Mitch Mcconnell

Does an authentic video show Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in December 2024 with a large white bandage around his head, standing mute at a lectern, when a woman asks if his head is "OK after that fall"? No, that's not true: An old video clip showing the moment McConnell froze up in 2023 has been edited. A large bandage…

Does an image on social media authentically show Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a ventilator in a hospital? No, that's not true: The picture shows a person with a differently shaped ear. Lead Stories analysis found other inconsistencies that strongly suggested digital manipulation. The image has been on social media since at least 2023. The picture reappeared in a…

Did Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg make remarks about how racism went into design choices after the Francis Scott Key bridge collapsed in Baltimore on March 26, 2024? No, that's not true: The video clip in a social media post dates back to a November 9, 2021, White House daily briefing. Buttigieg's 2021 remarks were a response to a direct question…

Was the captain of the Dali cargo vessel that hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 24, 2024, Ukrainian? No, that's not true: A representative of the company operating the ship confirmed to Lead Stories that all 22 crew members on board were Indian nationals. The claim about the Ukrainian captain purportedly being in charge of Dali…

Is Angela Chao, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's sister-in-law who drowned in a fatal car accident in February 2024, listed as the CEO of the company that owns the ship that hit Baltimore's Key Bridge on March 26, 2024? No, that's not true: Chao is listed as the chair and CEO of Foremost Group, an American shipping company headquartered in…

Did Sen. Shelley Moore Capito reach out and touch Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, somehow causing him to freeze midsentence while he was speaking during a July 26, 2023, news conference? No, that's not true: Capito, a Republican from West Virginia who was wearing a green suit, did not touch McConnell before the incident. She joined the news conference gathering…

Do images circulating on social media show press photos of Anthony Fauci under arrest and in police custody? No, that's not true: Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has not been arrested. These are not photos of a real incident but are images generated by an artificial intelligence program. Jack Posobiec posted the…

Was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi removed from office by Democrats in the House on or before October 4, 2022? No, that's not true: Such a claim appears to be clickbait and there is no evidence to support it. The claim appeared in a Facebook post on October 4, 2022. It included a video with a title and caption that reads:…

Did Donald Trump issue a statement on his "Save America" letterhead that encouraged "all the Great MAGA Patriots" to boycott the midterm elections in November? No, that's not true: According to Trump's chief spokeswoman, that April 27, 2022, statement is fake. The fabricated statement appears to have originated from The Halfway Post, a Twitter account that describes itself as liberal…

Were Republican Party leaders Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Paul Manafort and Mitch McConnell born nine months after a purported UFO crash near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947? No, that's not true: Although some of the four Republican Party members were born in the 1940s, none were born in 1947. Lead Stories has previously fact-checked a similar claim in 2019, in…