United States

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,…

Are social media posts about a fruitless three-day search to find the owners of a lost dog authentic? No, that's not true: These are bait-and-switch posts that flip to real estate ads. Identical images of a "really depressed" dog in a cage have appeared in posts on Facebook in cities and states miles apart. All these posts ask users to…

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…

Did the United Kingdom and France issue a "Secret International Arrest Warrant" for Elon Musk? No, that's not true: No news organizations reported anything about the supposedly existing "secret" arrest warrant for Musk approved within jurisdictions of the U.K. or France. The International Criminal Court that issues international arrest warrants denied there is one for the owner of the X…

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 authentic social media posts offer genuine concern over the discovery of an urn marked "Zachary Levi Bowers" in various places? No, that's not true: This is a common bait-and-switch scam in which social media users post heart-tugging stories they later edit to display supposed real estate offerings. The same post often circulates under the names of many different towns.…

Did Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison tell conservatives who "do not like our values" that they "should take their money to Home Depot"? No, that's not true: The company said the quote is false. Ellison's words from an interview with CNBC were digitally replaced in a post on X. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X, formerly known…

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…

Were University of Texas students who knelt during the national anthem "removed from scholarships" as a social media post with a link to an article in the comments said? No, that's not true: The photo appearing with the story depicts cheerleaders at Kennesaw State University, in Georgia. As of August 27, 2024 there was no public statement by the University…

Did the messaging service Telegram announce that Apple might be deleting the Telegram app from devices in August 2024? No, that's not true: No such announcement has ever been made by Telegram. A false social media hoax from 2021 resurfaced after Telegram's CEO, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France on August 24, 2024. It was debunked in 2021, and it's…

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…

Does an authentic photo show supporters of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris holding signs that read "Give up your guns" and "Abolish the 2A," as a post on X says? No, that's not true: This photo was digitally altered to change the message on the signs. The original, unedited version of the photo was first published in November 2020 with…

Did Kamala Harris's mother lie in her immigration application by saying she only had one child when she really had two at the time she applied for her visa? No, that's not true: Harris's mother had only one child -- Kamala -- at the time she filed the petition. The full document shows that Harris's mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, filed…

Does an authentic photo show Secret Service agents without earpieces during their response to the shooting at a Donald Trump rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania? No, that's not true: The earpieces can be seen in the original picture captured by Getty Images staff photographer Anna Moneymaker. The image in an X post that claims Secret Service agents…

Did Tim Walz respond to conservative commentator Ann Coulter on X after she described his son's behavior at the Democratic National Convention as "weird"? No, that's not true: A screenshot of this supposed response shows signs of digital manipulation. Lead Stories found no evidence confirming that Walz ever responded to Coulter on X. The claim appeared in a post (archived…

Will bioengineered rennet, an enzyme necessary for cheese production and made primarily by Pfizer, make you sick, as a video on Facebook implies? No, that's not true: Rennet is not considered genetically modified and is safe for human health, several experts told Lead Stories. Rennet is used to generate the final cheese product, but is not an ingredient in cheese,…

Did the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz campaign propose a plan to put a 20 percent sales tax on all golf-related purchases in an effort to "Tax the Wealthy"? No, that's not true: The social media account that posted this message is self-described satire. A Google search found no results proving the campaign has suggested this. The claim appeared in a post…