Politics

Does the image in this tweet document Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska on what appears to be a private jet after she spent "€40000 on a shopping trip in Paris"? No, that's not true: The image is a digital manipulation that puts her face on a selfie posted by a bitcoin promoter in August of 2022 on his Twitter feed.…

Did former German Chancellor Angela Merkel reveal in an interview plans by the United States and NATO for war in Ukraine with Russia? No, that's not true: Nowhere in her interview with the German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel, which was published in November 2022, does she talk about NATO plans for the war. The claim appeared in a Facebook…

Did Elon Musk file a billion dollars in lawsuits against "totally unprepared" Kathy Griffin? No, that's not true: The site that posted the story and a "Fact Check" follow-up is satirical. There are clearly marked disclaimers on the website that state everything on the site is a satirical work of fiction. The claim appeared as an article (archived here) where…

Was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hanged at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba? No, that's not true: The claim was reported on a website well-known for making up stories about public figures. The site has a disclaimer warning readers not to take its content too seriously, as the site contains "humor, parody, and satire." The claim appeared in an…

Did Elon Musk announce, as of December 24, 2022, that he is running for president? No, that's not true: As one of the most-reported-on persons of 2022, any such announcement would have been a top story for dozens of credible professional news organizations. No such reporting existed as of December 27, 2022. Nor had Musk, who owns Twitter and uses…

Does New Zealand allow abortions "on demand for any reason up to birth"? No, that's not true: According to a 2020 law, pregnancy terminations after the 20-week mark undergo a thorough review by at least two licensed health practitioners who have to consider multiple aspects of the situation to decide whether abortion is "clinically appropriate in the circumstances." The claim…

Did President Joe Biden put his hand on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's buttocks while pausing for a photo op during Zelenskyy's December 2022 visit to the United States? No, that's not true: The original image was posted to Twitter by Jill Biden and shows both Jill Biden's and Joe Biden's hands on Zelenskyy's back. The image was digitally edited and…

Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy say the word "butthole" when giving President Joe Biden a medal at the White House? No, that's not true: Zelenskyy was saying "Pavlo," the name of the Ukrainian Army military captain who sent his merit award to Biden. The video that claims Zelenskyy gave Biden a "butthole" award does not reflect what the Ukrainian leader…

Was Adolf Hitler, the head of the Nazi Party and dictator of Germany, actually black and does this photo prove it? No, that's not true: This picture is a color photo converted into black and white from an episode of a TV sitcom called "Community." The claim appeared on Instagram on December 23, 2022. It said: The more you know…

Do records in an FBI file indicate that John F Kennedy Jr. wrote a letter in 1994 to then-Sen. Joe Biden calling him a traitor and also saying, "You must die"? No, that's not true: The FBI did investigate a threat letter sent from Worcester, Massachusetts, to Biden in Washington, D.C., on August 26, 1994, that was signed "John F.…

Did Rep. Scott Perry make an official statement saying that "Italian satellites," the CIA and the Italian government collaborated to manipulate votes in President Joe Biden's favor? No, that's not true: According to Perry's office and a review of his Twitter account, the television graphic containing that statement is fake. Though he made no such official statement and the television…

Did former White House Covid-19 coordinator Jeff Zients die at Guantanamo Bay's Camp Delta in Cuba on December 21, 2022, after being arrested by the U.S. military? No, that's not true. This claim originated from an article published on a satirical website that cited anonymous sources and repeated already debunked false statements. The claim appeared in an article (archived here)…

Did Chick-fil-A just donate "another $1.8 million to anti-LGBTQ groups"? No, that's not true: The claim is a copy of a headline first published in 2019. The old story reported the fast food chain donated a combined $1.8 million to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Salvation Army. Chick-fil-A has since announced a "more focused giving approach ... giving…

Were the FBI payments to Twitter, documented in what's known as Part 7 of the "Twitter Files", compensation for censoring? No, that's not true: The evidence provided shows the payments were reimbursement for costs associated with the company's work responding to information requests from the FBI. Claims that the FBI was paying for content moderation are false, according to a…

Does a video of a congressional hearing show a Democratic congresswoman from California saying she believes pedophilia is an identity and not a crime? No, that's not true: Katie Porter's remarks were about the use of false narratives on social media that label LGBTQ individuals as pedophiles because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. The claim appeared in a…

Did Michelle Obama's doctor go on the record about the former first lady using a urinal during the 2008 presidential campaign, thereby proving that she is a man? No, that's not true: The article making this claim originated in 2017 on a now-defunct satirical website called America's Last Line of Defense. Clearly marked disclaimers on the original website, run by…

Does an image of a flight log shared on social media show that a private jet owned by Elon Musk traveled to Little St. James Island -- also known as "Epstein Island" -- a dozen times since 2010? No, that's not true: The map has been acknowledged as a fake by its maker, and no plane can fly to the…

Did the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, commonly known as Harry and Meghan, accidentally release a professional photo that was so badly edited that it revealed that their "invisible" daughter Lilibet is not a real child? No, that's not true: This clickbait headline plays off a conspiracy trope that Meghan's pregnancies and children are not real. There is no indication…

Did the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps find U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona guilty of child endangerment? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer told Lead Stories that this claim is false. Also, Lead Stories recently debunked the claim that Cardona was arrested by the U.S. military, and both claims were made on a website that publishes…

Did a Facebook video reveal that Elon Musk leaked information that proves President Joe Biden is "mortally sick"? No, that's not true: This video has a clickbait title and does not say Musk has inside information that Biden is ill. There are also no news articles about Musk revealing information about Biden's health. The claim appeared on Facebook on December…