Rachel Maddow

Did Rachel Maddow, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel just team up and launch a newsroom named "The Independent Desk"? No, that's not true: The story appeared on a recently launched website that does not list owners or publishers and it just adds Jimmy Kimmel to an older false story about Maddow and Colbert. The new story also contains verifiably untrue…

Did MSNBC host Rachel Maddow "takedown" White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller on air in a live interview? No, that's not true: Miller has never appeared on Maddow's show. The social media post and article saying it happened offered no proof of a date or time or evidence that the interview ever took place. There are no credible…

Did Stephen Colbert and Rachel Maddow announce a new show together, after CBS cancelled "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" in July 2025? No, that's not true: Maddow's blog called the story "false news". The rumor was published on a relatively obscure blog and reposted on Facebook. The fake story appeared in a July 20, 2025, blog post (archived here)…

Was President Donald Trump's son Barron drafted into the military as of June 30, 2025? No, that's not true: According to the Selective Service website, the United States hasn't drafted anyone for more than half a century, as of this writing. Footage presented as a report by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, on the supposed drafting, was fake. The claim originated in…

Did President Donald Trump's economic advisor Peter Navarro once attribute quotations to a supposed expert named "Ron Vara", who turned out to have been invented by Navarro himself? Yes, that's true: Navarro admitted in 2019 to having invented "Ron Vara", which is an anagram of "Navarro". He cited Vara's supposed opinions and quotations in several books dating back to 2001.…

Did an authentic video show Rachel Maddow crying on air in November 2024 over an Elon Musk meme concerning ownership of MSNBC? No, that's not true: The clip was taken from a June 20, 2018 MSNBC broadcast. Maddow had become emotional while reading a report about babies and young children sent to immigration shelters in South Texas. The claim appeared…

Did MSNBC host Rachel Maddow break down crying and run off the set due to the results of the 2024 U.S. presidential election? No, that's not true: This post came from a self-described satirical Facebook account. The website attached to this account has a disclaimer that says, "Nothing on this page is real." The post appeared on Facebook on November…

Did Hillary Clinton suggest jailing Americans for posting "misinformation" and saying "there needs to be deterrence"? No, that's missing context: She said that, aside from indictments against Russians for "direct election interference," civil or criminal charges against Americans parroting Russian state propaganda for money would be a "better deterrence" against Moscow's propaganda efforts. The former U.S. secretary of state was…

Did MSNBC host Rachel Maddow post on X discouraging people from disclosing vaccine injuries "on social media," as a post on Instagram suggested? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for MSNBC confirmed to Lead Stories that "the post is fake." Lead Stories also conducted advanced searches through Maddow's X profile, both live and archived versions, dating to February 15, 2024,…

Did the U.S. Judge Advocate General's Corps arrest 97 media personnel in November and December 2023? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer told Lead Stories that this claim is false. Also, the website where this claim was made declares it publishes fabricated content. The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on January 21, 2024,…