Did U.S. President Donald Trump call Catherine Lucey "a terrible reporter"? Did she call him a "terrible president"? No, none of that is true: Viral posts fabricated the specific quotes. While Trump did make insulting comments toward Lucey, he used different words, and she never publicly said what social media attributed to her. The claim appeared in a post (archived…
Did PinkNews, an outlet covering LGBTQ+ issues, actually report that Armenian cabinet members will have to install LGBTQ+ and transgender members to meet EU membership demands? No, that's not true: That article was published by a copycat website. It had a confusingly similar name and was registered days before the publication. The claim originated from an article (archived here) published…
Does a real video show a crowd who just crossed the English Channel and a man who thinks he's entitled to money and a free house from the "England Government"? No, that's not true: This video is AI-generated. The image-to-video scene was made using a real newspaper photo as a source frame. The photo originally appeared in a 2015 New…
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 President Donald Trump post a message that wished Florida Governor Ron DeSantis a "happy pride month" calling him "Ron DeFAGGOT"? No, that's not true: The message that looks like a Truth Social post is fake. Trump did not post the message on his Truth Social account. The same message was posted in 2023 and also shown to be…
Does a real image show the "claw" hand of a police officer arresting fatally stabbed student Henry Nowak in Southampton, England, in December 2025? No, that's not true: The image circulating on social media is an edited screenshot from a video released by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary. Lead Stories reviewed the original video and found that at…
Does a viral post confirm that James Talarico "spent three full years in school pretending to be a girl named 'Jeannine'"? No, that's not true: The speculation originated from a known self-described satire network. No credible media outlets published reports showing any proof of the rumor. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published by @mcafeenew on X on…
Does a real screenshot show U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner of Maine made "German WW2 references" in sexual messages? No, that's not true: The image originated on social media accounts known for their satirical content. There is no evidence that such an exchange ever took place between Platner and anyone else, and Lead Stories found no credible news coverage documenting…
Is a video that shows a diver jumping into the water in a spiked shark-proof suit authentic? No, that's not true: There are several signs the video is AI, including a missing oxygen tank for the diver and sharks biting the metal spikes without any injury. Additionally, an AI detection tool concluded that the video was likely AI-generated. The shark-proof…
Does a confrontation video of a kilt-wearing electrician who threatened to "shut this whole m-----f----- down" really show the power went out after he stormed off? No, that's not true: An early copy of the video uploaded to TikTok on May 27, 2026, shows the man making the threat and leaving, but it does not show the power going out.…
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