Last week, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren decided to up their presidential chances by dishonestly framing Michael Brown’s death as murder:

Michael Brown’s murder forever changed Ferguson and America. His tragic death sparked a desperately needed conversation and a nationwide movement. We must fight for stronger accountability and racial equity in our justice system. — Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 9, 2019

5 years ago Michael Brown was murdered by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Michael was unarmed yet he was shot 6 times. I stand with activists and organizers who continue the fight for justice for Michael. We must confront systemic racism and police violence head on. — Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) August 9, 2019

Not even the Washington Post could ignore their dishonesty, so surely PolitiFact would put them through the ringer, right?

Well, not quite:

NEW: Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren called Michael Brown's killing in Ferguson a "murder." Legally, it wasn't. How much should this word choice matter? https://t.co/Gnv0ZBFCZs pic.twitter.com/H3usKiPyCy — PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) August 14, 2019

Apparently it doesn’t matter enough for PolitiFact to call Harris and Warren out:

Because the significance of Harris’ and Warrens’ use of the word is open to some dispute, we won’t be rating their tweets on the Truth-O-Meter. Neither campaign responded to inquiries for this article.

Welp, guess that’s that, then!

Much Fact-Checking

"Because the significance of Harris’ and Warrens’ use of the word is open to some dispute, we won’t be rating their tweets on the Truth-O-Meter."https://t.co/VfBJhIKN5S — David Rutz (@DavidRutz) August 14, 2019

Same article: "In discussing the case with legal experts, however, we found broad consensus that "murder" was the wrong word to use — a legal point likely familiar to Harris, a longtime prosecutor, and Warren, a law professor." — David Rutz (@DavidRutz) August 14, 2019

"Legally it wasn't" is the whole point. — Paul D (@Paulmd199) August 14, 2019

This has nothing to do with whether it’s *factual* to say Michael Brown was murdered, and everything to do with whether it furthers a social cause to call out people who say so. Why the hell is this in a fact check? pic.twitter.com/1j4f2E3lQs — Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) August 14, 2019

Because PolitiFact isn’t about checking facts so much as it’s about allowing Dems like Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren to further a social cause. And their careers, of course.

A reminder that Politifact dinged a GOP Rep because he referred to abortion as a form of death, and they ruled that it isn’t, because the CDC says so. That settles it! https://t.co/60ApRrTu91 but “murder” is now a question of semantics? Even though it’s clearly defined in law? — Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) August 14, 2019

I guess they didn't want to break up Warren's record pace https://t.co/8gq50sjN0o — David Rutz (@DavidRutz) August 14, 2019

That must’ve been it.

Murder is a clearly defined legal term. Declining to give either a false rating here (for obvious partisan reasons) undermines the credibility of your stated mission. — Andrew (@andyndelaney) August 14, 2019