Are YouTube content creator Nick Shirley and Charlie Kirk shooting suspect Tyler Robinson cousins? No, that's not true: No verifiable evidence exists that the two men are related. Some people making the claim cited a response from the AI assistant Grok saying that Shirley's and Robinson's mothers are half-sisters, but another Grok response said the opposite. Shirley also denied the…
Did Donald Trump post a photo where he shows European leaders a map of North America with Canada, Greenland and Venezuela covered in the U.S. flag? Yes, that's true: Trump did post the image on his Truth Social account, but the image was doctored. It was originally taken in August 2025, and the map did not show Canada, Greenland and…
Has a photo of Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, released by his office on July 12, 2026, been publicly available since 2023? No, that's not true: A reverse image search found no evidence that the image had been published three years earlier. In addition, the photo released by McConnell's office shows the senator with a copy of The Washington Post…
Does an image posted by President Donald Trump on his Truth Social account as evidence of "retribution" against Iran show a U.S. bombing in July 2026? No, that's not true: The photo shows a previous attack on Iran by Israel that took place more than a year earlier, on June 15, 2025. Trump got the image from another social media…
Did President Donald Trump make a post on Truth Social asking Markwayne Mullin if ICE detention centers could be used to lock up communists? No, that's not true: Viral images that appear to show such a post are fake; there is no such message on Trump's actual account. It likely originated as satire because the message also attacked people for…
Did President Donald Trump post a message saying, "Belgium is 2 weeks away from developing a nuclear bomb"? No, that's not true: The message, which appears to mimic a Truth Social post, is fake. A review of his account history found no record of the supposed post. There are no credible reports that he ever shared such a message. The…
Have you come across viral videos showing how people mock influencers for wearing Christian-themed clothing? Lead Stories has identified several of these clips in recent weeks and determined that many were AI-generated. The people and scenarios depicted there were not real -- social media accounts posted this kind of content to play on religious sentiment, driving likes and shares as…
Does a real photo show President Donald Trump sleeping with his mouth open during Fourth of July fireworks in Washington, D.C.? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the image depicts an actual moment in which the president dozed off, which seems unlikely during a display featuring 850,000 fireworks and pyrotechnic effects at the "Salute to America 250"…
Did President Donald Trump post a video of the U.S. men's soccer team player Folarin Balogun showing a "Trump card" in response to his red card during the 2026 FIFA World Cup game? No, that's not true: While Trump did post the text content thanking FIFA for overturning Balogun's red card on his Truth Social account, the post did not…
Was an image of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni gazing at U.S. President Donald Trump original and unedited when it was shared in the summer of 2026? No, that's not true: The image was edited, and taken from a real video of Meloni sharing a joke with Trump and other world leaders at a G7 summit in France in June…
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