Is Kory Terrell the spelling bee champion for the state of Texas? No, that's not true: Several years ago, the young man won the spelling bee competition at his school, Davila Middle School, in Bryan, Texas. Its mascot is the Texans, and its competition is known as the Davila Texan Spelling Bee (archived here). Apparently confusing "Texan" with "Texas," some…

Is Brie cheese made with unpasteurized milk illegal in the U.S., while a machine gun with six rotating barrels is legal? No, that's an exaggeration that leaves out important context and relies on semantics. Both Brie and machine guns are regulated. Since 1986 federal law has forbidden importation of French Brie, a soft unaged cheese made with unpasteurized milk. But,…

Did then-Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev say in a speech, "Your children's children will live under communism. You Americans are so gullible..." on September 29, 1959? And was this speech on the same day as the day he purportedly banged his shoe in the United Nations General Assembly Hall? No, that's not true: This letter-to-the-editor is a mixed combination of details…

Is President Biden's approval rating 11% according to Gallup? No, that's not true: Their most recent polling puts his approval rating at 54%, according to Gallup's website. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on April 6, 2021. It read: New Poll indicates Biden approval at 11%. The LOWEST approval rating of ANY president in American history. ~Gallup…

Does a viral video show Bart Somers, the "Health Minister of Belgium," getting vaccinated with a syringe that is missing the needle? No, that's not true: Somers was never the health minister in Belgium, and the video was taken from a news broadcast showing a "dry run" of a vaccination center that was not open yet but was testing procedures…

Did someone stage a grim scene: an open dump truck piled high with corpses in body bags, to present a false narrative about the COVID-19 pandemic? And was this staged scene revealed to be fake because a video captured one of the "dead bodies" smoking a cigarette? No, that's not true: This video clip was shot during the filming of…

Is Georgia removing Coke from all state-owned buildings? No, that's not true: Although a group of GOP state legislators requested that Coca-Cola products be removed from their offices, there is no known effort to spread such a ban to all state-owned buildings. The lawmakers' request came on the heels of a statement from Coke's CEO, who criticized Georgia's new voting…

Was a Florida stripper using the name Britney Simmons arrested at the Camel Toe strip club in Miami and did she squirt vaginal fluids at the officers in self-defense? No, that's not true: The story was made up by a Canadian entertainment website that makes a living by publishing fictional stories often involving weird crimes, bizarre sex acts or strange…

Does the existence of a fictional pandemic exercise scenario conducted by the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University prove that the COVID-19 pandemic is a globalist plot for world domination? No, that's not true: Conspiracists are misrepresenting the design of this exercise and professional familiarity with various aspects of global health emergencies as proof that those professionals created…

Did developers invent a device that allows divers to breathe underwater without the use of additional gear such as an air tank? No, that's not true: The device, called the Triton, is a prototype that was never launched as a product after experts expressed concerns over its viability. A crowdfunding campaign in 2016 that raised nearly $900,000 for the Triton…