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…
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…
Did First Lady Melania Trump make a public statement defending President Trump, saying "what is happening to my husband goes far beyond ordinary criticism"? No, that's not true: The claim bears the hallmarks of so-called "Viet Spam" campaigns of nearly identical made-up clickbait stories, each featuring a different famous person, created to drive traffic to web pages based overseas, often…
Does a viral image show a real post by President Donald Trump in which he speaks about Jane Goodall, her family and various apes? No, that's not true: The fake image appeared after there was controversy over a post Trump did make in which Barack and Michelle Obama were shown as apes. However, the Goodall post did not appear on…
Did Donald Trump really post a video on Truth Social featuring the faces of Michelle and Barack Obama superimposed on the bodies of apes? Yes, that is true: Shortly before midnight on Feb. 5, 2026 Donald Trump posted a 1-minute, 2-second video from the PatriotNewsOutlet.com. The video promoted a debunked conspiracy claim about voting machines during the 2020 election. The…
False claims about the Charlie Kirk assassination, the Jeffrey Epstein files, and purported verbal gaffes by President Trump topped the list of most-read Lead Stories fact checks in 2025. Here are our most read fact checks of the past year, reflecting our reader's interest in finding out the truth about various viral stories. If you see something suspicious in 2026,…
Was former first lady Michelle Obama videotaped executing a barbed takedown of Donald Trump on the 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' show in the fall of 2025? No, that's not true: As of November 12, 2025, no such video recording existed. Michelle Obama hadn't been on Kimmel's show for years at that time. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published…
Did the late Charlie Kirk say "Black women do not have the brain processing power to be taken seriously" as social media posts claim? No, that's not a precise quote: Attacking affirmative action, Kirk slammed by name four prominent liberal Black women . On his podcast, he specifically criticized Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, TV host Joy Reid, Supreme Court…
Did Barack and Michelle Obama sell their Martha's Vineyard estate to Les Wexner, a money management client of Jeffrey Epstein? No, that's not true. The home that Wexner purchased on Martha's Vineyard in July 2025 had been rented for Obama summer vacations from 2009 to 2011, while Obama was president. Though they later bought an estate on Martha's Vineyard, that…
Did a federal judge order Michelle Obama to hand over "her financials from her time as First Lady" to DOGE? 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 image appeared in a post (archived here) with a meme published…
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