Is an email from the Epstein files with a joke about Mitt Romney's wife and Barack Obama real? Yes, that's true: The email appears among the Epstein files on the Justice Department website. It was sent to Jeffrey Epstein by Emirati businessman and billionaire Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem in November 2012. The claim appeared in a post and image (archived…
Does a real photo show Michelle Obama standing taller than her husband, Barack Obama, as well as the Bidens, Bushes, and Clintons? No, that's not true: The image circulating on social media was edited. Lead Stories reviewed the original photograph and found that Michelle Obama did not tower above the others; in the unaltered image, she appeared to be about…
Did former President Barack Obama bar President Trump from 'stepping foot inside the Obama Presidential Center' after a Somali World Cup referee was denied entry to the United States? No, that's not true: A video features Obama with an AI-generated voiceover falsely attributing statements to him. The April interview with Stephen Colbert (aired May 5, 2026) contains no such remarks.…
Did Senator John Fetterman, D-Pa., say Malia Obama got $2.3 million from USAID during the presidency of her father, Barack Obama, and called for an investigation? No, that's not true: The claim originated from a self-described satire network. No credible media reporting confirms the rumor. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on June 2, 2026,…
Does a real selfie taken by Barack Obama show him with fellow presidents Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter? No, that's not true: There is no evidence the image is authentic. No official White House photographer or news outlet has ever documented such a gathering and Carter had died before the image appeared online. The claim…
Does an online graphic accurately depict changes in the net worth of recent presidents from Bill Clinton to Joe Biden? Yes, that's true: Despite some formatting glitches, the figures in the AI-generated infographic were originally compiled by two personal finance publications using publicly available information and estimates from universities, as well as financial media outlets. While exact net worth figures…
Does a real photo show former first daughter Sasha Obama wearing a MAGA hat? No, that's not true: There is no credible evidence that she was ever photographed wearing a MAGA hat. Evidence shows the image is an altered version of a photograph first published online by a celebrity news agency on July 22, 2025. It also shows signs of…
In a real social media post, did Donald Trump write about a Joe Biden visit to Moscow in 1987 and implicate him in various conspiracy theories? No, that's not true: The supposed post does not appear on the president's official Truth Social account, and there are no reliable reports that it ever did. Biden also never visited Moscow in 1987.…
Did President Donald Trump post a message about a "Hormuz Peace Board" on his Truth Social account on March 16, 2026? No, that's not true: No post including the phrase "Hormuz Peace Board" could be found on Trump's Truth Social account. There is no evidence online that the president ever shared a post accusing Presidents Obama and Biden of starting…
Did various politicians and celebrities all hand down a "verdict" for a "$120 million ultimatum" to former President Barack Obama over repayments related to Obamacare? No, that's not true: Several such stories naming people as diverse as Jeanine Pirro, Jim Caviezel, Kid Rock and Stevie Nicks issuing the same "ruling" were posted by a network of foreign-run Facebook pages. The…
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