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Did Hillary Clinton suggest jailing Americans for posting "misinformation" and saying "there needs to be deterrence"? No, that's missing context: She said that, aside from indictments against Russians for "direct election interference," civil or criminal charges against Americans parroting Russian state propaganda for money would be a "better deterrence" against Moscow's propaganda efforts. The former U.S. secretary of state was…

Did Howard University professors confirm that Vice President Kamala Harris was "the worst student ever"? No, that's not true: This first appeared in a post on Facebook that had "Satire" in the caption. The Facebook account that initially posted the information says in its bio that it posts satire and nothing on its page is real. The claim appeared in…

Does an authentic photo show Kamala Harris posing arm-in-arm with Sean "Diddy" Combs? No, that's not true: Combs' face has been pasted onto the body of the man who was standing next to Harris when the photo was taken in 2001. The man in the original photo is TV host Montel Williams, who dated Harris more than 20 years before…

Did Taylor Swift lose "brand deals worth $125 million" after endorsing Kamala Harris? No, that's not true: The online rumor came from a website that labels itself as satire. The article didn't even mention the name of the Democratic presidential nominee. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on September 12, 2024. It said: Taylor Swift Loses…

Is a New York Police Department memo that says all uniformed members must start displaying their pronouns starting January 1, 2025, authentic? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the NYPD told Lead Stories that the memo is fake. It also misspells the words "authority" and "inputted", further indicators that it's not authentic. The claim appeared in a post (archived…

Did the ABC television network fire the hosts of the September 10, 2024, U.S. presidential debate, calling them "a disgrace"? No, that's not true: A self-described satire and parody website published the story about the pair's supposed firing. Lead Stories found nothing authoritative to substantiate the claim that ABC fired the two. The claim originated from an article (archived here)…

Did President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris skip a visit to the Shanksville, Pennsylvania, memorial on September 11, 2024? No, that's not true: Both paid their respects at the memorial to 9/11 victims approximately two hours before former President Donald Trump arrived for a similar visit. They also visited the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department. The implied claim that…

Did CNN's fact checker say that Kamala Harris "lied 17 times in the first ten minutes" of the presidential debate? No, that's not true: The claim comes from a network of websites that clearly labels the work as satire, parody and fiction. Also, a spokesperson for CNN told Lead Stories that the claim was "false." The claim appeared in a…

Did Kamala Harris wear sound-receiving devices disguised as earrings during the September 10, 2024, presidential debate? No, that's not true: The Nova H1 "audio earrings" Harris wore according to some posts on social media do not have the loops seen in the photo of a model wearing them. Those loops were part of a different piece of jewelery the model…

Did Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Elton John endorse Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential race? No, that's not true: Video clips of Johnson and John do not show either one of them having said that they endorse Trump for the 2024 presidential election, as of this writing on September 10, 2024. The two celebrities described Trump as a fan…

Did McDonald's corporate make a statement saying that "they have no record whatsoever of KAMALA HARRIS ever working at any of their locations"? No, that's not true: The McDonald's corporate website page of press releases has no mention of Kamala Harris. A Google search of McDonald's corporate website did not bring up any mention of Kamala Harris at all. There…

Are Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, "kidnapping and eating their neighbors' cats" in 2024? No, that's not true: Springfield police said they had no reports of pets being stolen and eaten. A city official told Lead Stories that there are "no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community." The…

Was Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. a convicted felon? No, that's not true: King was indicted for a felony, tax evasion, in 1960, but the jury found him not guilty, the historical record shows. He was never convicted of a felony. King, who spent decades advocating for civil rights for Black Americans, was arrested multiple times for acts of various…

Is a screenshot that shows Apalachee High School shooting suspect Colt Gray as transgender and a supporter of Kamala Harris authentic? No, that's not true: The person behind the account frequently changes their profile picture and bio. A previous version of the account warns journalists, lawyers and others that "this context is all fake and made up." The screenshot is…

Does a photo on Facebook really show Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz in blackface? No, that's not true: This image came from the Facebook account for a satirical website that labels itself as all about fake content. The photo in the post is of actor John Slattery, not Walz. The photo appeared in a post on Facebook on August…

Did Kamala Harris say she would shut down X if elected, as posts on social media claimed based on a video where she said "He has lost his privileges"? No, that's not true: The video clip on social media is from an interview she did with CNN in 2019. A transcript of her remarks shows her comments were about Trump…

Does a video show vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz dancing in a cowboy hat and revealing two-piece outfit? No, that's not true: The original video features another person. The face in the video was altered to look like Walz. The claim was implied in a post (archived here) published on X on September 4, 2024. The post…

Did the Minnesota Vikings football team denounce Tim Walz as a man whose values they do not support? No, that's not true: The comment comes from a satirical Facebook page that explicitly warns readers not to take it seriously. America -- Love It Or Leave It categorizes its Facebook page as satire/parody. The claim appeared in a post on Facebook…

Did Kamala Harris hit a 13-year-old girl with a car and leave the scene in 2011? No, that's not true: The "KBSF-TV" news station cited in the social media post does not exist in San Francisco and the website that posted the article was created two weeks before the post appeared. The San Francisco Police Department told Lead Stories they…

Did American golfer Tiger Woods refer to Kamala Harris' manner of speech as a "fake black accent," calling it "embarrassing and extremely offensive"? No, that's not true: The online rumor was first published by a self-labeled parody and satire account. Lead Stories found no confirmation that Woods ever said that. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X,…