As RedState reported on Friday evening, in an attempt to paint her as the female George Santos, The Washington Post published a ridiculous and disgusting hit piece on Rep. Anna Paulina Luna. The Florida Republican was smeared as a fake who only “embraced” her Hispanic heritage to run for office and who was secretly a Democrat based on voter registration data.

They dug deep, quoting estranged second cousins and supposed acquaintances from Luna’s time in the Air Force. The result was a comically bad profile that used scant evidence to push a broader narrative of the congresswoman’s supposed inauthenticity.

For example, in one section, they try to prove she didn’t previously embrace her Hispanic heritage (as if that even matters) by citing a claim that she didn’t join the Hispanic club during her stationing at Whiteman AFB. No, I’m not kidding. Oh, and she used an English pronunciation of her name while taking selfies in pretty dresses. You know, because Hispanic people can’t like designer clothes or something.

Scandalous.

This is a joke. pic.twitter.com/Z8q9IUHcAs

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) February 11, 2023

The absurdity extended to accusations that Luna had lied about a break-in of her apartment because she instead referred to it as a home invasion, as if that’s not a common mixing of terms and that a break-in can’t be traumatic. It’s kind of embarrassing for me to admit, but when I got my car stolen while living in Washington, DC, it actually shook me a lot. It is a weird feeling, at best, to be violated in that way.

Regardless, while the story would have been abject garbage no matter what, corrections are now being made that completely undermine its premise. Further, others have come forward to provide context the Post refused to include.

We incorrectly stated that Anna Paulina Luna was reg’d as a Dem in Washington state in 2017 based on an erroneous voter reg database. Wash only requires voters declare party affiliation when they cast a ballot in a POTUS primary. So sorry for the error! https://t.co/YBzo8wawZU

— Jacqueline Alemany (@JaxAlemany) February 10, 2023

Yeah. Great work team. https://t.co/80vgUQrfvu pic.twitter.com/GgUMEZEPLq

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) February 11, 2023

In other words, two of the chief bits of evidence that Luna is a political phony turned out to not be true. What great journalistic ethics by the Post in not checking their work before running with supposed voter registration data that doesn’t even exist, while going with a single-sourced claim about the break-in.

One of Luna’s friends from her time at Whiteman AFB also had this to say.

Oooof. pic.twitter.com/rGyHukyfmx

— Anna Paulina Luna (@VoteAPL) February 10, 2023

The mischaracterizations by the Post don’t stop there, though. While the liberal rag heavily insinuated that Luna had lied about her father being in jail, her camp provided documents proving she was telling the truth (via Fox News).

In another instance, the Post story appears to question details about Luna’s childhood. The story reported that Luna has claimed her biological father was in and out of jail, which led to a chaotic upbringing, but also stressed that the paper could find no evidence that Luna’s father, George Mayerhofer, was ever incarcerated.

However, Luna’s office easily provided Fox News Digital with Lexis-Nexis reports that show Mayerhofer did spend time behind bars.

A court filing for a drug felony charged against Mayerhofer shows he was arrested and went through court proceedings in custody, and was brought back into custody for violating probation agreements. The court records show his case was dismissed.

The Post’s reporting was a joke. It was meant to piggyback off the George Santos controversy, and it failed miserably. Unfortunately, it will probably still have the desired effect. The narrative that Luna is a phony will now become conventional wisdom among many–despite the corrections and despite the context later provided by those with first-hand knowledge.

What I’m most disappointed in, though, are those on the right who ran with this trash just because Luna is a firebrand in the GOP (she was part of the gang of 20 who forced Kevin McCarthy’s hand during his Speaker fight). That should not be the standard by which conservatives believe or disbelieve the mainstream press. Anytime the Post or its peer outlets report on anything, it should be taken with a grain of salt.