Nazi

Does a Justice Department indictment document say the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) organized the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and paid $300,000 to transport people there? No, that's not true, but it's complicated: The indictment states that one person did receive $300,000, but that SPLC paid that out over nine years. It also says that person "arranged…

Is a video that shows Joe Rogan saying he is considering refusing to commentate the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fight at the White House legitimate? No, that's not true: The video was labeled "Contains AI-generated media." Rogan did criticize the event on his podcast, saying he does not like the idea of fighting outside, but he did not say he…

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…

Did The Wall Street Journal report that U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner of Maine called his penis "Mein Furher" in a message to a woman? No, that's not true: That expression doesn't appear anywhere in the article reviewed by Lead Stories, and no credible evidence shows that Platner made such a statement. The purported quote is fabricated, and the phrase…

Did a real school teacher, Zayden Brantley, tweet that if parents want to view remote e-learning classes that the teacher should be able to view children's bath times? No, that's not true: The fake Twitter account which made a series of inflammatory tweets in August 2020 was deleted on Sept. 3, 2020. There is no evidence that Brantley was a…

Was Bruce Springsteen's summer tour canceled over his politics and lack of ticket sales? No, that's not true: The claim originated on a satirical Facebook page run by Christopher Blair, a self-described liberal with a documented history of creating fake content to trick conservatives into sharing it. The disclaimer from the account says "nothing on this page is real" and…

Did Lucas Morel discover a World War II era resistance printing operation in a secret room hidden in his basement in Lyon, France? No, that's not true: This fictional clickbait story set in Lyon, France originated on YouTube and is illustrated with AI-generated images. Lyon is known as the "Capital of the Resistance" in France, but other details of this…

Did Lufthansa offer free business class upgrades to people in Israel to apologize for the Holocaust? No, that's not true: The company publicly denied it. Two online AI detectors said the image purportedly providing the proof was likely to have been generated by AI. The claim originated from a post (archived here) published by the @0xRacist X account on March…

Did a long list of celebrities all say "He will never leave, we have to make him leave, it's up to us to get rid of him" about President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: Actor Robert De Niro was the only celeb who did this, appearing on "The Best People with Nicolle Wallace." False claims that Cher, Pink, Tom…

Did Bruce Springsteen, Jason Kelce, and Snoop Dogg, along with other entertainment and sports celebrities, call Trump adviser Stephen Miller a "Nazi" and "the Goebbels of the cabinet"? No, that's not true: The claim that a celebrity "called Trump's homeland security official Stephen Miller a 'Nazi'" is made about at least 20 celebrities but the quote actually came just from…