Do COVID-19 nasal test swabs contain both lithium and DARPA hydrogel that allow recipients to be remotely controlled? No, that's not true: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) told Lead Stories that nasal swabs used to test for COVID do not contain lithium or hydrogel from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The claim appeared in a TikTok video…

Does the movie "Died Suddenly" demonstrate that COVID-19 vaccinations cause widespread sudden death or severe medical outcomes? No, that's not true: The film recycles previously debunked claims that the vaccine is lethal or dangerous for the average person receiving it. More than 5.45 billion people have been vaccinated worldwide and public health experts recommend immunization against the virus, saying it…

Did billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates tell the world leaders gathered at the November 2022 Group of 20 (G-20) summit that "death panels" will soon be required? No, that's not true: Gates did not attend the conference in Indonesia, and his remarks about health care that included the words "death panels" were made in 2010. The claim appeared in a story…

Did "Jacinta Ardern", the prime minister of New Zealand, threaten to put mRNA vaccines in the water supply if enough people did not take the shot? No, that's not true: This claim originated in late January 2022 with an image of a made-up news article that was never published. Although that false image has been debunked, the rumor that Ardern…

Is Seattle billionaire Bill Gates now chairman of the Maricopa County, Arizona Board of Supervisors? No, that's not true: A representative for Maricopa County told Lead Stories that a different Bill Gates serves Maricopa County. Gates the billionaire and villain of many conspiracy theories, is a longtime resident of Seattle, where the company he co-founded, Microsoft, is headquartered. The claim…

Were Dominion Voting System tabulators the machines that caused problems in Maricopa County, Arizona on Election Day, November 8, 2022? No, that's not true: "Runbeck is our printer vendor," Maricopa County Elections Department Communications Director Megan Gilberston told Lead Stories. "It was not the Dominion Voting System tabulators." Runbeck Election Services, Inc.'s spokesperson confirmed to Lead Stories that it had…

Does a viral video prove that the founder of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, and other speakers at WEF events planned to establish the "new world order" and "microchip human race"? No, that's not true: The heavily edited social media clip only shows short soundbites taken out of context, which alters the meaning of the speeches. The claim appeared…

Was the fact that Maricopa County, Arizona, experienced trouble with some of its tabulators early on Election Day proof of voter fraud? No, that's not true: There was a back-up plan in place to make sure every vote was counted. In the case of a problem with a precinct tabulator, a voter could place his or her ballot in a…

Are Phoebe and Jennifer Gates, the daughters of Bill and Melinda French Gates, unvaccinated? No, that's not true: In a 2019 Facebook post, Melinda Gates wrote that all three of her children were fully vaccinated. There are multiple instances where Phoebe and Jennifer Gates proved themselves vaccinated: Phoebe was at Jennifer's wedding where it was a requirement to be vaccinated,…

Does a New Zealand funeral director's statement that 95 percent of the corpses he sees had been vaccinated against COVID-19 prove that vaccines are causing mass death? No, that's not true. This claim was drawn from anecdotal observations that did not account for consequential variables, nor were these observations independently confirmed or corroborated by published or official data. With more…