Soros

Did Alex Soros, son of billionaire businessman and philanthropist George Soros, say in an interview that he wanted to "eradicate conservatives from the Internet" and that he is "100 times worse" than his father? No, that's not true: In a Wall Street Journal article that featured an interview with the younger Soros, Alex Soros is never quoted as mentioning conservatives…

Did Florida governor and 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis post a picture at an event showing George Soros, a billionaire philanthropist who is often the subject of conspiracy theories, in the background? No, that's not true: The original image, posted in a tweet by media personality John Cardillo, was altered to include a person resembling Soros. The claim appeared in…

Did George Soros say "Those who oppose my agenda are white supremacists"? No, that's not true: There is no verifiable evidence or credible source that supports the assertion that Soros said this or that the statement attributed to him is a close paraphrase of something said by the Hungarian-born American financier, philanthropist and activist, who is also one of the…

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…

Is Hungary preparing to prosecute "lifelong Nazi" George Soros? No, that's not true: The claim, posted by a prolific publisher of fake news, is based on a single anonymous source. It repeats the oft-debunked claim that financier and philanthropist Soros was a Nazi. In fact, Soros, who is Jewish, lived through the Nazi occupation of Hungary in 1944-45, when he…

Did liberal billionaire philanthropist George Soros endorse Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential race? No, that's not true: In remarks to the Munich Security Conference in February 2023, Soros said DeSantis is "likely to be a Republican candidate," but he didn't say he was endorsing the Sunshine State's governor or wanted him to run.…

Did a "deep state" conspiracy lead to Romania's arrest of former kickboxing champion and online celebrity Andrew Tate on December 29, 2022? No, that's not true: Romanian authorities have told Lead Stories that Tate was arrested following an investigation that began in April 2022. No credible evidence exists to support the claim of a "deep state" conspiracy, which was published…

The year is almost over, so it is good to look back. First, the numbers, as of December 15, 2022. This year we have published 1,555 fact checks in English (so far ...) 283 fact checks about COVID misinformation; 244 debunks of Russian propaganda and false claims about the invasion of Ukraine; 140 debunks of false claims about election fraud,…

Did billionaire philanthropist George Soros fund the purchase of voting machines in order to rig the 2022 midterm elections? No, that's not true: Elections are funded by taxpayer dollars and Soros has no connections to voting machine or voting software companies. The claim appeared in a November 6, 2022, Instagram post that uses a long string of hashtags for a…

Did Bill Gates die in July 2013? Was he executed by Africans and Indians who had adverse reactions to incorrect shots they were given by Gates? No, neither of those claims are true: Gates is not a medical practitioner and would not be allowed to administer shots, though he does finance vaccine development. And there is no evidence that Bill…