Did President Joe Biden, George Soros and former President Barack Obama talk about fulfilling the conspiracy theory of tyrannically taking over the world, otherwise known as the New World Order? No, that's not true: The quotes are legitimate, but they are used out of context. The claim appeared in a Facebook post on April 27, 2022. However, its origin seems…

Does joining The Satanic Temple give a member legal protection to terminate a pregnancy? Not necessarily: According to legal experts, it could -- but joining "opportunistically" probably won't be applicable. Or as Mark Tushnet, the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law emeritus at Harvard Law School, wrote in an email to Lead Stories on May 4, 2022, such a claim…

Should parents make and feed homemade baby formula to their infants if they can't find or afford it? No, that's not true: For years, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Infant Nutrition Council of America have all advised against making and feeding homemade baby formula to infants. Such recipes could rob babies…

Does the movie "2000 Mules" prove the 2020 presidential election was stolen by voter fraud? No, that's not true: The film's producers promote a theory that 2,000 people in five key swing states collected and delivered hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots on behalf of a "cartel" to throw the election in favor of Joe Biden. The cellphone geotracking data…

Did former U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy say he saw the movie "2000 Mules" at Mar-a-Lago and that he "always believed that rampant cheating occurred" in the 2020 election? No, that's not true: The Republican from South Carolina told Lead Stories both claims are "100 percent false." The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) by the account Trey Gowdy…

Did the CEO of Pfizer get arrested? Was the vice president of Pfizer detained by federal agents recently? No, neither of these claims are true: A spokesperson from Pfizer told Lead Stories that these claims are false. Vancouver Times, which wrote about the Pfizer vice president, is satirical according to its About Us section. Meanwhile, another site -- Fast News…

Are people in Alabama who seek or get an abortion "thrown in prison for life," even if the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest? No, that's not true: There's no such law in Alabama. In 2019, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed into law a bill designed to essentially ban abortion in the state, except for when an abortion…

Was the founder of the Timberland boot company an 18th-century slave owner in Mississippi named Timberland Hawkins who hung slaves he couldn't auction from a tree in his field that's still standing and is now featured as the Timberland company logo? No, none of that is true: This post is a spinoff from earlier false social media rumors that the…

Did a military tribunal sentence Tom Vilsack, the U.S. secretary of agriculture, to hang? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) told Lead Stories that this claim is false. A duty officer for the Pentagon told us that this story was "ridiculous" and "untrue." Real Raw News, the website that published this story, is…

Did Tennessee and Missouri ban Plan B and other emergency contraceptive pills? No, that's not true: These states are not banning Plan B and other morning-after pills at the time of writing. Tennessee legislators passed a bill criminalizing certain actions by health professionals related to abortion-inducing pills, which are entirely different than emergency contraceptive pills. Meanwhile, discussions about Missouri's abortion…

Is there an orchestrated globalist plot to control the world's population that includes burning down food processing plants, introducing bird flu to commercial poultry flocks, raising the price of fertilizer and disrupting the growing season in Ukraine and Russia with war? No, that's not true: The title of this video is clickbait, there is no "shocking truth" revealed. Many of…

Does rubbing a generous amount of Vicks VapoRub on feet and covering them with socks minimize coughing? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that using Vicks VapoRub on the feet will stop a cough. The company says it should be used as a topical cough suppressant on the chest and throat. The claim appeared in a Facebook post…

Do Pfizer documents prove the COVID-19 vaccine claim of 95% efficacy is "completely false"? No, that's not true. It's also not true that the vaccine hurts fetuses: While the 95% efficacy claim cited in memes on social media is a small exaggeration of actual study results, Pfizer documents submitted for emergency use authorization (EUA) and licensure of the vaccine showed…

Did winning Kentucky Derby jockey Sonny Leon turn down a White House invitation, saying he didn't want to see "a horse's ass"? No, that's not true: This is a fake quote that has been recycled since at least 2018 and previously debunked by Lead Stories. The claim appeared in a Facebook post on May 8, 2022. Beside the image of…

Did King Township in Ontario, Canada, install new electric vehicle charging stations that are powered with a diesel generator? No, that's not true: A communications officer with King Township informed Lead Stories the generator that appears in the photo does not run on diesel, but natural gas. It is the back-up power supply for a critical piece of township infrastructure…

Do U.S. government laws say no American can own a house or car and that all children are wards of the state? No, that's not true: According to Jeff Feldman, professor of practice at the University of Washington Law School, individuals or entities can own real property that the government does not own. Scott C. Idleman, a professor at Marquette…

Did Polish armed forces write a letter in April 2022 announcing a plan to send "airborne units" to Ukraine? No, that's not true: The Armed Forces General Command of Poland debunked the claim. There are also no other credible reports of such an order. The claim appeared in this tweet (archived here) posted on May 2, 2022. The tweet included…

Does the government cover free dental work for senior citizens through plans called "Senior Alliance Program" or "Dental Alliance"? No, that's not true: Medicare does not cover most dental work and dental procedures, and Lead Stories did not find any program with the name "Senior Alliance Program" or "Dental Alliance" on the official Medicare website. Medicare Advantage Plans offer dental…

Do fat cells have "eternal life"? No, that's not true: While a post making that claim is a joke, we found the question interesting so we reached out to a few experts anyway and an Obesity Medicine Association (OMA) committee member told us that fat cells die just like any other type of cell. The director of the Michigan Nutrition…

Did illustrator Lainey Molnar make a webcomic where the two panels compare "An Established And Complete Woman" with "A Victim Of Feminism"? No, that's not true: The original artwork has undergone several changes. Some changes were made by the artist. Other, trolling alterations were made by an unidentified person who also changed the intent of the original message with a…