Often the media will turn a fact into a “some say” claim that signals to readers that a fact may not be a fact.

Recently the media did just that to shield Hillary Clinton from her close association with an actual, factual Ku Klux Klan leader.

West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd was once a proud member of the racist Ku Klux Klan domestic terrorist group. And not just a member, but a leader in the hate group. He had a title, an office, and an important position in the West Virginia Klan hierarchy. And when Hillary was first involved in the U.S. Senate,  Byrd became her close associate and mentor — she even used that term to describe him.

That is exactly what Donald Trump mentioned at a recent rally. Hillary has called Byrd her “mentor” and Byrd was a decades-long member of the Klan. These are facts, not claims.

So, how did CNN report Trump’s words?

Donald Trump spreads a claim that Hillary Clinton's "mentor" was a "KKK member" https://t.co/3664Khp49V pic.twitter.com/tQySvpgCpi

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) August 28, 2016

Now, if you didn’t actually know history you would read that CNN headline and think Trump was “spreading” a false “claim.” But the truth is, there was no “spreading claims” in Trump’s words. He was citing a fact.

The Washington-based newspaper The Hill played the same semantics game to turn a fact into a “claim.”

Trump shares tweet that claims Clinton's "mentor" was a "KKK member" https://t.co/cmOGDVGVyy pic.twitter.com/Gjvt0AChg0

— The Hill (@thehill) August 28, 2016

Even the liberal Wikipedia notes that Byrd was a key member of the Klan in Sophia, West Virginia.

And, yes, Hillary did call Byrd her mentor:

That is inescapable fact, not a “claim.”

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