreading False Claim About Biden Pardon

Ana Navarro, co-host of The View, faced backlash this week after making a false claim about historical presidential pardons in her defense of President Joe Biden.

Navarro later admitted that she relied on ChatGPT for the information, which turned out to be entirely incorrect.

The controversy arose after President Biden issued a sweeping pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, on Sunday, despite previously insisting he would not do so.

Critics from across the political spectrum accused Biden of setting a troubling precedent. In response, Navarro took to X (formerly Twitter) to defend the president, writing:

"Woodrow Wilson pardoned his brother-in-law, Hunter deButts. Bill Clinton pardoned his brother, Roger. Donald Trump pardoned his daughter’s father-in-law, Charlie Kushner. And just appointed him Ambassador to France. But tell me again how Joe Biden ‘is setting precedent’?"

The bizarre mention of Woodrow Wilson pardoning a fictional brother-in-law named "Hunter deButts" immediately drew scrutiny.

Social media users and fact-checkers quickly debunked the claim, pointing out that the name "Hunter deButts" sounded entirely fabricated. Critics noted that Navarro’s claim appeared to lack any historical basis, prompting widespread ridicule.

The following day, Navarro acknowledged her error in another post on X, writing: "Hey Twitter sleuths, thanks for taking the time to provide context.

Take it up with ChatGPT," accompanied by crying-laughing emojis. She also shared a screenshot of the chatbot’s response, which seemingly provided her with the incorrect information about Wilson’s pardons.

Navarro’s admission only fueled criticism. Glenn Greenwald, a journalist, mocked her on X, saying, "This Hunter deButts thing is really one of the all-time funniest things to happen in media and on this platform in a while.

That she works for ABC News makes it even better." T. Becket Adams, Program Director at the National Journalism Center, added, "The funniest thing isn't that ChatGPT hallucinated a Woodrow Wilson pardon. It's that a robot spat out the name 'Hunter deButts,' and none of this sounded out of place to Ana Navarro, a supposed political insider and commentator. Not even a curious follow-up Google search."

Navarro is not the only liberal commentator to rely on questionable information to defend President Biden this week. Charles P. Pierce, a liberal columnist for Esquire, published a piece falsely claiming that President George H.W. Bush had pardoned his son, Neil Bush.

In the now-deleted column, Pierce argued, "Nobody defines Poppy Bush's presidency by his son's struggles or the pardons he issued on his way out of the White House. The moral: Shut the f--- up about Hunter Biden, please."

Esquire quickly removed the article after fact-checkers debunked the claim, admitting that George H.W. Bush never issued any such pardon.

These incidents have sparked broader discussions about the reliability of AI tools like ChatGPT for gathering accurate historical information, as well as the responsibility of public figures and journalists to verify their claims.

Critics argue that these mistakes only undermine credibility in media and political commentary, particularly when defending contentious actions by political figures.