Business

Did only House Democrats vote against a spending bill on December 19, 2024, that would have kept the government open until March 2025? No, that's not true: While 197 Democrats voted no, so did 38 Republicans. The bill required a two-thirds supermajority in the House, which meant Republicans needed at least some Democratic Party support. The claim appeared in a…

Did social media posts accurately cite the words of Elon Musk's mother, Maye, on having children? No, that's not true: The viral quote was a review a critic made of Maye Musk's remarks about having children, not a direct quote. Maye Musk did not mention her "son's factory workers" while discussing the topic on X and Fox News in December…

Does reporting by the entertainment weekly "Variety" suggest that ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos is "expected to be fired" from the network after its settlement with President-elect Donald Trump? No, that's not true: ABC News told Lead Stories that he signed a new deal with the network after it settled a defamation case with Trump. No information about his supposed…

Did the Biden administration spend $3 billion to procure just 93 electric mail trucks? No, that's not true: A Postal Service spokesperson told Lead Stories that Congress approved $3 billion to purchase 66,000 electric postal delivery vehicles, many of them arriving by 2028. According to USPS records, as of December 13, 2024, 24 electric vehicles had been delivered with another…

Did the NFL abruptly fire three referees who officiated the game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams for their involvement in the largest bribery scheme in NFL history? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the NFL fired any referees amid a bribery scandal following a game between the two California teams as of…

Does a viral photo show the Altoona McDonald's employee who made the 911 call to report a sighting of Luigi Mangione in Pennsylvania? No, that's not true: The photo shows a comedian from New York. A profile on Facebook that contained the original version of the image also placed that person in New York, not Pennsylvania. The claim appeared in…

Did some employees poop in the Lamborghini of a CEO who cancelled the worker's Christmas bonuses -- and then did everyone at the company resign in unison? No, that's not true: This fictional yarn is from a creator who calls his content, "60 Second Sitcoms." He further describes his videos as satire. The story spread from a December 14, 2024,…

Does a video authentically show people in New York City celebrating the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson? No, that's not true: The video was posted online nearly two weeks ahead of the December 4, 2024, shooting death of Thompson in Midtown Manhattan. The video actually shows a street party in New York City after a concert by singer Natasha…

Does a video show UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson talking about working with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi? No, that's not true: The Brian Thompson in the video is a different person. The Thompson in the video is an entrepreneur; the footage is from a speech he gave at a workshop in 2012. The claim appeared in a post (archived here)…

Does a video on social media offer any evidence of a program that gives people $20,000 so they can use the money to pay off their credit card debt? No, that's not true: The clip only showed two images of some bank account transactions of unknown origin. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau told Lead Stories there is no such program…

Did UnitedHealth Group continue with its annual Investor Conference presentations even after learning a key executive had been shot to death outside the conference hotel? No, that's not true: A Threads post provided no documentary or witness evidence to prove the company "went ahead with" its investor conference as the post states. While it's not clear exactly when the company…

Was there ballot cheating during a bomb threat search when the vote-counting livestream went offline in Orange County, California, in November 2024? No, that's not true: The Orange County registrar of voters told Lead Stories that "the ballots always remained secure under the custody of the Sheriff's Department." There's also no evidence of fraud at any time during the ballot-counting…

Was a post on Substack the real letter of explanation by Luigi Mangione, the man who has been arrested in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson? No, that's not true: A Substack spokesperson told Lead Stories the post was removed for violating the website's guidelines, "which prohibit impersonation." The taken-down post was a long story about a mother's illness…

Did Luigi Mangione schedule a YouTube video titled "The Truth" to be published in anticipation of his arrest? No, that's not true: The YouTube account that published a video titled "The Truth" was impersonating Luigi Mangione, the man who has been charged in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The YouTube PR team told Lead Stories that the account…

Did tech billionaire Elon Musk publish a post in defense of insurance companies, saying that those corporations can act "ruthlessly" because of their "duty to shareholders to maximize profits"? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no record of the purported post on Musk's X account. The fake screenshot of the entry appears to have originated from a meme website.…

Did Burger King's X account post "We don't snitch" in response to the alleged killer of the UnitedHealthcare CEO being recognized by a McDonald's employee? No, that's not true: Burger King's public relations confirmed to Lead Stories that this post was made up. Also, the fake post contained the words "Retweets" and "Quote Tweets," words no longer used since Elon…

Are social media posts about an "injured" man with dementia who showed up at someone's house real? No, that's not true: Photographs included in the post show a man who was attacked in 2018 in Los Angeles. Several posts falsely claimed the man in the photographs was found in states including Georgia, New Mexico, Washington and California. These posts are…

Did UnitedHealthcare list a job opening for the CEO position on LinkedIn shortly after former CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot? No, that's not true: A UnitedHealthcare communications director told Lead Stories that a screenshot the supposed job listing was "fake." Lead Stories did not find any evidence that this was an actual listing. As of December 9, 2024, there…

Was UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson about to testify against former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for insider trading before his death on December 4, 2024? No, that's not true: There's no evidence connecting his death to insider trading allegations involving Pelosi, nor has Pelosi been accused of such a crime. However, in May 2024, Thompson was named in an insider trading…

Are paid subscribers of Walmart+ the only customers who can use the self-checkout lanes at all U.S. Walmart stores as of December 6, 2024? No, that's not true: Self-checkout lanes are not exclusively and universally reserved for only Walmart+ members all of the time. Walmart representatives told Lead Stories that some stores "may adjust the use of staffed and self-checkouts…