Politics

Does a video show President Joe Biden struggling to speak during an MSNBC interview? No, that's not true: The video has been heavily edited to only show when the president stumbled over his words and it is not a true depiction of what he said in the nearly 20-minute interview, as an uncut version of the interview shows. The claim…

Did U.S. Navy SEALs take down a Florida child trafficking ring and arrest Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, as was livestreamed on Facebook by Child Parent Safety (Cps) News Network on July 25, 2023? No, that's not true: Presidential candidate DeSantis was not arrested, and the footage of a military operation was not live, but recycled footage taken from staged tactical…

Was the film "Barbie" banned in Serbia because of a scene containing a map of "Greater Albania"? No, that's not true: The film was not banned in Serbia and such a map doesn't appear in the movie. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) posted to TikTok on July 5, 2023. It contained a supposed screenshot of an article…

Was CNN anchor Larry Madowo "threatened on live TV" by a Ugandan government minister? No, that's not true: An authentic interview between CNN One World's Larry Madowo and Ugandan Foreign Minister Gen. Jeje Odongo that aired on August 24, 2021, discussed whether Uganda's citizens were being tried for treasonous acts. Two days later, the entertainment YouTube channel EduTV KE posted…

Does the music video "Try That In A Small Town" by country music singer Jason Aldean only contain "real news footage," as he asserted in a public response to criticism that his song and video promote violence and allude to timeworn lynching threats? No, that's not true: Not every clip in the video is news footage. There are several stock…

Did public health experts discredit the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies got emergency authorization from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA)? No, that's not true: While the new vaccines were being developed, ivermectin was also being studied as a potential treatment for COVID. Field trials did not find conclusive evidence that…

Did former President Barack Obama say that pedophiles deserve the "same rights'' as 2SLGBTQI+ people? No, that's not true: The tweet attributed to him that says, "Minor-attracted persons deserve human rights" is fabricated and was never posted by Obama. The article making the claim says his recent open letter about banning books was "specifically referring to sexually explicit books," though…

Is there a huge traffic jam leaving Kyiv to get to western Ukraine "right now," on July 17, 2023? No, that's not true: The video shown in this tweet goes back at least to August 22, 2022. It does not show a traffic jam made up of people fleeing Kyiv for western Ukraine due to purported concerns over Russian retaliation…

Is a social media post featuring an audio recording of President Joe Biden talking about the banks collapsing real? No, that's not true: Experts in digital forensics and deepfakes told Lead Stories that the recording is not authentic. The claim appeared in a post and video on Instagram on April 22, 2023, under the title "President Biden. The fiat dollar…

Did NBC News report that the news outlet was told that several of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' classmates "vaguely referred to an event known as the 'muffin incident'"? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that NBC News published a claim about a "muffin incident" and DeSantis. The article posted by the news outlet on DeSantis the same day…

Did President Joe Biden fall asleep during an important meeting with the president of Israel? No, that's not true: Biden met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the White House on July 18, 2023. A video clip posted on Instagram shows a moment during the meeting with the sound removed. Biden had some note cards on his lap and he…

Did the German newspaper Handelsblatt publish a cartoon of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its front page in the aftermath of the 2023 NATO summit, calling to "reconsider attitudes" toward support of Zelenskyy and Ukraine? No, that's not true: No such cover could be found on the Handelsblatt official website. The story appeared in a tweet (archived here) published on…

Did U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris laugh at a question about Ukrainian refugees at a press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw on May 10, 2022? No, that's not true: Harris did laugh following questions about Ukrainian refugees, but she wasn't laughing at them or their plight. The laughter followed an awkward pause as the U.S. vice president…

Does a video show President Joe Biden browsing and selecting books in a store's section called "Brain Exercises for Dementia"? No, that's not true: The video was altered to add a sign with those words on it. Biden was actually picking up children's books in 2012. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Instagram on July 16, 2023.…

Did an unnamed source with the Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) disclose to Real Raw News that there are about 19,000 sealed indictments held on U.S. physicians and medical staff for criminally coercing patients to get the COVID-19 vaccine in an unlawful and unethical partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of…

Does a pro-Ron DeSantis PAC ad use a real recording of former President Donald Trump's voice? No, that's not true: The audio of Trump used in the ad was created by artificial intelligence, the spokesperson for the political action committee told Lead Stories. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published by Never Back Down on July 18, 2023,…

Did Vice President Kamala Harris give a speech to say reducing population is a goal of the climate change movement? No, that's not true: While she did say the words "reduce population," a While House official confirmed to Lead Stories that the intended word was "pollution," and a correction made in the White House transcript reflects that. In her speech…

Did a young woman blindside former vice president Mike Pence while he was walking in a parade, hitting him squarely in the back of the head with a water balloon? No, that's not true: The video shows the Stewart Manor 4th of July Parade in Hempstead, New York, where throwing water balloons is part of a long standing tradition --…

Did the World Economic Forum (WEF) say that a central bank digital currency (CBDC) microchip must be "implanted under your skin" to participate in society? No, that's not true: Richard Werner, a German economist and professor who is not employed by the WEF, talked about the possible future use of microchip implants to regulate the availability of CBDC funds and…

Did the Department of Justice under President Joe Biden decide that "international sex trafficking of minors" was no longer an area of concern for prosecution? No, that's not true: A Department of Justice (DOJ) spokesperson told Lead Stories that the suggestion that international child sex trafficking was not a priority for the administration is "false." The DOJ website no longer…