Did Woody Allen urge New Yorkers to "disown" President Trump? No, that's not true: This is a parody from a website stating it is "satire for flat earthers, Trumpsters and Y'all Qaeda." The article originated on a web site called Daily World Update on March 29, 2020, titled "Woody Allen: 'New York Should Disown Trump'" (archived here) which opened: As…

Did Russian President Vladimir Putin release 500 lions onto the streets of that country to keep people indoors amid the coronavirus outbreak? No, that's not true: The screen grab of a news report claiming that Putin released lions is four years old and is from a movie shoot. The claim appeared on Facebook as a post (archived here) where it…

Is the U.S. Department of Homeland Security preparing to mobilize the National Guard to enforce a nationwide quarantine? No, that's not true: The National Guard has issued a tweet refuting those claims. The item has been copied-and-pasted from chain letters, text messages, and other social media posts. It purports to be from the user's "contact at FEMA." However, it's a…

Did President Trump make the nonsensical statement, "People are dying who have never died before," during a White House briefing updating the country on the state of his administration's response to the coronavirus? No, that's not true: A search of transcripts of Trump's remarks, as well as of news stories from the day of the purported statement, make no mention…

Did President Trump tweet that he had ordered the U.S. Treasury to send checks to Americans - but only after checking people's social media posts to make sure they were not unfavorable to the president. No, this is a satirical post: Whle Trump and Congress are hashing out details of a stimulus package to boost the economy amid the novel…

Is the U.S. presidential election canceled due to the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, allowing President Trump to remain in office for four more years? No, that's not true: Obviously, the meme is a joke. However, concerns over congregating in large public places to curb the spread of the coronavirus have prompted some legitimate questions about the outbreak's impact on the…

Did Joe Biden, a U.S. Democratic presidential candidate, spar with a Michigan autoworker over the issue of gun control? Yes, that's true, and here's some context: Biden and the man, Jerry Wayne, did exchange words at a Detroit, Michigan, auto plant on March 10, 2020. Biden was campaigning ahead of the critical Michigan primary, which he decisively won later that…

Did Joe Biden's presidential campaign selectively edit several soundbites from President Trump in a newly-released advertisement? Yes, that's true, and here is some context: After Twitter labeled a video of Biden that was shared by Trump as "manipulated media," the Trump campaign fired back. It has accused Twitter of bias for not doing the same to a campaign ad Biden's…

Does every U.S. election year have a disease associated with it? No, that's not true: A whiteboard photograph being shared online contains some inaccurate dates and information. It presents a U.S.-centric view of global epidemics and pandemics to suggest a conspiracy to influence election outcomes, but the facts don't match the argument. The claim originated from a post (archived here)…

Did Donald Trump tweet in 2015 that if the "Dow Joans" were to fall more than 1,000 points in a single day, the president should be shot out of a cannon? No, that's not true: The tweet-within-a-tweet was made up, and the author has admitted it was a joke. The fake tweet has been debunked previously, but it seems to…

Did President Trump say at a recent town hall forum that he will cut Social Security and Medicare? No, that's not true: According to a transcript of the event on March 5, 2020, Trump never specifically mentioned those entitlement programs by name. The headline and subheader of an article claimed that the president specifically said those were programs for which…

Did members of the Ku Klux Klan hold a Trump-Pence banner during a march? No, that's not true: The photo has been doctored. The actual photo was taken in 2009, seven years before President Trump was elected. The claim originated from a post (archived here) published by Trump Sucks on March 3, 2020, alongside the caption, "Vote." It opened: America,…

Did President Trump say that reading Mein Kampf, the manifesto written by Adolf Hitler, "had a profound affect (sic) on me"? No, that's not true: The quote has previously been shown to be completely made up, and the claim that Hitler's book has influenced Trump's business or political activities is also believed to be untrue. The claim originated from a…

Did Vice President Mike Pence send out a tweet urging people infected with the novel coronavirus to go to the nearest police station? No, that is a hoax. Pence did not send such a tweet, as evidenced by the fact that no record of this tweet exists. It is a fake, despite getting some attention through shares and likes on…

Did the eight largest Dow Industrial Average drops all occur under President Trump's watch, with the historic slides happening since early 2018? No, that is a misleading claim that doesn't take into account that financial markets movements are defined in terms of percentage changes. But yes, when measured by the number of points lost, the meme is true. Some of…

Did Vice President Mike Pence defy a sign at NASA warning people not to touch a piece of "Critical Space Flight Hardware?" No, that's not true: NASA says Pence had permission to touch the equipment despite the sign, as suggested by a popular meme making the rounds on social media. Several variations of meme have been shared widely in recent…

Did doctors call it a "miracle" that Rush Limbaugh's cancer is shrinking? No, that's not true: This story was originally a work of satire published here by the satirical network "America's Last Line of Defense." It was then republished by many other fake news websites without the contextual satire warnings. Most of the plagiarized copies of the story have been…

Did the U.S. government finally admit to conducting chemical geoengineering using chemtrail operations? No, that's not true: An article claimed that a study on the possible health impacts of proposed geoengineering strategies is an admission that chemtrail programs exist, but the published study does not confirm this. All references in the study to geoengineering for "solar radiation management" are about…

Did Antifa protesters breach security at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas to hang a banner reading Trump "IS IMPEACHED FOREVER" ahead of Wednesday night's Democratic debate? No, that's not true: the video has been digitally manipulated by a known prankster, and the same footage has been used before with different sayings on the banner. The claim originated from…

Did the city of Dearborn, Michigan, decide to join California in cancelng President's Day? No, that's not true: This story was a piece of satire published on a liberal website that intentionally sets out to mislead conservative supporters. The claim originated from an article published by Potatriot's Unite on February 17, 2020. It was titled "Dearborn Joins California in Canceling…