Budget

Is an "Internal Memorandum" reportedly from the White House Butler's Office about missing cutlery real? No, that's not true: There is no credible evidence that the memo is authentic, especially since there is no White House Butler's Office to begin with. The creator of the social media post also acknowledged that the memo was "satire" when someone responding to the…

Did Netflix announce a "Till the End" series directed by Joe Berlinger to explore the lives of at least 62 celebrities? No, that's not true: The false claims originated from AI-generated articles and posts created by a spam operation managed from Vietnam. Fake fan pages are used to target North American and European Facebook users with nearly identical posts using…

Is a photo of President Donald Trump with one eye closed and the other half open with the U.S. Marine Corps flag behind him new as of April 24, 2026? No, that's not true: The image appeared in social media posts as early as November 2020, although Lead Stories has been unable to pinpoint the exact date it was captured.…

Is a video real that shows a biker on a snowy path being attacked by a mountain lion and falling off the mountain? No, that's not true: Two different online detection tools rated the video as very likely generated by AI. In reality, deadly mountain lion attacks are incredibly rare, with only 29 reported cases since 1868 according to the…

Did various politicians and celebrities all hand down a "verdict" for a "$120 million ultimatum" to former President Barack Obama over repayments related to Obamacare? No, that's not true: Several such stories naming people as diverse as Jeanine Pirro, Jim Caviezel, Kid Rock and Stevie Nicks issuing the same "ruling" were posted by a network of foreign-run Facebook pages. The…

Did California pay the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) more than $100 million mainly to fund protests as a viral social media post said? No, that's not true: California's payments to CHIRLA were overwhelmingly tied to immigration legal services and social welfare programs. There is no evidence in state budget records that any funds were used to pay or…

Does a video titled "Operation Metro Freeze" show real footage of a deportation flight in Minnesota? No, that's not true: AI made that clip. Early versions of it showed a watermark pointing to a specific generative AI tool and it's unlikely a military transport plane would have a tail number like the one in the video. The claim appeared in…

Did Donald Trump write a letter to Nancy Pelosi on December 20, 2019 which contained a hidden message, "FUck YoU CUNT," spelled in the first letter of every line? No, that's not true: A search of the Trump White House archives did not produce a match for the screenshot which was posted on social media. There is no official record…

Does a viral video show a black woman "robbing a white woman because Trump cut food stamps"? No, that's not true: The video was posted online three years before the 2025 government shutdown that threatened to delay or cut food subsidies. It shows a 2022 incident in Texas unrelated to Trump or the 2025 federal budget. The outdated video was…

Did Walmart fire an executive who was taking $30,000 daily in kickbacks from an Indian staffing agency in an H-1B visa scandal? No, that's not true: Walmart denied the reason they fired anyone had to do with H-1B visas or a kickback scandal. The outlet that amplified the news posted a disclaimer saying they had not received verification from Walmart…