Fact Check

Did the Biden administration approve the permit in June 2024 for a "grand parade" for the Army's 250th birthday? No, that's not true: The parade permit application was submitted in March 2025, more than a month after President Biden left the White House and President Trump's administration began, according to a National Park Service spokesman. The permit application for a…

Did New Balance publicly cut ties with Simone Biles, ending a $22 million contract after the gymnast criticised activist Riley Gaines in June 2025? No, that's not true: The rumor originated on a Facebook page with a satire disclaimer. Quotes attributed to the footwear brand were fabricated. The claim appeared in a June 10, 2025, post on Facebook (archived here),…

Does a viral video show an attack, fire or explosion in Tel Aviv, Israel? No, that's not true: The video actually shows a fire in a parking lot for motorcycles in Chongqing, China. Several social media posts falsely claimed the footage showed the result of an Iranian attack on Israel. An example of such a false attribution can be seen…

Does a viral video show the real-life aftermath of an Iranian attack hitting several skyscrapers in Tel Aviv, Israel? No, that's not true: The video digitally exaggerated the impact of a projectile hitting a specific area of that city. Lead Stories analysis found signs pointing to generative AI as the likely origin of the viral clip. The claim appeared in…

Is a viral "Kamala Harris For The People" graphic a real new campaign logo? No, that's not true: It was created as a joke by a conservative Florida content creator. He posted comments on YouTube and X describing how he had found the artwork that can be seen as a circle of men pleasuring one another and pasted onto it…

Were the Minnesota shootings targeting state lawmakers and their family members motivated by leftist political views of the suspect, Vance Luther Boelter? While many details remain unclear as of June16, 2025, available evidence doesn't support this theory. Here is what we know about Boelter's political affiliation. A rumor about Boelter's left-leaning views appeared in a post (archived here) on X,…

Does a photo in multiple social media posts show Vance Boelter, the man alleged to have killed a Minnesota lawmaker in his own home? No, that's not true: A member of the executive committee of the Texas Democratic Party identified the couple in the image as a Houston candidate for Texas party chair: Lillie Schechter and her husband. Reverse image…

Did a New York State judge order Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to surrender her tax returns and financials? No, that's not true: That yarn appeared on an account labelled "Satire/Parody", which warns readers that everything on the page is made up. There's no record of such a case on Google News' index of thousands of news sites, and with intense interest…

Did Jelly Roll announce that he would not celebrate Pride Month and that "WOKE Doesn't Deserve to Be Celebrated"? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the singer, rapper, and songwriter known as Jelly Roll -- real name Jason DeFord -- made such a statement. His official website and social media accounts do not include the statement. The…

Did President Donald Trump thank "No Kings" protesters in a widely-shared Truth Social post in June 2025? No, that's not true: An apparent screenshot of such a post was in fact fake. Trump did not write "I was very concerned a king was trying to take my place, but thanks to your tireless efforts, I AM STILL YOUR PRESIDENT!" The…

Did a widely-shared video show real police officers handcuffing a Black man in a restaurant who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent? No, that's not true: The people in the video were simply acting out a scripted scenario. The page that posted the sketch routinely publishes similar scripted scenarios, and is affiliated with Network Media, a company that…

Did Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift attend a "No Kings Day" protest and is there a photo to prove it? No, that's not true: A viral story about the appearance of the pair was illustrated with a photo generated with artificial intelligence. The story also mentioned social media posts by the couple that they didn't actually make and there were…

Did a photo show a huge crowd flattening the bridge deck of San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge during the "No Kings" protest on June 14, 2025? No, that's not true: A viral post wrongly attributed to biologist David Attenborough was talking about 1987 events and used a photo from that year. There were no news reports about "No Kings" events…

Did the U.S. Department of Defense include the Russian flag on a graphic tweeted in observance of U.S. Flag Day? Yes, with qualification: The "Happy Flag Day" post does include two rectangles of white, blue, and red, which is the same design as the flag of Russia. There is no reference to Russia in the text and the U.S. flag…

Does a viral video show the "first Iranian drone" shot down in Israel in mid-June 2025? No, that's not true: The footage was recorded in Ukraine. It's impossible for it to have documented the Iran-Israel conflict, as it was first posted to the web three years earlier. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on June…

Did an authentic news outlet report that the May 2025 expense report of the California Democratic Party showed it bought 200 pallets of bricks ahead of ICE protests in Los Angeles? No, that's not true: The story originated on a Facebook account that identifies the owner as a comedian working for Donald Trump. The bricks story did not include links…

Did former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning adopt a daughter named Lily? No, that's not true: A viral Facebook post contained no more than fan fiction and images that appeared to be AI-generated. The page that published it regularly posts similar heartwarming (and fabricated) stories about Manning, along with pictures that appear AI-generated. The story appeared in a widely-shared June 10,…

Does a widely-shared video prove that U.S. military tanks patrolled the streets of Washington, D.C. on June 11, 2025? No, that's not true: The person who recorded it told Lead Stories that the 10-second clip showed an armored vehicle that was in the nation's capital to participate in a military parade on June 14, 2025. That account was consistent with…

Does a video on TikTok show "Bikers on the way to California to back ICE agents" in June of 2025? No, that's not true: The video was first posted to TikTok in November 2022 -- almost three years before protesters in Los Angeles took to the streets to block aggressive ICE immigration raids. The video's original poster was documenting bikers…

Was a Craigslist ad offering "$1,000, paid in cryptocurrency" for "seat fillers" to attend a military parade in Washington, D.C. authentic? The listing attracted attention on social media when it appeared in the week leading up to a June 14, 2025, military parade. Here is what we know about it so far. The ad (archived here) was published on June…