Did political commentator Ben Shapiro receive a Paycheck Protection Program loan (PPP) loan of more than $20,000 that was later forgiven? No, that's not true: Shapiro did not receive such a loan. Rather, an individual with the same name as Shapiro was given the loan for their real estate business and received loan forgiveness. The claim appeared in a tweet…

Did the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas catch on fire on August 23, 2022? No, that's not true: The fire was behind the hotel in an abandoned warehouse, not at the actual hotel, according to the deputy fire chief of the area's fire department. The warehouse is about five minutes away by car from the hotel, which is why the…

Did former President Donald Trump say in a Truth Social post "Can't trust a guy named Weisselberg - know what I mean?" after Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg pled guilty to tax fraud? No, that's not true: The quote was a joke, according to professional comedian and former U.S. Sen. Al Franken, who tweeted it after news reports that Weisselberg…

Did Donald Trump Jr. tell Trump supporters via Twitter to not come to Mar-a-Lago because "many important people are coming through the club and we need to keep it clean"? No, that's not true: Trump Jr. did not tweet this; it's not on his verified Twitter account. The tweet was fabricated. The claim appeared in a tweet posted on Instagram…

Did Gov. Ron DeSantis argue with Sean Hannity about the FBI's role in the search of Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago home? No, that's not true: Video purporting to show the Florida governor defending the FBI search in a FOX News segment with Hannity and Trump daughter-in-law Lara Trump is altered. Video of DeSantis arguing with a reporter at a news conference…

Is this picture an accurate depiction of former President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: This picture has been widened to make it look as if Trump has gained weight. The true picture, credited to Getty Images, is not as wide and features Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the personal banker to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. The claim appeared in a…

Does an election night correction made to a private company's Colorado vote tallies prove the primary election was manipulated by dark forces? No, that's not true: There is no evidence the official results "stole" votes from Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters to increase the total for another GOP secretary of state candidate during the June 28, 2021, primary election in…

Does this image of a map show what a scientist thinks the United States will look like in 30 years if climate change is not reversed? No, that's not true: The image is a digital manipulation created to show the size of the Mediterranean Sea relative to familiar U.S. land masses. The map appeared in a Facebook post on July…

Is it likely that a church with a sign advocating for a particular vote on an issue will lose its tax-exempt status? Not really: Although the IRS suggests that 501(c)(3) organizations refrain from publicly supporting a particular vote on an issue when it's a part of an upcoming election, an outcome as drastic as the church losing its tax-exempt status…

Did Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas claim "aborted fetus cells" are in COVID vaccines in writing a decision by the Court to not take up a legal challenge by New York health care workers who opposed the state's vaccine mandate on religious grounds? No, that's not true: Thomas was quoting the petitioners' argument in the case. COVID vaccines are developed…

Did Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweet that Jesus Christ made a single day's worth of bullets last eight days and allowed the Continental Army to defeat socialist Mexicans and liberal Muslim British? No, that's not true: This is a fake tweet. There is no evidence of this tweet being on the Georgia Republican's Twitter profile. The claim appeared in a…

Has a political action committee proved that Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert had two abortions and worked as an unlicensed escort? No, as of June 19, 2022, the allegations about the anti-abortion Republican congresswoman, made in a press release from the American Muckrakers political action committee, include no independent verification or documentation. The allegations are corroborated only by what the PAC…

When the Second Amendment was passed in 1791, was a well-regulated militia restricted to one musket, two spare flints and 24 bullets? No, that's not true: The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not define what a well-regulated militia is, but The Militia Act of 1792 does lay out some of the parameters; and the numbers above are the…

Was Tucker Carlson endorsing Black supremacist theories on his show on January 11, 2021? No, that's not true: The FOX News host was actually attacking the theories Kristen Clarke -- at the time the nominee for U.S. assistant attorney general -- wrote about in college in 1994. The claim appeared in a video on Instagram on June 4, 2022. It…

Is it true that "a 9 mm bullet blows the lung out of the body"? No, that's not true: Lead Stories reached out to firearms experts and a trauma surgeon who said the claim is false. The claim was made by President Joe Biden on May 30, 2022. In an apparent attempt to make a case against what he called…

Did a representative of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott follow a family home after they identified the body of a child killed in the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting and offer to pay them to stand with him to oppose stronger gun laws -- as reported in a May 26, 2022, Twitter thread by an account called @MyCancerJourne3? No, that's not true:…

Does Ted Cruz have a "template ready to tweet" whenever shootings happen? No, that's not true: The Texas senator tweeted in response to the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022. But a viral tweet that makes it look like Cruz tweeted the same thing after other U.S. shootings is fake. The claim appeared in a Twitter post…

Did Republican turnout for the Pennsylvania primary on May 17, 2022, increase by some 500,000 votes over 2018? Yes, that's true: Election returns on the Pennsylvania Department of State's website through May 19, 2022, show an even bigger increase than that, topping 600,000 additional GOP ballots compared to 2018, depending on the race. More ballots for Democrats were cast, too,…

Did conservative commentator Candace Owens quote a tweet made by Fox News about ivermectin's hidden cost -- that many are suffering long-term bowel and urinary incontinence? No, that's not true: Both of the tweets shown in the screenshot -- the one spoofing Fox News and the response spoofing Candace Owens -- are fake. The right border of the fake Fox…

When President Joe Biden took office, was there no COVID-19 vaccine available? No, that's not true: The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine both received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emergency use authorizations (EUA) in December 2021. The vaccines were available but not widely available to the public while former President Donald Trump was still in office. The…