United States

Is a video of Joe Rogan asking "Why did every major phone company switch to non-removable batteries at the same time" authentic? No, that's not true: The viral TikTok video was generated using AI, according to online detection tools. It originated on a TikTok account that routinely uses Rogan's image and voice in various videos. A search of Joe Rogan's…

Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy say, "The risk that Russia will occupy Europe is 100%," without adding conditions to that statement or qualifying it? No, that's not true: A viral video of an interview on Meet The Press left out the part of the video just before he said that sentence. The full context of the interview shows Zelenskyy saying…

Does a viral screenshot show a real X post from Ashley St. Clair talking about conceiving a baby with Elon Musk using "IVF with PGT-M & CRISPR" and saying the "DNA now includes enhancements from other organisms"? No, that's not true: The post did not appear on St. Clair's X account, and it was not indexed by Google. All versions…

Did President Trump's son Barron Trump publish a tweet on X saying, "I believe we're on the brink of uncovering a dark legacy in this country," among other things? No, that's not true: The message came from an account that describes itself as having "No Affiliation" with Barron Trump, but it was widely reposted anyway. According to media reports, Barron…

Did the White House offer Ashli Babbitt's family a plot in Section 16 at Arlington National Cemetery? No, that's not true: The claim originated on a satirical Facebook page with a clear disclaimer. The owner of the page is known for tricking conservatives into liking and sharing made-up content. The claim originated in a post (archived here) on the Facebook…

Did a video truly show Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth drink what appears to be bourbon whiskey from a glass during a NATO press conference? No, that's not true: The video that appeared on TikTok appears to have been created by using a phone to film a TV screen, and some kind of sheen made the liquid in Hegseth's glass appear…

Do two viral videos authentically show a 200-foot statue of Jesus Christ being placed on the grounds of the White House in Washington? No, that's not true: Both videos were possibly generated using AI according to online detection tools, and a live webcam of the White House shows no such statue. Details in the videos, such as the number of…

Did President Donald Trump post to Truth Social that New Zealand and Congo were both "Third World Countries" and that the Democrats were launching a "meme" coin? No, that's not true: Images of such a post circulating on social media appear to have been falsified, indicated by the inconsistent use of upper and lower case "K" in the engagement counts.…

Did the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives just discover $2.7 trillion in improper payments in Medicare and Medicaid overseas? No, that's not true: The report of trillions of dollars in improper payments, which accumulated since 2003, was published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office in the first half of 2024 -- this was…

Did Reuters and Politico receive government funding during the Biden administration but not the Trump administration? No, that's not true: Thomson Reuters, a separate company from Reuters News, and Politico both received federal payments under both administrations. Thomson Reuters provided "software and information services to U.S. government agencies," while Politico sold subscription services to government offices. The implied claim appeared…

Does Jasmine Crockett, a U.S. congresswoman from Texas, have a net worth of $9 million and own properties worth $5 million? No, that's not true: Her latest financial disclosure report shows that her net worth is somewhere between -$46,997 and $29,999. Crockett said that a post claiming she was worth millions was "a lie", describing the story as "outlandish." The…

Is there a public record of a memo showing President Donald Trump prohibited the use of the word "felon" "inside the White House or on White House grounds" as of February 14, 2025? No, that's not true: The White House couldn't confirm the existence of such an announcement when contacted by a Lead Stories reporter. The White House website doesn't…

Does a military document prove the U.S. Agency for International Development is "actively helping to destabilize nations"? No, that's not true: The 2021 document presented by Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna at a hearing on February 13, 2025, was a scenario involving a fictitious country. Testifying at the same hearing, former USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios said the suggestion the agency was…

Did the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rule that 84 of President Joe Biden's last-minute pardons were unconstitutional and did the opinion of "Judge Joe Barron" appear on a court website? No, that's not true: The ruling originated on a satirical Facebook page. The owner of the page is known for tricking conservatives into liking and sharing made-up content.…

Are there too few cows in the world to supply McDonald's beef burgers? No, that's not true: There are far more than enough head of cattle worldwide to supply McDonald's estimated 2.5 billion burgers served per year. If all the patties were quarter-pounders, heavier than the standard McDonald's burgers, the required 625 million pounds of beef would require about 1.25…

Is a video of President Trump's son Barron Trump singing a song on the show "America's Got Talent" authentic? No, that's not true: The YouTube channel that originally published it said the song and video were created with the help of AI technology. This was confirmed using AI detection tools. There were several signs the video was AI generated such…

Did the Trump State Department come up with the idea to order $400 million worth of armored Tesla vehicles? No, that's not true: The original proposal to buy armored electric vehicles for the State Department came during the Biden administration in April 2024. The $400 million line item was included in a State Department Procurement Forecast Fiscal Year 2025 in…

Did the U.S. government pay Reuters to engage in "large scale social deception"? No, that's not true: The U.S. Department of Defense paid Thomson Reuters Special Services to provide "software and information services to U.S. government agencies," a statement from the company's CEO said. Thomson Reuters Special Services and Reuters News operate independently of each other. The claim appeared in…

Did the actor and film director Ron Howard write an essay on why "I'm a liberal," enumerating 16 key beliefs? No, that's not true: The original 2018 essay, written in the form of an open letter, was published by author Lori Gallagher Witt. Her Facebook post went viral and has since been subjected to several unauthorized revisions and misattributions. In…

Does a 2025 poll say Germans think President Donald Trump is the greatest threat to world peace just weeks after taking office? No, that's not true: The poll being circulated in February 2025 was actually conducted in 2019, toward the end of Trump's first term in office. The graphic being shared comes from a 2019 Fox News story reporting that…