Elections

Did Taylor Swift lose "brand deals worth $125 million" after endorsing Kamala Harris? No, that's not true: The online rumor came from a website that labels itself as satire. The article didn't even mention the name of the Democratic presidential nominee. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on September 12, 2024. It said: Taylor Swift Loses…

Did the ABC television network fire the hosts of the September 10, 2024, U.S. presidential debate, calling them "a disgrace"? No, that's not true: A self-described satire and parody website published the story about the pair's supposed firing. Lead Stories found nothing authoritative to substantiate the claim that ABC fired the two. The claim originated from an article (archived here)…

Did President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris skip a visit to the Shanksville, Pennsylvania, memorial on September 11, 2024? No, that's not true: Both paid their respects at the memorial to 9/11 victims approximately two hours before former President Donald Trump arrived for a similar visit. They also visited the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department. The implied claim that…

Did CNN's fact checker say that Kamala Harris "lied 17 times in the first ten minutes" of the presidential debate? No, that's not true: The claim comes from a network of websites that clearly labels the work as satire, parody and fiction. Also, a spokesperson for CNN told Lead Stories that the claim was "false." The claim appeared in a…

Did the moderators of ABC News' presidential debate say late-term abortions don't happen? No, that's not true: Debate moderator Linsey Davis said it's not legal to kill babies after they're born in any state. She was fact checking former President Donald Trump's allegation that Democratic running mate Tim Walz had endorsed the "execution" of babies after birth. The claim appeared…

Does a viral photo show a Haitian immigrant in Springfield, Ohio, holding what appears to be a dead goose? No, that's not true: The man who snapped the picture said it was taken in Columbus, Ohio, not Springfield. A city official in Springfield stated there are "no credible reports or specific claims" in the city's immigrant community about a man…

Did Kamala Harris wear sound-receiving devices disguised as earrings during the September 10, 2024, presidential debate? No, that's not true: The Nova H1 "audio earrings" Harris wore according to some posts on social media do not have the loops seen in the photo of a model wearing them. Those loops were part of a different piece of jewelery the model…

Did Elon Musk tweet "Anyone caught promoting propaganda will be suspended from X?" No, that's not true: There is no record that the owner of X, formerly Twitter, ever posted this message on his official X account @ElonMusk, according to a search of the site. Had he made such a statement, it would be easily found and news outlets would…

Does a video capture Venezuelan immigrants surging through a supermarket in Aurora, Colorado? No, that's not true: The earliest version of the video on TikTok was geotagged to a city in Brazil, not in Colorado or the United States at all. Nothing in the footage proved that it was filmed in Aurora. Instead, all indicators, including the crowd's use of…

Did ABC compile a post-debate poll showing that 92 percent of respondents believed Donald Trump "won" the September 10, 2024, presidential debate? No, that's not true: A representative for ABC told Lead Stories the ABC labeling on what appeared to be a post-debate poll was "not true." Lead Stories could not find the poll on foxnews.com, but the "poll" had…

Did the Philadelphia Eagles endorse Kamala Harris for president? No, that's not true: The Eagles have denounced "counterfeit political ads" that have appeared around Philadelphia. The company that owns the Philadelphia bus shelters where the ads were displayed confirmed the Eagles were not involved and said they had removed the ads.The claim appeared in a post on X (archived here)…

Did an announcement by U.S. intelligence officials that there's no foreign interference in U.S. elections through early September 2024 undermine the Department of Justice's indictment of alleged Russian operatives? No, that's not true: The Office of the Director of National Intelligence stated that there's no evidence of a "foreign actor" directly interfering in the process of conducting an election, while…

Did Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Elton John endorse Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential race? No, that's not true: Video clips of Johnson and John do not show either one of them having said that they endorse Trump for the 2024 presidential election, as of this writing on September 10, 2024. The two celebrities described Trump as a fan…

Did McDonald's corporate make a statement saying that "they have no record whatsoever of KAMALA HARRIS ever working at any of their locations"? No, that's not true: The McDonald's corporate website page of press releases has no mention of Kamala Harris. A Google search of McDonald's corporate website did not bring up any mention of Kamala Harris at all. There…

Are Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, "kidnapping and eating their neighbors' cats" in 2024? No, that's not true: Springfield police said they had no reports of pets being stolen and eaten. A city official told Lead Stories that there are "no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community." The…

Does a video capture a real Ku Klux Klan member joining Trump supporters at a rally? No, that's not true: The man wearing the white hood associated with the hate group is a self-described internet troll, according to his own words on social media posts and in a newspaper interview. In a video featuring the man's previous attempt to sneak…

Was Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. a convicted felon? No, that's not true: King was indicted for a felony, tax evasion, in 1960, but the jury found him not guilty, the historical record shows. He was never convicted of a felony. King, who spent decades advocating for civil rights for Black Americans, was arrested multiple times for acts of various…

Is a screenshot that shows Apalachee High School shooting suspect Colt Gray as transgender and a supporter of Kamala Harris authentic? No, that's not true: The person behind the account frequently changes their profile picture and bio. A previous version of the account warns journalists, lawyers and others that "this context is all fake and made up." The screenshot is…

Does a photo on Facebook really show Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz in blackface? No, that's not true: This image came from the Facebook account for a satirical website that labels itself as all about fake content. The photo in the post is of actor John Slattery, not Walz. The photo appeared in a post on Facebook on August…

Does the appearance of people's hands in the "Walz's for Trump" picture confirm that the image was generated by artificial intelligence? No, that's not true: That conclusion appears to have been drawn from the examination of a low-quality version of the image that obscured some of the details present in the original post. A better-quality version of the picture does…