Was it impossible or difficult for then-President Donald Trump to reach the steering wheel of the vehicle he was riding in on January 6, 2021? No, that's not true: The fortified SUV transporting him did not have a glass partition between the front and back seats, so there was nothing that would have prevented him from reaching for the steering…

Had Joe Biden resigned the presidency as of June 28, 2022? No, that's not true. There was no such announcement from the White House, nor any reporting from credible outlets. The claim appeared in a Facebook video posted June 27, 2022 under the title "JOE BIDEN JUST RESIGNED FROM THE WHITE HOUSE". This is what the post looked like on…

Is a Mayo Clinic doctor misdiagnosing Trump supporters' healthy pregnancies? No, that's not true: The tweet making the claim originated from a fake account and this claim has been refuted by the Mayo Clinic since 2018. The claim appeared in an Instagram post on the account of the conservative Young America's Foundation on June 14, 2022. The caption opens: Sickening.…

Was John F. Kennedy Jr., preparing to make an announcement about his candidacy for U.S. senator of New York right before his death? No, that's not true: Although reports have suggested that Kennedy was considering running for the Senate seat, there was no indication that, before his death in July 1999, he was about to announce his candidacy. Consequently, the…

Did the U.S. inflation rate hit an all-time high in 2022? No, that's not true: While inflation, as measured by the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI), is at a high level of 8.0 percent in June 2022, a dozen other years have had higher inflation rates since the CPI was first calculated in 1913. The all-time record of 17.8 percent…

Was Dominion voting machine "manipulation" responsible for 2022 primary election problems In DeKalb County, Georgia? No, that's not true: The Georgia secretary of state's office says it was a mistake in programming the machines for a single countywide seat on the Democratic side of the ticket, not in the machines themselves. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published…

Is Elon Musk considering buying the Keystone XL pipeline? No, that's not true: This claim appeared on a satirical website with a clear disclaimer on its About Us page. It is the work of Christopher Blair, a notorious liberal prankster who produces fake claims to troll conservatives. The claim appeared in an article published by the Patriot Party Press on…

Did a man make it public that he plans to go after Target stores in Phoenix, Arizona, that support the LGBT movement? Yes, the screenshot of a text message warning is real. A person who considers himself a professional internet provocateur made a video with another person that was posted online. In the video he threatened that in the month…

Does the movie "2000 Mules" prove the 2020 presidential election was stolen by voter fraud? No, that's not true: The film's producers promote a theory that 2,000 people in five key swing states collected and delivered hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots on behalf of a "cartel" to throw the election in favor of Joe Biden. The cellphone geotracking data…

Did winning Kentucky Derby jockey Sonny Leon turn down a White House invitation, saying he didn't want to see "a horse's ass"? No, that's not true: This is a fake quote that has been recycled since at least 2018 and previously debunked by Lead Stories. The claim appeared in a Facebook post on May 8, 2022. Beside the image of…

Did King Township in Ontario, Canada, install new electric vehicle charging stations that are powered with a diesel generator? No, that's not true: A communications officer with King Township informed Lead Stories the generator that appears in the photo does not run on diesel, but natural gas. It is the back-up power supply for a critical piece of township infrastructure…

Did illustrator Lainey Molnar make a webcomic where the two panels compare "An Established And Complete Woman" with "A Victim Of Feminism"? No, that's not true: The original artwork has undergone several changes. Some changes were made by the artist. Other, trolling alterations were made by an unidentified person who also changed the intent of the original message with a…

Do fetuses have fingerprints at nine weeks? No, that's not true: According to the Mayo Clinic, fingerprints don't start to form until around week 23 of fetal development. This claim, along with a number of others, appeared in a Facebook post on April 30, 2022. It opens: DID YOU KNOW? MY HEARTBEAT STARTS AT 16 DAYS. This is what the…

Does the Netherlands have the lowest abortion rate in the world? No, that's not true: Although the Netherlands has a low abortion rate, with data showing that it has an estimated average annual rate of seven abortions per 1,000 women, it is not the lowest in the world. That title belongs to both Singapore and Switzerland, which, according to the…

Did entrepreneur Elon Musk announce that he tried to "buy the Bidens, but the Chinese wouldn't sell them"? No, that's not true: There is no publicly available evidence to suggest that Musk said or tweeted such a statement. The "tweet" in this post is fake. The claim appeared in a Facebook post on April 28, 2022. It has an image…

Is former President Barack Obama a Muslim? No, that's not true: He has spoken frequently about being a Christian, not a Muslim. He gave speeches about his Christian faith before and during his eight-year presidency. The site that posted the image and claimed Obama's religion is Sunni Muslim usually shares memes, jokes and military-related posts. The claim appeared in a…

Did the U.S. military destroy a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine warehouse? No, that's not true: The claim was made on the website Real Raw News, which has a history of publishing completely made-up and false stories. "There is no truth here," a Pentagon spokesperson told Lead Stories of the claim. The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News…

Did U.S. military "White Hats" arrest Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on April 26, 2022? No, that's not true: The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Office of the Secretary of Defense told Lead Stories that Vilsack was not arrested. Vilsack also made public appearances on the day of the alleged arrest and in the days afterward. The only source…

Did an email about "otherkin" -- nonhuman entities in human bodies -- being integrated into Kokomo High School get leaked to the public? No, that's not true: This email is fake and did not come from the school but from a Facebook page called The Kokomo Press. A representative for the school in Kokomo, Indiana told Lead Stories that an…

Did American food processing facilities mysteriously and suspiciously begin to catch fire after President Joe Biden predicted that there could be real food shortages due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine? No, that's not true: Several incidents on a list of food processing facilities where incidents have occurred predate Biden's comments on food shortages and also predate Russia's invasion. Some…