Fact Check

Did Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem say on Fox News that calling ICE agents Nazis is rude and inaccurate because they don't wear uniforms? No, that's not true: A fabricated Fox News screenshot with that quote had the watermark of an Instagram account carrying the tagline, "Dope Dad. Comedian. Satirist. Amateur Professional." The image was taken from a June 2025…

Did Donald Trump announce that people who had cosmetic surgeries would no longer be eligible for any form of government assistance starting in March 2026? No, that's not true:There were no news stories about any such announcement from Trump, despite claims in a viral video. Neither the White House nor Trump's social media accounts showed anything looking like such an…

Did Barack Obama say that he wants to return to the White House in 2028 as president through "legal avenues" or as a "proxy candidate"? No, that's not true: Contrary to the posts citing his "exclusive interview on a major news network" on December 7, 2025, the former president did not talk to any TV stations on that day. He…

Have scientists discovered a camel tear contains enough antibodies to neutralize the venom from 26 snakebites? No, that highly specific claim is not true: While poison experts have found snakebite damage to mouse tissues might be reduced using antibodies derived from camel-like species, those studies stop short of saying it is a cure for snakebit humans.The post includes no evidence,…

Did the White House call Martin Luther King Jr's birthday and Juneteenth "made up holidays?" No, that's not true: A parody account posted the meme that mimicked the format and design of White House message. The administration did remove MLK Jr. Day and Juneteenth from the list of days visitors can access National Parks for free in November 2025, but…

Did Melania Trump glare at Donald Trump when he chatted with Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum at the FIFA World Cup Final Draw? No, that's not true: The footage showing Melania looking annoyed is not real and has been edited. Donald Trump chatted with Sheinbaum and Mark Carney, as well as the first lady during the event. The altered video was…

Did the United States send $45 million in freshly-printed cash to the Taliban in Afghanistan on a chartered flight on December 8, 2025? No, that's not true: The photo used to make the claim was published in 2023 in a report about United Nations cash shipments to Afghanistan as humanitarian aid. The UN -- not the US -- has sent…

Did comedian Trevor Noah tell Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in response to his request that a band play "Just Give Me a Reason" that he was "the reason it had to be written." No, that's not true: The story was manufactured by a spam factory in Vietnam that uses AI tools and fake Facebook fan pages to spread the…

Is "Tech world on fire" over news that Elon Musk bought Facebook in order to "delete it"? No, that's not true: Meta (which owns Facebook) had not, as of this writing, announced or documented a sale, as is required of publicly traded companies. Lead Stories found no credible news reports of an impending sale to Musk. The site that generated…

Is a video of fresh produce being artificially painted in China real? No, that's not true: The clip originated from an account that labels its content as AI-generated. The video contained multiple inconsistencies strongly pointing to AI. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Instagram, where it was published on December 2, 2025. The caption read: chemical. This…

Was Megan Hollis, a waitress in Cleveland, Ohio, arrested for flipping a table after customers left a $5 tip on a $304 bill? No, that's not true: This is not a real story or a real mugshot. The post circulating on social media originated from an Instagram account that warns "This page features satire and parody stories that are exaggerated,…

Did "an entire unnamed mountain" collapse into itself near Casper, Wyoming at the end of 2025 and were emergency crews from several states mobilizing? No, that's not true: A viral post and image making that claim originated on a satirical Facebook page. Earlier there was a (much smaller) collapse in Wyoming's Teton mountains but that happened over 250 miles from…

Are videos of New York Police officers arresting or threatening to arrest ICE agents on the streets and in the subways of New York real? No, that's not true: A series of videos portraying confrontations between NYPD and ICE officers were created by OpenAI's SORA artificial intelligence app. Many of them can be traced to one content creator who posted…

Did CNBC correspondent Megan Cassella tell President Trump "Sir, you are the president, not God" during a press briefing? There is no evidence for that: No news articles make any mention of the quote and neither does CNBC's own website. According to a post from Cassella on X she has been on maternity leave since September 19, 2025. The viral…

Is a video that shows a retired soldier crying in court after a judge drops charges of sleeping in a park real? No, that's not true: The video was created by a social media account that "features realistic courtroom dramas and storytelling visualizations created with advanced AI technology." The account states that all of their cases and characters are fictionalized…

Is a video claiming that "all of our food is 3D-printed" or contains bioengineered ingredients to be taken seriously? No, that's not true: A TikTok video sent out a confusing message conflating bioengineered food and 3D-printed foods. Both are real things but they don't mean the same thing. The TikTok creator who made the claims as she reviewed food products…

Is a video of workers installing "incredible white cherry blossom epoxy flooring" in a home real? No, that's not true: The 12-second time-lapse clip showing five workers pouring liquid epoxy over a real tree branch to create a transparent floor is a "solely digital" representation of "creativity and innovation, not physical products," according to the website linked to the video.…

Does a video show two big trucks hauling UFOs or bunkers over a bridge? No, that's not true: The convoy is carrying large industrial air-cooled heat exchangers, also called cooling fans. These induced draft heat exchangers are marked with a Fin-Fan logo, indicating they were manufactured by Hudson Products Corporation of Beasley, Texas. Fans like these may be used in…

Is a viral video of a purple-haired woman being sentenced to six months in jail and a $10,000 fine for attacking a law enforcement officer with a metal trash can during an anti-ICE protest real? No, that's not true: The original version of the video on TikTok included a disclaimer saying that the clip was AI-generated media. No media organizations…

Was "Irish Christian teacher Enoch Burke" sentenced to life in prison for transphobia and "refusing to use a transgender student's pronouns"? No, that's not true: The sentencing judge explicitly stated that the decision is about the repeated contempt of court for repeatedly ignoring an order to not trespas on school property. The same judge said that Burke "does not have…