Fact Check

Did the timing of President Joe Biden appointing a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director before the Maui fires and subsequently saying that director was already in Hawaii when the fires broke out confirm Biden knew the wildfires would occur? No, that's not true: Biden appointed Robert J. Fenton Jr., a regional administrator for FEMA, as chief federal response coordinator…

Is this video showing a Jeep partially buried in the mud from the 2023 Burning Man gathering, and was that event "declared a national disaster"? No, that's not true: The online presence of the video predates the 2023 Burning Man gathering by at least a week, and there was no national disaster declaration stemming from Burning Man. The claim appeared…

Was Russian President Vladimir Putin toppled, as of September 7, 2023? Did Dmitry Medvedev, a former president and prime minister, lead the coup, "acting in partnership with the United States"? Did Medvedev maintain close contact with the Wagner mercenary boss Evgeny Prigozhin who attempted to march on Moscow two months before the plane crash that killed him in August 2023?…

Did American soccer player Megan Rapinoe say she's leaving America because she gets "no respect"? No, that's not true: This claim is coming from a satirical website. It has been reported by multiple major news outlets that Rapinoe is going to retire from her international career at the end of the 2023 National Women's Soccer League season. The claim appeared…

Are the heads of vaccinated people exploding and combusting when the 5G signal in Israel is turned up? No, that's not true: These video clips are real, but the headline is baseless as the video clips have nothing to do with Israel, COVID-19 vaccines or 5G. The first two graphic clips show 2019 footage of Iraqi protestors who were killed…

Did "enthusiastic crowds" chant "We want Trump" at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis while he spoke in Jacksonville, Florida? No, that's not true: The audio in one of the three videos in this post has been edited. While DeSantis was heckled at an event in Jacksonville in August 2023, the original video shows him being booed without the crowd mentioning former…

Did 850 deaths occur in two weeks in Monterrey, a city in the Mexican state of Nuevo León, that were caused by myocarditis? No, that's not true: The increased number of deaths in Mexico during June 2023 occurred during a heat wave, and it wasn't 850 deaths. Myocarditis is a term for the inflammation of the heart muscle and is…

Were there 353 counties in 29 states with voter registrations exceeding "100 percent" and is that definitive evidence of something? No, that's not true: the social media account making that claim omits to say the "100 percent" is not referring to eligible voters. The numbers are from a study published by Judicial Watch that compared all voter registrations (including inactive…

Did a "lead developer at Google Earth" say he believes the Earth is flat? No, that's not true: This claim originated from a 2017 article that Lead Stories was unable to verify as being authentic. We could not find any evidence that a lead developer at Google ever publicly said this or that a lead developer was ever suspended from…

Did a truck driver in New Mexico rescue "Approximately 15 Children Trapped in Padlocked Cages in the Back of a Pickup Truck" during a kidnapping incident? No, that's not true: The New Mexico State Police told Lead Stories, "This story is not correct, this was a mother and her four kids, not a human trafficking incident." The claim appeared in…

Did a 2023 "government report" prove that "millions of children" who were vaccinated with the Pfizer mRNA COVID-19 vaccine developed a condition known as "vaccine acquired immune deficiency, or VAIDS"? No, that's not true: There was no "government report." A site with a rich history of spreading false statements distorted a genuine Australian study. In response to the claim, the…

Is there a new Florida law that says fathers must submit a DNA test before signing a birth certificate? No, that's not true: Florida law "does not require a DNA test prior to signing a birth certificate," a legal expert told Lead Stories. The claim appeared as a post (archived here) on Facebook on August 30, 2023. It opened: New…

Did the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) remove COVID-19 vaccine adverse event reports from its website? No, that's not true: The national public health agency did not remove COVID vaccine adverse event reports from its website. The CDC and other health agencies regularly monitor and report on vaccine safety, including adverse events, through the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting…

Does a video accurately display Hurricane Idalia's landfall on a beach where many people are present in Clearwater, Florida? No, that's not true: This video clip shows a brief waterspout that occurred in June 2023 -- not a hurricane that made landfall in North Florida and caused significant damage in August 2023. The claim appeared in a reel (archived here)…

Was a state of emergency declared due to an Ebola outbreak at Burning Man in Black Rock City, Nevada? No, that's not true: There were no reports of known or suspected Ebola cases to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the agency confirmed to Lead Stories on September 5, 2023. Burning Man representatives confirmed to Lead Stories that…

Did Russian President Vladimir Putin attend Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin's funeral to pay his last respects? No, that's not true: Putin did not attend Prigozhin's funeral, according to news organizations including The Guardian. In reality, the video in a post shows Putin paying respects to his late judo trainer, Anatoly Rakhlin, in 2013. The Kremlin also posted photos of Putin…

Did Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pass the "Digital Existence Act" in response to the spread of a new COVID variant, helping Canada to transition to Digital ID, Central Bank Digital Currency and a Social Credit system? No, that's not true: This post originated from a parody account. The format of the screenshot partially obscures the parody account name, making…

Did India fake the landing of the Chandrayaan-3 lander module on the surface of the moon, and attempt to fool the world with an animation? No, that's not true: This image does show a simulation, but it was not presented in an effort to deceive the public. The Chandrayaan-3 lander module, named Vikram, did achieve a soft landing near the…

Did the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) attempt to substitute "most salt in America" with a single alternative that contains "mRNA chemicals" and is produced by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates? No, that's not true: An FDA representative told Lead Stories that the proposal would only expand the options for food manufacturers to use salt substitutes. The proposal, which is not…

Was Hillary Clinton executed on December 31, 2018? No, that's not true: The former U.S. senator and secretary of state has been seen numerous times since that date in public settings. She has been photographed, videotaped and given live interviews that prove that she was alive, as of September 1, 2023. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on…