Did an actual news site report a 43-year-old IT professional named "Edward Crabtree" disarmed a terrorist during a terrorist attack on Bondi beach in Australia on December 14, 2025? No, that's not true: That name and description came from a website named "The Daily" that only appeared on the internet the same day the attack took place. Actual news websites…

Did President Trump post on his Truth Social account that Jesus told him that "my father is happy that you're making America Great Again"? No, that's not true: There is no post on Donald Trump's Truth Social timeline in which the phrase "my father is happy that you're making America Great Again" appears. Lead Stories could find no evidence the…

Did Patti Labelle, Novak Djokovic, Cardi B, James Hetfield, Morgan Wallen or a long list of other celebrities just open "America's first 100% free homeless hospital" because they wanted to leave a legacy behind? No, that's not true: Viral posts on Facebook were the latest variations of the same made-up story being spread by foreign clickbait accounts mostly run from…

Has Tina Peters been "fully pardoned" by Donald Trump, wiping out her prison sentence for giving unauthorized access to Mesa County, Colorado, voting machines in 2021, when she was county clerk? No, that's not true: Trump's "pardon" of Peters is only symbolic, not official. The U.S. Constitution grants the President power to pardon only those criminals facing federal charges. Peters,…

Did Phil Collins "send the internet into orbit" when he announced the 32 dates of his 2026 World Tour? No, that's not true: Phil Collins has not announced a 2026 world tour. His name, and those of many other artists such as Trace Adkins, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Pink, and Lenny Kravitz, are being used in a clickbait formula gaming…

Did Donald Trump raise the monthly pension of Medal of Honor recipients to almost $70,000? No, that's not true: The Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed to Lead Stories that those figures show the annual change, not monthly. According to the federal agency, there are 63 veterans and 34 surviving spouses who receive this pension, as of December 3, 2025. The…

Is a "shocking" video of Charlie Kirk murder defendant Tyler Robinson and his lawyer talking in court before a hearing in the case real? No, that's not true: The news media feed from the same moment and the same camera captured an inaudible whispered conversation. The video is a satirical attack on podcaster Candace Owens and the theories about the…

With a strong background in digital media, content verification, and cross-platform news production, Silvia Cernan Gutierrez brings over a decade of experience in accuracy-driven roles across international organizations. As a Social Media & Web Producer, she routinely fact-checked scripts, headlines, and user-submitted visuals using archival research, reverse image searches, and verification tools to ensure fully accurate reporting during breaking-news situations.…

Did Barack Obama, Donald Trump or Marco Rubio "just cut the ribbon on a $150 million free education and health campus, entirely funded "by his own pocket", without a single tax dollar."? No, none of them did: The made-up stories are among dozens cranked out by Vietnam-based publishers building traffic on Facebook with stories attractive to fans of Obama, Trump…

Is a photo showing President Donald Trump using a walker to assist him real? No, that's not true: The image has the SynthID watermark that indicates it was created by Google's AI tool, according to an analysis by Google's Gemini chatbot. The image may have been created for satirical reasons since it was posted soon after President Trump signed an…