Trump

Did an actual news outlet report that an oil executive said Donald Trump "smelled like rotten roast beef" and audibly farted multiple times during a White House meeting with oil industry leaders? No, that's not true: The viral message making those claims originated on a satirical X.com account. There were no actual news reports that any participant in the Jan.…

Did U.S. citizen Renee Good, shot and killed in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on January 7, 2026, actually live elsewhere outside Minnesota? No, that's not true: Multiple credible media outlets described her as a resident of that city. The Minneapolis Mayor said that Good lived there on the day of her death. The claim was made…

Does the photo circulating on social media show Renee Nicole Good, the woman shot and killed by ICE in Minneapolis Jan. 7, 2025? No, that's not true: This is not a picture of Good, but another woman who attended Old Dominion University at the same time. Both women were awarded poetry prizes in 2020 and their photos appeared separately in…

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…

Does a viral screenshot of a headline claiming Michael Byrd "pocketed" $190 million in HHS funds for an "unaccredited" daycare in Maryland show the current state of the article? No, that's not true: The Gateway Pundit website made several changes to the headline and the article over time, now pointing out $190 million is the total of all Federal child…

Did Johnny Depp, Eminem, Cher, Paul McCartney or any other celebrity tell Donald Trump "You're tearing families apart ... Shame on you" at a live town hall meeting on immigration? No, that's not true: Nearly identical stories mentioning those and more than 40 other celebrities were published by a network of foreign websites and Facebook pages. There were no news…

Does a viral image show an "official photo" of Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro after he was captured by the U.S.? No, that's not true: Lead Stories didn't find any evidence that the picture originated from government websites or elected officials. The image showed two unusual rows of windows in the background, a pattern that did not appear in photographs of any…

Does a viral image show a real news report saying that U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' office "tried to tip off" Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro before his capture? No, that's not true: No such report could be found. Neither CBS News, nor any other media outlet published news of such a leak. The claim appeared in a post (archived here)…

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,…

Does a viral image show Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro captured? No, that's not true: An authentic photo was digitally altered to swap Maduro's head onto the body of a captive. The image originally showed Ukrainian-born pro-Russian businessman and politician Victor Medvedchuk. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on January 3, 2026. It read: 😁The White House…