Just Because It's Trending Doesn't Mean It's True — Fact checking at the speed of likes since 2015

Did Vice President JD Vance write on his official X account that everyday Oval Office banter is worse than the leaked and criticized Young Republicans' Telegram jokes about Hitler, slavery, gas chambers and rape? No, that's not true: A viral image of the post attributed to Vance was not an authentic screenshot. It originated from a community on Reddit that…

Does a graph showing "loan locks" for non-permanent residents applying for FHA mortgages prove that immigrants overpaying for homes has inflated U.S. housing prices? No, that's not true: Non-permanent residents who applied for FHA loans were "not a major factor in the vast majority of local housing markets in the U.S.," according to a researcher with the company that produced…

Did Evelyn Duval, the wife of a Louisiana plantation owner, elope with a runaway slave in 1847? No, that's not true: This story is full of precise details, which lend an air of authenticity - but the details do not match up with historic sources. Both the image of the couple and the story spontaneously surfaced on social media in…

Did the woman known as "Phillies Karen" file a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against Major League Baseball? No, that's not true: The page that originally posted the claim is a self described satire account. The woman who became infamous as "Phillies Karen" after she took a ball from a boy at a Philadelphia baseball game has not been publicly identified as of…

Did Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika, or Turning Point USA file a $400 million lawsuit against investor and philanthropist George Soros over an alleged defamation campaign "to silence conservative voices and manipulate public perception"? No, that's not true: The claim originated from a satirical page that said explicitly that nothing it publishes is real. As of October 16, 2025, no credible…

Did Danica Patrick donate $7 million to the Turning Point USA Super Bowl halftime show? No, that's not true: There is no proof that the former NASCAR driver has donated $7 million to the show that Turning Point USA announced they would host as an alternative to the official 2026 Super Bowl halftime show starring Bad Bunny. Patrick is a…

Did Ozzy Osbourne's widow Sharon publicly announce a "$20 million pledge to the Charlie Kirk Memorial Fund"? No, that's not true: No news media reported it. Sharon Osbourne's account on Instagram didn't discuss it, either. The claim appeared in an article (archived here) published on October 13, 2025, by thebeatles.vietut.com. It opened: BREAKING NEWS: Sharon Osbourne Stuns America with a…

Did Jason Kelce say, "If Bad Bunny is a bad fit for the Super Bowl, then maybe the people making these comments are a bad fit for America's Future." No, that's not true: There were no actual news reports saying Kelce made this statement. In response to the viral rumor, Kelce made a post from his verified X account stating,…

Does evidence support a claim that Charlie Kirk murder investigators "confirmed" they found a bullet in Kirk's body and a second bullet at the scene of the shooting? No, that's not true: Investigators have made no such public disclosures ahead of the October 30, 2025 hearing scheduled in the case. The claim was published and promoted by a clickbait website…

Does a video show several Portland, Oregon City Council members refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance? No, that's not true: This video clip was not filmed in Oregon. It shows the city council chambers of Portland, Maine. The video clip was linked in a post on X (archived here) published by @SonyasCrafts on Oct. 13, 2025. It is…

Did Barron Trump drop out of New York University in the fall of 2025, as a viral social media post claimed? No, that's not true: The claim was made with no documentary, eyewitness or other evidence. The day before the post declared Barron had dropped out, Kai Trump, Barron's niece, posted a video in which President Trump said Barron was…

Did a woman arrive from Tokyo, Japan, at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City with a passport of a nonexistent country named "Torenza", as viral videos and text posts claim? No, that's not true: The viral videos reused old footage. It came from a TV show about airline workers that aired on cable in the U.S. in the…

Did Turning Point USA's Super Bowl halftime show sell out the Atlanta Braves stadium in three hours after it was announced that Kid Rock would be performing? No, that's not true: The story originated on a satirical Facebook page that clearly labels its content as fake. The owner of the page is known for tricking conservatives into liking and sharing…

Is this a photo of the "Lady Ghost", a schoolteacher named Margaret Lee from Abilene, Kansas who killed five men, raiders, who in 1871 had killed twenty students when they burned the one-room schoolhouse? No, that's not true on two counts: This photo from 1912 shows thirteen-year-old Eva M. Lott, not a school teacher named Margaret Lee. There is no…

Did Elon Musk threaten to end his Super Bowl sponsorship if Bad Bunny performs at the halftime show? No, that's not true: Elon Musk does not sponsor the Super Bowl. The claim that he does and has threatened to end his sponsorship was published and promoted by a network of clickbait websites and Facebook page operated from Vietnam. The same…

Did the NFL announce the Super Bowl half time show will have a Charlie Kirk tribute including a performance by Brandon Lake? No, that's not true: A viral story making that claim was published by a foreign-run spam network with elements in Pakistan and Vietnam. The NFL did not make any such announcement. The news about the "announcement" appeared in…

Was Bad Bunny caught sitting down during the National Anthem at a New York Yankees game on October 8, 2025? No, that's not true: Videos circulating on social media show Bad Bunny seated during the last verse of "God Bless America," not the American National Anthem, which is "The Star Spangled Banner." Lead Stories could find no video of Bad…

Did ICE post an AI-generated image on its X account to make a point that it was not only protesters but also supporters who showed up in Portland, Oregon, in early October 2025? Here's what we know so far: Lead Stories asked, but ICE had not at the time of publication released to us the original image file. When ICE…

Is a viral post about the retirement of a Denver kindergarten teacher named Clara Holt illustrated with a photo of someone named Clara Holt? No, that's not true: The photo is copied from a BBC report about the reunion of students of Shirley Arnold, a primary school teacher in Kent, England. No Clara Holt appears on Colorado's list of certified…

Did a federal judge in Virginia drop charges against former FBI Director James Comey because the prosecutor misspelled Comey's last name as "Homey"? No, that's not true: The rumor on social media originated from a satire website. As of October 10, 2025, the trial date was set for January 5, 2026; however, the former FBI Director's legal team stated that…