He went on to serve as the Star's Washington bureau chief from 2015 to 2019. In June 2019, Dale was hired by CNN to contribute to a regular "Facts First" column in CNN Politics.[2] Dale was a frequent contributor during the Trump administration, appearing or being mentioned on CNN more than once a day on average, though his appearances and commentary on the veracity of claims sharply declined during the succeeding administration as of February 2021.[3]
After graduating from university, Dale joined the Toronto Star in 2008.[6] Dale worked for the Star as their Toronto City Hall reporter and bureau chief,[7] covering the administration of Mayor Rob Ford and his brother Doug from 2010 to 2014.[5][8][9]
In May 2012, Dale investigated a potential purchase of public lands near Rob Ford's home when Dale and Ford had an incident. According to Ford, a neighbor had informed him that someone was taking pictures over the back of his fence, which prompted him to confront Dale. Dale denied Ford's version of the incident, saying that he had not come within 10 feet of the mayor's property. He said that Ford was "extremely agitated" and had frightened him into leaving behind his mobile phone and digital recorder at the scene of the incident.[10][11][12] The police later announced that no charges would be filed in the incident.[13]
In December 2013, Ford accused Dale of taking pictures of Ford's children on his property in the previous incident; Dale denied the accusation, saying that he had never taken any photographs of Ford's family, which was corroborated by a police investigation.[14] Ford later retracted the accusations, stating "there was absolutely no basis for the statement I made about Mr. Dale taking pictures," in response to Dale launching a lawsuit against him. After a lengthy apology from Ford, Dale dropped the lawsuit.[15][16] Dale later stated that the incident inspired him to take up fact-checking,[5][17] telling The Daily Beast in 2020: "The Star let me write a column headlined 'Rob Ford is lying about me and it’s vile,' and I started thinking after that, if I can say 'lie' about something concerning me, why can’t I say that about other lies? That was a big moment."[5]
Starting in September 2016, Dale compiled informal lists of then-presidential candidate Trump's falsehoods together with parenthetical fact checks in his spare time, sharing the lists on Twitter.[6][26][27] In the same month, filmmaker Michael Moore praised Dale in a tweet, saying that Dale "shame[d] the US media", which resulted in Dale gaining a larger following on Twitter.[9][22] Dale maintained a list of fact-checks of Trump for the Toronto Star from the beginning of Trump's presidency until he departed from the Star in June 2019.[28]
On October 1, 2017, Trump tweeted: "Being nice to Rocket Man [Trump's nickname for Kim Jong-un] hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail." Dale responded to Trump's tweet, noting that Kim Jong-un was eight years old in 1992. Trump subsequently blocked Dale on Twitter.[24]
Politico ranked Dale 8th in its list of 16 breakout media stars of 2016 for his fact-checking of Trump.[35]Rolling Stone named Dale's Twitter account its "Hot News Source" in 2018.[36]Toronto Life ranked Dale 47th in its list of the top 50 influential Torontonians in 2017,[37] and 49th in 2018.[38]
^Dale, Daniel (October 19, 2016). "Confessions of a Trump Fact-Checker". Politico. Archived from the original on May 10, 2021. Retrieved May 2, 2021. From 2010 to 2014, I had covered the surreal Toronto administration of infamous Mayor Rob Ford and his lesser-known brother Doug...
^"Daniel Dale's epic 4-year Trump fact check". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. January 23, 2021. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2021. Daniel Dale — a CNN reporter and former Washington bureau chief for the Toronto Star
