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Is the "Doctor" of Dr. Oz a branded nickname with no meaning, like the name of the soft drink Dr Pepper? No, that's not true: Before Dr. Oz became a household name as a regular guest on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and then in 2009, as the host of his own daytime TV show, "The Dr. Oz Show," he was…

Is the proposed bill in Tennessee that would create a common-law marriage between "one man" and "one woman" actually intended to pave the way for adults to marry children of any age? No, that's not true: According to the sponsor of HB 233, Rep. Tom Leatherwood, the bill is intended to create a form of marriage for just adult men…

Did an airport in New York take "legal possession" of former President Donald Trump's personal Boeing 757 over unpaid storage fees? No, that's not true: A post making the claim appears to be satirical. In reality, Trump's plane left the New York Stewart International Airport in Orange County, New York in November 2021 and arrived in Louisiana, where it was…

Did Republican U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel photoshop his face onto the body of a Black soldier? No, that's not true: A Mandel spokesperson told Lead Stories that this claim is false. A Cincinnati.com article reported that the image is legitimate and that the photo was simply darkened "to make the text clearer" in one of Mandel's campaign ads. This…

Did the prime minister of New Zealand say that she never allowed Rupert Murdoch, the creator of Fox News, to set up a media outlet there? No, that's not true: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern did not say she would not allow Murdoch to set up a media outlet in New Zealand, her press secretary said. The claim appeared in an…

Was a man arrested at a state legislature meeting for wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with "We The People" and an image of the Statue of Liberty? No, that's not true: The man was arrested at a Utah state Senate committee meeting held on March 1, 2022, for failing to follow requests from state troopers regarding the Legislature's rules on what…

Did a man named William Chester, who was born in 1744, live for 235 years with "McNulty Syndrome," which caused his body to age slower? No, that's not true: This video is made with digitally altered images and footage of actor Charlton Heston who died in 2008 at the age of 84. The images of Heston were taken from various…

Is there a national boycott of gasoline on April 15, 2022, to emulate a successful national protest from April 1997? No, that's not true: A post making that claim is a recycled post - "copypasta" that has circulated in various iterations online since at least 2004, with a new date slapped on it. Except for the date, wording in the…

Did the Florida legislature ban the word "gay" in the state? No, that's not true: Florida lawmakers did pass the Parental Rights in Education bill on March 8, 2022. The word gay never appears in the seven pages of legislation. The terms "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" show up twice. LGBTQ activists have dubbed it the "Don't Say Gay" bill…

Have American megachurches failed to offer help to the Ukrainian people? No, that's not true: An informal survey by Lead Stories shows several of America's largest congregations and denominations are actively soliciting and distributing relief to the people impacted by the war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his "special military action" in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The…

Did former President Donald Trump pass a bill in 2017 that increased tax rates for taxpayers making $75,000 or less starting in 2021 and ending in 2027? No, that's not true: Although an analysis of the 2017 Tax Cuts And Jobs Act (TCJA) suggested that the tax rate would increase for low-income earners in 2021, that analysis is misleading. The…

Was former President Donald Trump being forced to sell The Mar-a-Lago Club, a private club and residence, as of February 16, 2022? No, that's not true: Although Trump is facing potential financial consequences because of various controversies, he has not been forced to let go of Mar-a-Lago as a result. The assertion is just a prediction from commentators. The claim…

Was former President Donald Trump charged with treason by authorities? No, that's not true: A clickbait headline made the claim but the video in the post does not provide any evidence of the claim. In the video, Christo Aivalis says he thinks Trump should be charged with treason and espionage if he illegally took top secret classified documents from the…

Does the U.S. State Department forbid U.S. citizens from smiling in their passport photos? No, that's not true: The State Department's webpage on passport photos features multiple photos marked "acceptable" showing smiling faces. In the section on expressions in passport photos, the U.S. government says passport photos should "Have a neutral facial expression or a natural smile, with both eyes…

Did Melania Trump "break up" with Donald Trump, or dump him, as announced in the title of a video? No, that clickbait headline is not supported by the news story it was based on. In the video the narrator, Christo Aivalis, discusses his take on a recently announced arrangement between Melania Trump and the social media platform Parler. He says…

Is this an authentic photo of Steve Bannon? No, that's not true: This photo has been altered. The original photo was taken by photographer Mark Wilson for Getty Images on April 20, 2017. The photo has been edited to change the overall contrast and color saturation to add blemishes, bloody mouth and stained shirt. The image search engine TinEye shows…

Are over 100,000 children in serious condition because of COVID-19? No, that's not true: Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor overstated the pandemic's toll on children 17 and under during Supreme Court oral arguments on January 7, 2022. As of that date, fewer than 85,000 people ages 0 to 17 had been admitted to the hospital during the whole pandemic because…

Did Canada recently issue a list of 18 words or phrases that people are no longer allowed to say? No, that's not true: This video is missing context as these words were originally published in a news article about diversity initiatives -- not a policy change recently made by the Canadian government. A public affairs representative from the Canadian Broadcasting…

Does Bob Cratchit, a character from the Charles Dickens classic novella "A Christmas Carol" make the equivalent of $530.27 a week, which is more than the current weekly federal minimum wage in the United States? Probably not: The novella, set in Victorian-era London, states that Cratchit is paid 15 "bob" -- a colloquial term for British shillings -- per week…

Did former President Donald Trump hold a rally that drew only five people? No, that's not true: The claim in the clickbait headline is not supported in the video. The information in the video was taken from a national news article that did not call the event a rally -- which would be free -- and did not report only…