Storm-1516

Did Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyár, who is challenging sitting Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the April 2026 election, describe U.S. President Donald Trump as "a senile grandpa" in a public speech? No, that's not true: The claim originated from a fake report that stole the logo of Euronews, a real news organization, in an apparent attempt to make the…

Did German Chancellor Friedrich Merz use $550 million of state funds to build a private "doomsday" plane? No, that's not true: There is no credible evidence or proof that Merz commissioned a fortified warplane. The website that published the article was registered one day before the publication of the story and is not an established media organization. An online detection…

Was a video about Ukrainian drone operator Miroslav Radchenko shared on social media actually produced and distributed by Al Jazeera? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no traces of such a report broadcast or shared online by Al Jazeera or any other media outlet. Spreading false narratives through clips with logos of real media organizations is a well-known tactic…

Is a video showing a Politico report claiming Germany is preparing to take in 400,000 Palestinian refugees real? No, that's not true: There are no reports from Politico or any other news organization that Germany plans to take in hundreds of thousands of refugees, Palestinian or otherwise. In addition, an online AI detection tool determined that the audio in the…

Did the FBI put out a warning on X about illegal printers being used to make passports for remote early voting? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the FBI released such a warning. The FBI did release a warning against the "inauthentic use of bureau name, insignia in promoting false election-related narratives" such as the one seen…

Did the FBI and U.S. Department of Education release a video recommending that U.S. schools close until November 11, 2024, because of a significant increase in the risk of school shootings and riots during the presidential election? No, that's not true: The FBI has called the video "fake" and its contents "false." The U.S. Department of Education also has not…

Does a video prove the CIA identified 20 people who organized vote stuffing by using the identities of dead Americans who had lived in Europe? No, that's not true: The CIA told Lead Stories the allegation that they identified deceased Americans voting is "absolutel false." The video spreading the vote-stuffing story has substantial evidence of manipulation, an AI detector organization…

Does a video show an informant, who allegedly was once an aide to Arizona's secretary of state, telling about state plans to rig the election in favor of Kamala Harris? No, that's not true: This video is fabricated disinformation from a Russian propaganda network. A media forensics expert has identified it as one more example of the effort to spread…

Does a video show "illegal Haitians" saying they're voting for Kamala Harris in Georgia in Fulton and Gwinnett counties with driver's licenses they got after becoming citizens with just six months in the United States? No, that's not true: Names on the licenses flashed in the video were not found in the Georgia database of registered voters. The Georgia Secretary…

Did Sean "Diddy" Combs pay Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff $500,000 for a tip that alerted him to the police raids that were about to search his homes in Florida and California, according to a video with an article? No, that's not true: The federal government announced that "Russian influence actors" manufactured the video. The article was published…