Current Events

Did Kroger, Food Lion and Publix all announce a 4 percent price cut across the board since Donald Trump won 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 claim appeared in a…

Does an image on social media authentically show Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a ventilator in a hospital? No, that's not true: The picture shows a person with a differently shaped ear. Lead Stories analysis found other inconsistencies that strongly suggested digital manipulation. The image has been on social media since at least 2023. The picture reappeared in a…

Did the U.S. Senate "accidentally" pass the Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks Act, known as the ETHICS Act, which will prevent Donald Trump from becoming president of the United States in 2025? No, that's not true: The act would not ban Trump from becoming president because it "bans actions, not people," a spokesperson for Sen. Jeff Merkley, the…

Was former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper recorded in a 2021 videotaped deposition saying that Vice President Mike Pence and several others conspired in an attempt to remove President Donald Trump from office? No, that's not true: The recording is actually of a different person, Ryan Dark White, a failed U.S. Senate candidate who also used the name Jon…

Did the Financial Times publish a video on social media reporting that "a Bombardier employee deliberately defaced aircraft parts to protest the company's return to the Russian market"? No that's not true: The Financial Times did not publish this report, and there are no credible reports of this type of employee sabotage happening at the Canadian aviation company. The post…

Did a video show actors Brad Pitt and George Clooney "hit the Trump dance" to the song, "Y.M.C.A." by Village People? No, that's not true: "Y.M.C.A." was edited onto the video. The original audio has the two dancing to Sade's "Smooth Operator." Multiple reliable sources have reported that Pitt and Clooney were dancing to "Smooth Operator," and not "Y.M.C.A." The…

Did Elon Musk state that X accounts that called him "fat" or "The First Lady" would be "suspended without warning"? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Musk ever made such a post. There are still posts calling him those phrases on the platform. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Threads on November 20, 2024.…

Does a video show Adm. Rachel L. Levine, the assistant secretary of health and human services, performing what is described as a pagan ritual? No, that's not true: A reverse image search revealed that the woman in the video is someone else, a spokesperson for the pagan religion and a clinical psychotherapist. No credible news media have reported that Levine…

Did billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman post on Bluesky that he suggests acquiring that platform to shut it down to "prevent further fracturing of the town square"? No, that's not true: The viral image showed a fake post from a suspended account. Ackman's representative confirmed to Lead Stories that the billionaire didn't write the post attributed to him and…

Did Major League Soccer or FIFA publicly announce that LGBTQ+ flags will be prohibited at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup? No, that's not true: The rumor originated from websites with satire labels. As of November 20, 2024, Lead Stories found no confirmation that either of the two sports organizations had issued such a statement. The claim appeared in a…

Can a person get a concealed carry gun permit 100 percent online by just answering six simple questions? No, that's not true: To get the promoted New Hampshire Non-resident Pistol/Revolver License, the customer must still fill out the application and pay for one. Ads promising a Concealed Carry Permit "100% online" are misleading, actually offering an unnecessary "pre-qualifying" service. The…

Is the Pentagon spending $86 billion on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives? No, that's not true: The most recent budget request in April 2024 asked for $162 million. The Fox News guest who originally suggested the much higher number has since retracted her statement. The claim appeared in a post on X (archived here) on November 18, 2024. It said:…

Would President-elect Donald Trump's immigration plan have denied his son Barron citizenship in the United States? No, that's not true: Barron Trump's father is a U.S. citizen. While his mother Melania Trump was not yet a naturalized citizen when Barron was born in 2006 in New York City, she was a legal resident at the time. Thus under Trump's stated…

Did Arnold Schwarzenegger wear a T-shirt that said, "I didn't vote for the McFelon"? No, that's not true: The photo appearing to show that scene has been altered. The original photo showed Schwarzenegger wearing a plain black T-shirt without any slogan on it. The photo was taken in March 2024, at the 2024 Arnold Sports Festival UK, which was held…

Did Donald Trump post on his Truth Social account that MSNBC host Joe Scarborough "approached me like a scolded dog" during a post-election meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence? No, that's not true: Lead Stories searched the president-elect's profile and found no evidence that he had written such a thing. A search of a site that archives Trump's Truth Social posts…

Was the Sephora company "a huge donor" to Donald Trump's 2024 campaign? No, that's not true: Neither the company nor any Sephora employee donated to the Trump campaign or Trump-favored political action committee, according to OpenSecrets.org. The company said in a statement: "Sephora does not make corporate donations to political candidates." Records show some Sephora employees did contribute to Kamala…

Did Fox News report that California Gov. Gavin Newsom will withhold California's $235 billion 2025 federal income tax? No, that's not true: A Fox News spokesperson told Lead Stories that this was not reported on Fox News. Also, the claim originally appeared on an account describing itself as "Raw Unfiltered Parody." The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on…

Did Vladimir Putin say in a televised address on November 17, 2024, that Russia could use nuclear weapons if Ukraine launches "a mass missile" to strike targets inside Russia? No, that's not true: A viral post on X reused footage from almost two months before November 2024, when reports said the Biden administration was removing a long-standing ban on the…

Did former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz tweet on X about "age gap dating" in November 2024? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Gaetz ever made such a post. Also, the account that published a screenshot of the supposed Gaetz post later revealed online that it was fake. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Threads…

Did Mike Tyson drape a Palestinian flag around his shoulders around the time of a boxing match? No, that's not true: Tyson's publicist confirmed that the photo of him appearing to wear the flag was "a fake." Online image analysis tools suggest the viral image may be the product of artificial intelligence. The photo appeared in a post (archived here)…