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

Are tow trucks impounding ICE vehicles in Atlanta because the U.S. Constitution's 10th amendment does not allow ICE to drive on state roads? No, that's not true: The claim is a satirical post from a known satire account. The 10th amendment simply gives to the American states powers that are not specifically delegated to the federal government elsewhere in the…

Are the stories of Helen Keller's life achievements just a made up scam? No, that's not true: A vague conspiracy aims to erase the well-documented life achievements of Helen Keller. The American author and social activist was both deaf and blind from an illness in early childhood. She was a public figure who traveled and mainly communicated through an interpreter…

Did White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt say that "Trump mistook Greenland for Iceland" because "they share the same border"? No, that's not true: The internet rumor attributing those words to her originated from a satire account. Lead Stories found no credible sources citing the quote in question as Leavitt's actual words. The claim originated from a post (archived here)…

Is a video showing a Somali man in court asking to be deported instead of having to serve a 30-year prison sentence for daycare fraud real? No, that's not true: The short clip was created by an artificial intelligence tool, according to an AI-generated content detector. The account that first posted the video is filled with similar AI slop and…

Does a viral image really show Usha Vance in plaid clothes matching the fabric of the couch she sits on? No, that's not true: According to a facial recognition tool, the picture widely shared after the announcement of Usha Vance's fourth pregnancy did not even show her. Additional analysis strongly suggested that the viral image was AI generated. The claim…

Is there credible evidence that crowds chanted "mass murderer" at Bill Gates when he attended the 2026 annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland? No, that's not true: The article that first made the claim didn't contain any proof of that, just an unfounded headline. No credible media organizations reported on such a protest, though it would have been…

Is a five-year-old Minnesota boy's father a "criminal illegal alien" who abandoned him in a running car at their home, running away when confronted by Immigration & Customs Enforcement officers? Here's what we know so far: School officials who were at the scene Jan. 20, 2026 when the boy and his father were taken into custody say that's not true.…

Was Nekima Levy Armstrong visibly crying in anguish in a Department of Homeland Security photo of her arrest by the FBI for her role in a protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota? No, that's not true: The photo of Armstrong's arrest posted by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem showed Armstrong's face as composed and expressionless. About one half hour…

Did your favorite sports star "shock fans" or "shake" the league by "publicly" or "flatly" refusing to wear an LGBT Rainbow Armband because it would turn the game "into a political circus"? No, that's not true: The claim was made about at least 95 football, soccer, basketball, baseball, and hockey players in posts published on dozens of fake Facebook fan…

Does a viral video show NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte excitedly saying "I just got viral! Yaaay! Because my good friend Donald J. Trump, he re-posted, he re-tweeted a message from me ... " ? No, that's not true: The man in the video is Dutch comedian Remko Vrijdag. Vrijdag's Instagram account shows him playing numerous roles including, from time…

Is a video showing an ICE agent entering a classroom at California State University, San Bernardino, legitimate? No, that's not true: The clip was generated using AI. A Sora watermark appears several times, indicating it was created with the generative AI tool. There are no credible news reports that an ICE agent entered a California university classroom as part of…

Have Rowan Atkinson and Mia Khalifa reportedly been dating since summer? No, that's not true: This story is clickbait -- there are no reports from credible sources that the two celebrities are dating. Khalifa has denied the rumor on social media, posting, "guys I am dating a fool but it's not mr bean". The false rumor appears in a post…

Did TV host Johnny Carson comfort dying woman Barbara Martinez while taping the March 17, 1983, episode of NBC's Tonight Show? No, that's not true: Social media posts about it did not include the actual recording of the purported event, sharing an AI-generated image instead. Lead Stories found no credible sources ever mentioning the supposed dance, and the Library of…

Was Enoch Burke arrested again in 2026 for refusing to use "they" pronoun for a student? No, that's not true: Burke was arrested outside Wilson's Hospital School in Multyfarnham, Ireland on Jan. 19, 2026 for again violating a court order that he stay away from the school. Irish newspapers operating independently of one another reported that the High Court which…

Does a video show a real scuffle in front of a Grand Central Market between a Cherokee woman and an ICE Agent? No, that's not true: This video is AI-generated and was recaptioned for additional ragebaiting effect. It is one of a series of AI-generated videos made with the same, or nearly identical prompts that show a similar clash in…

Did Travis Kelce, Jelly Roll, Bruce Springsteen, Caitlin Clark and a 12 other celebrities say that President Trump was "a vicious old bastard draining America's soul after the Born-in-America Act"? No, that's not true: The claim that at least 17 different sports stars and entertainers made that identical statement was made up by a Vietnamese-based spam factory that uses artificial…

Did real news video show Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers being outrun by a viking in a wheeled bathtub, or a dancing "Techno Viking", on a Minneapolis street? No, that's not true: No real news outlet broadcast either video, which would have been newsworthy and fodder for talk shows, if real. The clip of a dancing "Techno Viking" originated from…

Did Stephen Colbert "reveal" Donald Trump's "1970 Wharton IQ test"? No, that's not true: This claim and its variations originated from accounts that warned their audiences that they do not post factually accurate content. The rumor spread in variations that contradicted each other on the name of the TV host, school, test type and even the name of the person…

Did President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan quietly drive themselves to a Virginia nursing home to serve breakfast to elderly residents on Christmas Day 1983? No, that's not true: This is a completely made-up story that is contradicted by historical records, including President Reagan's personal diary entry for that date. It was published by a Pakistani-based spam factory…

Is a video of Erika Kirk jumping on stage at the Rolling Loud Orlando 2026 event using a power boosted lift real? No, that's not true: The video is an AI-generated compilation using footage from South Korean rapper Psy's publicly available videos. The Rolling Loud Orlando hip-hop event is scheduled for May 2026 and had not taken place as of…