Society

Does a video show California's governor, Gavin Newsom, falling down the steps while deplaning? No, that's not true: According to the person who first posted it, the footage, filmed in 2014, shows Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who at that time was the coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats. The California's Governor's office confirms that the video does not show Newsom. The old…

Did American TV producer and host Oprah Winfrey endorse a "minimum wage subsidy card" that helps those with hourly wages below $26 pay for gas and groceries? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no proof of such an incentive. The video making this claim, which looked like a live broadcast, appears to have been edited. The claim appeared in…

Did U.S. Special Forces arrest Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak and Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko on U.S. soil as of November 17, 2023? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer confirmed for Lead Stories that this claim is false. The website where this claim was published carries a disclaimer saying it publishes "humor, parody and satire." The claim appeared…

Does data pulled from the Adverse Event Reporting System and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System prove that COVID-19 vaccines have caused more than 1.4 million adverse events and over 32,000 deaths as of November 25, 2022? No, that's not true: The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, known as VAERS, is a government database of negative health reactions to vaccines…

Does a viral video show proof that the U.S. national debt was paid off in 2017? No, that's not true: The U.S. Treasury website shows the current U.S. national debt, which is about $33.7 trillion, a number accepted by U.S. financial markets, independent economists and the Federal Reserve Bank. The video relies on paperwork that has nothing to do with…

Does the Fair Credit Reporting Act allow anyone to permanently remove anything hurting their credit report? No, that's not true: Consumers have the right to dispute inaccurate information, but there is no new provision that allows a customer or company acting on their behalf to remove accurate but negative information from a credit report. The FCRA, which was passed in…

Is the U.S. government planning to order young women to enlist in the military? No, that's not true: At the time of writing, November 17, 2023, there is no plan afoot to draft women, a Defense Department spokesperson told Lead Stories. There is currently no draft -- there hasn't been since 1973 -- and the law requires that only men…

Does a video on Facebook show singer Cardi B. endorsing a "health spending card" from the U.S. government? No, that's not true: The footage of music artist Belcalis Almanzar-Cephus comes from a video in which she promoted a "holiday drink" she had made; not a health spending card. The U.S. government has denounced as scams any "spending cards" supposedly issued…

Did House Speaker Mike Johnson say that "homosexual relationships" were "more satisfying than hetero relationships"? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Johnson ever publicly made that statement. The fake quote may have been inspired by an opinion column Johnson wrote in 2004 that supported a same-sex marriage ban in Louisiana, his home state. The claim appeared in…

Did Indian billionaire and businessman N.R. Narayana Murthy endorse a quantum computing software that uses quantum AI to trade stocks? No, that's not true: A fake voice has been used in a video on social media to make it appear Murthy made this endorsement. Lead Stories could not find any evidence to substantiate that Murthy made these statements. We also…

Did the Ministry of Health in Gaza announce that all the ICU patients at the Al Shifa hospital had died in mid-November 2023 because of Israeli bombardments and cutting off electricity as well as blocking supplies? No, that's not true: Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila misstated at a November 11, 2023, news briefing that all 39 babies at the hospital…

Does a compilation of gun camera clips show Israeli Apache helicopters firing on civilians who were running from the Supernova music festival during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023? No, that's not true: Independent investigators with GeoConfirmed identified locations in the footage near one of the Gaza border fence breaches several miles away from the location of the music…

Did music artist Carrie Underwood cancel all remaining shows with music artist Garth Brooks, saying she "didn't enjoy the booing"? No, that's not true: This claim appeared in an article on a satirical website known for publishing fabricated content. That website has a disclaimer that reads, "Everything on this website is fiction." The claim appeared in an article published by…

Did a video genuinely show President Joe Biden falling down Air Force One stairs while visiting Warsaw, Poland? No, that's not true: The video showed an unidentified person falling down the airplane stairs, but Lead Stories reviewed independent media footage and confirmed that this person was not the president. The clip, reshared on social media in November 2023, originally circulated…

Did House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson say that "Every woman has a duty to birth at least one able-bodied worker"? No, that's not true: Johnson's director of media affairs told Lead Stories that he "never said anything of the kind." Johnson made reference to "able-bodied workers" during a congressional hearing in 2022, but did not say the words attributed…

Did former basketball star and current media personality Shaquille O'Neal promote a stimulus check card? No, that's not true: The video making this claim uses a fake voice. O'Neal did not actually contribute his likeness or his voice to an advertisement for the so-called stimulus check card. The claim is the latest effort in a continuing scam to deceive online…

Does a video of a non-laboratory test using the T-Square brand oral fluid drug test prove that Red Bull energy drink contains the drugs buprenorphine and cocaine? No, that's not true: There is no way to confirm that the people featured in a video shared on social media used the drug test correctly and used an uncontaminated cup to hold…

Does a video on social media show a "hack" that will "slash your gas expenses"? No, that's not true: This video fails to deliver what is promised in seven minutes of drawn-out instructions on how to make a nonfunctional contraption. How the gas savings might occur is never disclosed. Furthermore, a safety professional with the National Fire Protection Association advises…

Did a "Prague newspaper" publish an article referring to Canada as a "confederacy of fools" and describing its prime minister, Justin Trudeau, as "the prince of fools" in 2023? No, that's not true: The purported quote is a years-old repurposed fragment of text whose authorship has never been verified. In the past, the same quote was used to criticize other…

Did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's psychiatrist commit suicide in 2023? No, that's not true: This claim was published in 2010 by a blog that labeled its content "News, Commentary and Satire," and it was recirculated online in 2023. There is no evidence that Netanyahu's psychiatrist, if he has one, committed suicide in 2023. The claim appeared in an article…