Bernie Sanders

Did a "Lucas Mamdani", brother to New York City's mayor, buy properties with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders to financially benefit from new city policies on affordable housing? No, that's not true: Lead Stories did not find evidence to support the existence of any sibling of Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The claim originated from a page with a satire label that was…

Is Rob Reiner's name on the "Epstein List"? No, that's not true: An image that lists 165 celebrities and politicians, including Reiner, who purportedly visited "Epstein Island" is fake. The actual Epstein flight logs obtained by Lead Stories and the archive of Jeffrey Epstein emails and text messages released by a congressional committee contain no references to Reiner. There is…

Is the Securities and Exchange Commission investigating 10 Democrats, including former President Joe Biden, for fraud and insider trading? No, that's not true: There is no evidence the SEC is investigating any of the 10 people whose images are included in the post. The claim originated from a satirical Facebook page that carried a satire disclaimer. The owner of the…

Did Sen. Bernie Sanders get a $44 million USAID grant after he dropped out of the 2016 presidential race? No, that's not true: That story originated on a satirical Facebook page. The owner of the page is known for tricking conservatives into liking and sharing made-up content. The claim appeared in an August 18, 2025 Facebook post (archived here) on…

Did President Donald Trump order background checks on Democrats to be made public, showing cases of assault, domestic violence and insider trading? No, that's not true: The post spreading that Trump rumor and the false list of cases came from a Facebook page with a satire disclaimer and a warning that all the contents of the page are fabricated. The…

Does a viral post prove that 84% of electronic devices spotted at the joint Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rally in Colorado can be definitively linked to Kamala Harris campaign events and protests for other causes? No, that's not true: The post didn't offer a replicable analysis of the data. Two organizations mentioned in it among the supposed sources said…

Did a white home with a red roof survive a wildfire that leveled every other home in a Los Angeles neighborhood? No, that's not true: This aerial view does not show a real neighborhood impacted by the January 2025 fires in Los Angeles County. Google Lens image search results say the image was made with Google AI. The image appeared…

Does an authentic image show Sen. Bernie Sanders wearing a T-shirt that reads, "Deport Elon Musk"? No, that's not true: This is not a genuine photograph. The picture bears a small "Grok" watermark in the lower right-hand corner, a label indicating that it was created using an AI program. Additionally, the tools at TrueMedia.org determined that the image was 96…

Did Joe Rogan say "he will not be voting for Trump after having him on the podcast"? No, that's not true: Lead Stories reviewed Rogan's podcasts and public statements in the days after Donald Trump's appearance. Neither subsequent episodes of Rogan's podcast, his social media accounts nor credible news reports included any statements by Rogan that he had decided not…

Did GovTrack delete only Vice President Kamala Harris' 2019 report card, which rated her as the most liberal senator that year? No, that's not true: GovTrack told Lead Stories that it consolidated and deleted everyone's 2019 report card. Her 2020 report card, which covers two years, rated Harris as the second most liberal member of the Senate. Founder Joshua Tauberer…