Politics

Did Pope Benedict ask President Joe Biden not to attend his funeral? No, that's not true: According to a Vatican spokesperson, the wish of the retired head of the Catholic Church was to have a simple ceremony, and there is no evidence that Pope Benedict specifically excluded the U.S. president from the list of attendees. The White House told Lead…

Did the Central Intelligence Agency come up with the term "conspiracy theorist" to discredit the views of those casting doubts on the results of the official investigation into the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy? No, that's not true: Archival materials show that the term was in use before November 22, 1963, when the 35th president of the United States…

Did the U.S. House of Representatives' committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol withdraw its subpoena of former President Donald Trump because "they knew Trump did nothing wrong"? No, that's not true: The withdrawal had nothing to do with Trump's guilt or innocence. The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States…

Is former U.S. President Barack Obama the grandson of Nazi-era Germany's leader Adolf Hitler? No, that's not true: U.S. census data and Obama's birth certificate show that his mother, Ann Dunham, was born in Kansas in 1942 to American parents. She was not born in Germany to Hitler and his then-girlfriend, Eva Braun, as a social media post alleges. The…

Did "white hats" in the U.S. military "disable an amphibious cruiser that attacked GITMO" as of January 4, 2023? No, that's not true: The aircraft carrier identified with a photo as the "aggressor" was never put into service and was sold for scrap in 1971. Also, this claim was made on a website known for publishing fabricated content. The claim…

Did former President Donald Trump endorse Florida Rep. Byron Donalds for House speaker? No, that's not true: Trump, himself, says the claim is false. He described the statement making the claim as a forgery and a fake. Trump has publicly endorsed California Rep. Kevin McCarthy for the coveted House position. The claim appeared on Twitter (archived here) on January 4,…

Did Japan launch an official investigation into "millions of COVID vaccine deaths" in December 2022 or early January 2023? No, that's not true: As of January 4, 2023, there is no available evidence to suggest that "millions" of people in Japan had died as a result of COVID vaccines, nor had any such investigation been announced by public health officials…

Did former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi cry after Iowa's Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley presented information about business ties between Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, and the Chinese government? No, that's not true: Video footage posted on social media with this claim shows no confrontation between the two lawmakers. It shows Grassley speaking on the Senate…

Did President Joe Biden blame Elton John for the U.S. spending taxpayer money to "fight AIDS"? No, that's not true: There is missing context to this video. A transcript of this event shows that Biden is praising John. Both the audience and John applaud Biden's sentiments. The claim appeared on Instagram on January 1, 2023. The caption read: Flashback to…

Did police in Washington, D.C., arrest top virologist Dr. Anthony Fauci after Twitter CEO Elon Musk released information that Fauci lied about COVID-19 research and imposed unnecessary restrictions on Americans? No, that's not true: The claim appears in a story on a site that publishes satirical takes on the news. The claim appeared in a December 27, 2022 article by…

Did the World Economic Forum (WEF) issue an order directing the public to bathe once weekly or less as part of an effort to combat climate change and save the planet? No, that's not true: There is no credible evidence that WEF has issued such an order, nor does it have the authority to do so. The site that the…

Did the military arrest former FDA "Commisioner" Stephen Hahn? No, there's no evidence to substantiate that: The claim was reported on a website that is well-known for making up stories about public figures. The site posts a disclaimer warning readers that it contains "humor, parody, and satire." The headline on the story making the claim also misspelled commissioner as "commisioner."…

Is there a new health care stimulus program giving $5,200 to people who make under $50,000? No, that's not true: There are no government programs offering money to people as a health care stimulus as of this writing. The claim appeared on Facebook on December 27, 2022. The narrator of the video starts with: Guys, you are being ripped off…

Did Cristiano Ronaldo, an award-winning soccer player and the captain of the Portugal national team, sell some of his trophies -- European Golden Shoes -- and donate the money "to the children of Palestine" in 2011? No, that's not true: Such rumors about Ronaldo donating to Palestine have been circulating for the past 11 years, but no official announcements confirming…

Did the World Economic Forum (WEF) tweet that "Christmas must be abolished" to fight climate change? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that this is a real tweet and it does not appear on the official WEF Twitter account. The claim appeared in an article published by News Punch on December 24, 2022, titled "WEF Wants To Cancel…

Did then-President Barack Obama put this painting into storage in the White House in 2014 and has President Joe Biden put it up for auction? No, that's not true: This painting, "Washington Crossing the Delaware," was on loan from a private collector who decide to sell it to other private collectors. While it hung in the White House from the…

Does a photo circulating on social media show President Joe Biden "fondling" a child? No, that's not true: The image was digitally altered. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) published by the @realstewpeters account on December 30, 2022. It contained a picture showing Biden interacting with a toddler. The tweet said: What the EFF am I looking at…

Was "Russia's most advanced nuclear submarine' seen floating in Hawaii on December 26, 2022? No, that's not true: A social media post making the claim uses footage from a fictional TV show. The story appeared in a post published on Facebook on December 26, 2022. It contained a video of what appeared to show a beach crowd surprisingly observing an…

Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy bring a national flag with the "Nazi SS" symbol to Washington, D.C.? No, that's not true: The image circulating on social media was flipped to distort the original inscription. The claim appeared in a post published on Facebook on December 23, 2022. It contained an image showing U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President…

Did Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweet about celebrating Christmas by "putting migrants on a bus and kicking them out into the freezing cold"? No, that's not true: The tweet is fake. It combines a genuine photo of the governor's family with a made-up caption. The fake tweet appeared as a Facebook post published on December 27, 2022. It read: We…