Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis should fact-check himself first before advising the media about fake news, Progressive Liberal Party Leader Philip Davis said as he believes the prime minister owes the country an apology for making fake news and fake deals.

“The prime minister should be very familiar with fake news. He ran a campaign of fake news to get elected to office. His party said Baha Mar was not a real deal but it was,” Davis said yesterday. 

“They accused the PLP of stealing the VAT money when he knew it was right there.”

On Friday, during the launch of the second phase of the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas’ Hi Definition Television platform at its Northern Service in Grand Bahama, Dr. Minnis in his address told journalists that Bahamian journalism should maintain the best practices of the profession and fulfill its indispensable function in a democratic society.

“These days, the Bahamian people, like others around the world, are being assaulted and misled by fake news disseminated in lightning speed on social media. They are also misled by some who have no journalistic training and who are quite often ill-informed,” Dr. Minnis said, adding that the responsibility of the broadcasters and others in the profession is to bring balance.

However, Davis insisted that Dr. Minnis should take a look at himself before offering such gratuitous advice to the Fourth Estate.

Davis pointed out that when the prime minister came to office “he signed a fake deal with a phoney signature called Oban”.

“The prime minister has no right to lecture anyone on the subject of fake news. He and his party are the authors of so much fake news,” Davis said.

“We recall also the untruths and misrepresentations in the Town Centre Mall lease. It was a shameless exercise in self-dealing where finding the truth has been hidden from the public by official misrepresentations.

“Mr. Minnis owes the country an apology.”