Elections

Did Kamala Harris say she would shut down X if elected, as posts on social media claimed based on a video where she said "He has lost his privileges"? No, that's not true: The video clip on social media is from an interview she did with CNN in 2019. A transcript of her remarks shows her comments were about Trump…

Does a video show vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz dancing in a cowboy hat and revealing two-piece outfit? No, that's not true: The original video features another person. The face in the video was altered to look like Walz. The claim was implied in a post (archived here) published on X on September 4, 2024. The post…

Did the Minnesota Vikings football team denounce Tim Walz as a man whose values they do not support? No, that's not true: The comment comes from a satirical Facebook page that explicitly warns readers not to take it seriously. America -- Love It Or Leave It categorizes its Facebook page as satire/parody. The claim appeared in a post on Facebook…

By: Uliana Malashenko and Alan Duke Does an image showing eight people in "Walz's for Trump" T-shirts prove that the majority of the Democratic vice presidential nominee's family supports the Republican presidential candidate? No, that's not true: The image portrays a fraction of the dozens of Tim Walz's extended family members identified by Lead Stories through analysis of census records…

Did Kamala Harris hit a 13-year-old girl with a car and leave the scene in 2011? No, that's not true: The "KBSF-TV" news station cited in the social media post does not exist in San Francisco and the website that posted the article was created two weeks before the post appeared. The San Francisco Police Department told Lead Stories they…

Did American golfer Tiger Woods refer to Kamala Harris' manner of speech as a "fake black accent," calling it "embarrassing and extremely offensive"? No, that's not true: The online rumor was first published by a self-labeled parody and satire account. Lead Stories found no confirmation that Woods ever said that. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X,…

Did Donald Trump appear in early September 2024 with a bandage on his ear on Fox News -- more than seven weeks after his ear was grazed by a bullet during an assassination attempt? No, that's not true: The picture of Trump on X with a bandage on his ear was from an interview only 11 days after the shooting.…

Did a CNN fact check find that Vice President Kamala Harris" lied 113 times" in her Democratic National Convention speech? No, that's not true: A CNN representative told Lead Stories the claim was false. CNN fact checked four claims in Harris' convention speech in an online article. The number 113 was not mentioned in the CNN article nor was there…

Does a video show Tim Walz lying about having served in a U.S. military deployment to Afghanistan? No, that's not true: Walz told the American Legion about a 2011 trip to Afghanistan he took as a member of Congress. He did not say he had served in Afghanistan as a soldier. The claim appeared in a post on X (archived…

Does a video show Kamala Harris saying Elon Musk "has lost his privileges" to speak freely? No, that's not true: Harris was speaking in 2019 about Donald Trump's posts on Twitter, according to a CNN transcript and video. She was discussing her call for Trump to be suspended from Twitter at the time. Harris did not mention Musk. The claim…

Did Melania Trump officially e-file for divorce from Donald Trump over Labor Day weekend 2024? No, that's not true: This story originated with a faked screenshot that looked like Newsweek reporting. The image resembling a Newsweek tweet was posted to several social media platforms by data scientist and whistleblower Rebekah Jones, who later claimed this was a test. After the…

Did President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris decline to attend a memorial ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in August 2024 for the 13 U.S. military service members who were killed in Afghanistan three years earlier? No, that's not true: There's no evidence either one of them was asked to attend the public wreath-laying ceremony on August 26, 2024.…

Does a social media graphic showing overwhelming support among veterans for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris reflect the results of an authentic Fox News poll? No, that's not true: A spokeswoman for Fox News told Lead Stories the image is fake. She said Fox News has not published such a poll. The graphic appeared in a post (archived here) on…

Does the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz campaign support a 25 percent tax on unrealized capital gains? Yes, but that's missing context: The tax would apply only to Americans with more than $100 million in wealth. The Harris/Walz campaign endorsed the Biden budget for 2025, which included the 25 percent tax on unrealized gains. Government documents state that the tax would only…

Was Donald Trump caught on tape during a Fox News commercial break, saying that someone who is called into war is a "dumbfuck redneck" and that volunteering for military service is "stupid"? No, that's not true: This recording is fake -- it originated from a parody account. It appears that a human voice actor impersonated Donald Trump in this recording,…

Does a "certificate of birth" supposedly from Jamaica prove that Kamala Harris was not born in the United States, therefore making her ineligible to be president? No, that's not true: She was born in Oakland, California, in Alameda County in 1964, as verified copies of her birth certificate show. A purported Jamaican document in a social media post is not…

Was Kamala Harris a card-carrying, dues-paying member of the Communist Party of Russia in 1984? No, that's not true: The "membership card" in a social media post is fake. A Russian prank-generating website offers this Communist Party card in a template: All a user needs to do is upload a photo and add a name and year of birth and…

Has the Democratic Party made the phrase "Strength Through Joy," which is associated with the Nazi Party, its slogan in 2024, as a video on Instagram said? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the Democratic Party has used the phrase as its slogan. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential election, has mentioned…

Did Tim Walz mislead people about his dog being a black Labrador when a photo shows him with a completely different dog? No, that's not true: The image of Walz with a dog that is not a black Lab is one he posted on his own social media account, saying it was a nice day at the dog park. He…

Did former President Donald Trump post on Truth Social that Vice President Kamala Harris is a man who was born in Benghazi, Libya? No, that's not true: Lead Stories searched Trump's Truth Social and X accounts and did not find any evidence of this post on them. A Google News search did not turn up any evidence for the story…