Did President Biden say the US didn't have a COVID-19 vaccine before he took office? No, that's not true: he said there was no supply of the vaccine in storage awaiting distribution, not that the vaccine didn't exist. The words in quotation marks in the meme are not an accurate verbatim quote and also leave out the rest of what…

Was Joe Biden silent on the 4 million people without power due to a February 2021 winter storm? No, that's not true. The president did not appear on camera to address the situation, but he made several public statements about the storm and its effects. Biden approved a disaster declaration on February 14, 2021, which was published on the official…

Are renewable energy sources the main reason for blackouts amid a deadly winter storm? No, that's not true: Renewables like wind and solar continue to produce, according to power grid officials, and are not the leading cause of the blackouts. Experts consulted by Lead Stories generally agreed that if any one source was most to blame it would be natural…

Did U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, have an unflattering "photo" of her removed from Twitter? No, that's not true: First, it's not a photo. It's a caricature that depicts the congresswoman flashing a toothy grin, revealing an overbite and ample gum line. Second, it was still on Twitter and other social media as of February 18,…

Was the United States' energy independence "sent back fifty years" in 10 days? No, that's not true: Although it's true that the country was "energy independent" in 2019 for the first time in more than 60 years, there's no evidence policy changes or anything else reversed that in the 10 days leading up to the claim, which was made February…

Did leaked visitor logs reveal Adam Schiff visited Epstein Island 78 times? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to mislead Trump supporters and Republicans into sharing made up stories that are clearly marked as satire when you actually click them. Articles from the site are frequently copied by foreign-run fake news…

Do newly released flight logs put Joe Biden on Jeffery Epstein's "Lolita Express" jet? No, that's not true: The website that published the story is a satire website and the contents, including purported quotes, are fabricated. No new flight logs from Epstein's private plane have been released, and Joe Biden was never mentioned in any of the previously published flight…

Was $33 million spent on Donald Trump's first impeachment? No, that's not true: No government accounting of what was spent has been released. Independent estimates vary, but all put the cost of the trial at way under $33 million. One was as low as $1.8 million. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published on January 30, 2021.…

Does "military-hating" Kamala Harris want to shut down the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)? No, that's not true: The claim is based on an article that was posted to a satirical website and included made-up quotes from the vice president. The satirical article (archived here) was published by America's Last Line of Defense on February 9, 2021. The article, titled…

Is China building a military base in Jamaica right now? No, that's not true: The claim was made without reference to corroborating evidence. There's no publicly available evidence to support the claim, and an expert consulted by Lead Stories said that such a move wouldn't even make sense for China currently. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here)…

Did the price of a barrel of oil increase from $25 a barrel to more than $61 a barrel in the three weeks since Joe Biden became president on January 20, 2021? No, that's not true: The price of oil has not been in the $25 range since May 13, 2020, when it closed at $25.29 a barrel. On Inauguration…

Does a "Welcome to Australia" road sign warn newcomers that they will be required to get a job and work for money if they want a good lifestyle? No, that's not true: The sign featured in this meme was photoshopped, a product of "Freedom of Speech Productions - Australian Right Wing Memes and News" in 2016 to present their point…

Did President Joe Biden sign a bill creating a 45% capital gains tax? No, that's not true: In order for the president to sign such a bill, both houses of Congress would have first have to have passed it. Lead Stories searched for such a bill on Congress. gov, which allows a user to track a bill's status. We found…

Did a regulatory freeze on "any new and pending rules" put in place by the Biden Administration on January 20, 2021 cause the price of insulin to increase? No, that's not true: Among Trump's executive orders President Biden froze for 90 days was one aimed at saving insulin users money. The Trump order was to have required federally approved health…

Has former President Donald Trump won "two-thirds of the cases that have been adjudicated by the courts" in his crusade to overturn the election result? That's only true if you leave out certain cases and add in others. The "two-thirds" claim ignores important context: Jonathan L. Entin, professor emeritus of law and an adjunct professor of political science at Case…

Did the United States go from the "highest" in exports of oil and natural gas to the "lowest" in one week during January 2021? No, that's not true: Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) do not support that claim. During the week in question, exports of crude oil and petroleum products did not fall; they actually rose. It's…

Was the fatal shooting of a woman at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, exposed as a Hollywood stunt? No, that's not true: The death of Ashli Babbitt during last month's riots is very much real. It was confirmed by authorities and her family. The suggestion that the event was staged relies entirely on conjecture and speculation; it has…

Was an interim military U.S. government installed in the days after a fake staged inauguration of Joe Biden was broadcast, and were 80 to 140 members of Congress arrested by the National Guard in the middle of the night on January 25, 2021, and did U.S. and Taiwanese fighter jets win a war with the Chinese Communist Party in a…

Does a newly discovered video show late-night deliveries of illegal ballots in Detroit, Michigan? No, that's not true: The ballots were legal votes. The 8 p.m. Election Day deadline was for casting ballots not counting them. The Michigan secretary of state's office told Lead Stories that what took place was "standard and appropriate practice." The claim appeared in an article…

Did Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr. announce they have joined forces to create a new social media platform called "Trump Force One"? No, that's not true: Trump Jr. did ask Musk to create a new social media platform after Twitter and Facebook banned his father, former President Donald Trump, but there is no publicly available evidence that the SpaceX…