California

Did Bruce Springsteen, Cher, Joni Mitchell and dozens of other celebrities each buy the small diner where they ate for free while struggling and now feed free meals to 120 homeless people every day? No, that's not true: 54 virtually identical stories mentioning those and other names were published by a network of foreign websites and Facebook pages. There were…

Does this viral video clip show Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis saying Renee Good had the right to drive away from ICE officers just before one of them shot and killed her on a Minneapolis street? No, that's not true: The clip is real, but was lifted from a June, 2025 appearance on "The Rubin Report" podcast, six months before Good…

Did Republican representative Jack Kimble make a post about other countries potentially invading the U.S. "if we ever had" a "highly corrupt leader" as President? No, that's not true: The post was satire from an account on X that pretends to be a non-existent Republican politician. A screenshot of the post that went viral did not identify the account as…

Are California and Colorado at the top of the list of states losing population as more people leave than move there? No, that's not true: The latest statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau show that California lost population in 2020 and 2021, the first two years of the Covid pandemic. The negative trend reversed and the state gained residents…

Did an elderly man kill two thieves inside his home and is he now being sued by their families for $1 million in damages? No, that's not true: This story is made up, designed to get social media engagement by causing outrage. There is no real incident matching the provided details. The video is illustrated with clips drawn from a…

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…

Has Preston Kennedy, the 43-year-old son of Senator John Nealy Kennedy of Louisiana, been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer? No, that's not true: Sen. Kennedy's son is 29, not 43. He was born six years after his parents' 1990 marriage. There are no reports of a cancer diagnosis on Kennedy's social media timelines or in the news media. The…

Does Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani have a plan to require all New York students to learn Arabic numerals? No, that's not true: Viral posts making that claim are satirical in nature because Arabic numerals are already widely used everywhere in New York and the rest of the United States. The joke plays on the ignorance of certain audiences not knowing "Arabic…

Did the Justice Department launch a grand jury investigation into California Governor Gavin Newsom, accused by critics of violating the Logan Act by going to a climate conference in Brazil? No, that's not true: The story's source was a fictional character, "US Attorney for North-Central California Joe Barron". The claim originated from a page warning its readers that nothing it…

Is a video of U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat, saying he voted to keep the government shut down because he could never say no to Chuck Schumer, real? No, that's not true: A small disclaimer at the bottom of the video acknowledges that it was made by an artificial intelligence tool. The video, which was shared on the…