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Did Pope Francis slap Donald Trump's hand away when Trump tried to hold his hand? No, that's not true: The pope and Trump did meet at the Vatican on May 24, 2017, but the hand-touching clip is not real. That clip is from "Jimmy Kimmel Live," a late-night TV talk show. A good indicator that this clip is fake is…

Did Rep. Elise Stefanik angrily call Rep. Adam Schiff a "lying son of a bitch" during a meeting in Congress? No, that's not true: This post has a clickbait headline apparently to draw attention to a Facebook page. In only a portion of the video in this post, Stefanik criticized Schiff during her remarks over a whistleblower in a 2019…

Does this video show Russian tanks abandoned in the Kharkiv Region during the September 2022 Ukrainian counteroffensive that overran Russian positions in northeastern Ukraine? No, that's not true: Lead Stories has corroborated open-source investigators' use of Google Maps satellite images to identify the long industrial building as being on the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula, more than 300 miles distant from Ukraine's…

Is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "set to resign" as former President Donald Trump "files impeachment lawsuits against her"? No, that's not true: The headline that contains this claim is for a video posted on Facebook that does not feature Trump announcing "impeachment lawsuits" against her. Under the U.S. Constitution, former presidents cannot sue for the impeachment of the House speaker…

Does a viral clip of an old "American Idol" audition show U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene? No, that's not true: The woman in the video "obviously isn't her," a spokesman for Greene told Lead Stories. The woman belting her heart out was identified on the show as Stefanie Sugarman, a then-23-year-old from Los Angeles. The claim appeared in a tweet…

Does a Facebook video capture a scene showing Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina demanding that FBI Director Christopher Wray disclose the name of the person who ordered the raid of Donald Trump's residence in Florida? No, that's not true: The clip simply doesn't contain the exchange promised in its headline. The claim appeared in a Facebook post published…

Did a waitress at a diner hold a Dr. Mehmet Oz campaign sign so that it would read "NO"? No, that's not true: The picture with the "NO" sign has been edited. On Oz's verified social media accounts, the sign is much smaller and is being held the correct way. The claim appeared in an Instagram post on August 28,…

Did political commentator Ben Shapiro receive a Paycheck Protection Program loan (PPP) loan of more than $20,000 that was later forgiven? No, that's not true: Shapiro did not receive such a loan. Rather, an individual with the same name as Shapiro was given the loan for their real estate business and received loan forgiveness. The claim appeared in a tweet…

Did the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas catch on fire on August 23, 2022? No, that's not true: The fire was behind the hotel in an abandoned warehouse, not at the actual hotel, according to the deputy fire chief of the area's fire department. The warehouse is about five minutes away by car from the hotel, which is why the…

Did former President Donald Trump say in a Truth Social post "Can't trust a guy named Weisselberg - know what I mean?" after Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg pled guilty to tax fraud? No, that's not true: The quote was a joke, according to professional comedian and former U.S. Sen. Al Franken, who tweeted it after news reports that Weisselberg…

Did Donald Trump Jr. tell Trump supporters via Twitter to not come to Mar-a-Lago because "many important people are coming through the club and we need to keep it clean"? No, that's not true: Trump Jr. did not tweet this; it's not on his verified Twitter account. The tweet was fabricated. The claim appeared in a tweet posted on Instagram…

Did Gov. Ron DeSantis argue with Sean Hannity about the FBI's role in the search of Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago home? No, that's not true: Video purporting to show the Florida governor defending the FBI search in a FOX News segment with Hannity and Trump daughter-in-law Lara Trump is altered. Video of DeSantis arguing with a reporter at a news conference…

Is this picture an accurate depiction of former President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: This picture has been widened to make it look as if Trump has gained weight. The true picture, credited to Getty Images, is not as wide and features Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the personal banker to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. The claim appeared in a…

Does an election night correction made to a private company's Colorado vote tallies prove the primary election was manipulated by dark forces? No, that's not true: There is no evidence the official results "stole" votes from Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters to increase the total for another GOP secretary of state candidate during the June 28, 2021, primary election in…

Does this image of a map show what a scientist thinks the United States will look like in 30 years if climate change is not reversed? No, that's not true: The image is a digital manipulation created to show the size of the Mediterranean Sea relative to familiar U.S. land masses. The map appeared in a Facebook post on July…

Is it likely that a church with a sign advocating for a particular vote on an issue will lose its tax-exempt status? Not really: Although the IRS suggests that 501(c)(3) organizations refrain from publicly supporting a particular vote on an issue when it's a part of an upcoming election, an outcome as drastic as the church losing its tax-exempt status…

Did Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas claim "aborted fetus cells" are in COVID vaccines in writing a decision by the Court to not take up a legal challenge by New York health care workers who opposed the state's vaccine mandate on religious grounds? No, that's not true: Thomas was quoting the petitioners' argument in the case. COVID vaccines are developed…

Did Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweet that Jesus Christ made a single day's worth of bullets last eight days and allowed the Continental Army to defeat socialist Mexicans and liberal Muslim British? No, that's not true: This is a fake tweet. There is no evidence of this tweet being on the Georgia Republican's Twitter profile. The claim appeared in a…

Has a political action committee proved that Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert had two abortions and worked as an unlicensed escort? No, as of June 19, 2022, the allegations about the anti-abortion Republican congresswoman, made in a press release from the American Muckrakers political action committee, include no independent verification or documentation. The allegations are corroborated only by what the PAC…

When the Second Amendment was passed in 1791, was a well-regulated militia restricted to one musket, two spare flints and 24 bullets? No, that's not true: The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not define what a well-regulated militia is, but The Militia Act of 1792 does lay out some of the parameters; and the numbers above are the…