Does a real soldier appear in uniform in the "Troops Against Trump" video, asking "I swore an oath to defend the constitution...What happened to us?" No that's not true: The video is the production of a social media account that labels itself a satire producer. In addition to the account's disclosure that it uses AI to produce videos, there are…
Does a video describe a real CNN debate between Jasmine Crockett and Mike Huckabee involving a bible quote? No, that's not true: The description of the viral YouTube video makes it clear the entire interaction was a work of fiction created using artificial intelligence. Searches of CNN's website for the supposed debate brought up no results. The video (archived here)…
Did Ivanka Trump publish a post on X saying it is "painful to see your own father" being "utterly despised" and complaining about the depiction of his penis size on South Park? No, that's not true: A viral screenshot that appeared to show a post with the phrase "his penis isn't THAT small" was falsified. No such message appeared on…
Is a video of Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni describing President Trump being a "mix of sweat and flatulence" and "a giant moving biogas pit" authentic? No, that's not true: The video includes a disclaimer that reads "Creator labeled as AI-generated" on the TikTok channel where it originated. It has been widely shared on social media platforms by other accounts…
Does a viral screenshot show a real post by California Governor Gavin Newsom's Press Office asking Russia to release the Epstein files if they "are listening"? No, that's not true: The satirical post which also mentions "Big Balls" appears to be a Truth Social post and the account that supposedly published it does not exist there. The message also didn't…
Did the Nobel Committee quietly remove President Donald Trump's name from the list of nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize? No, that's not true: The nominations list for a Nobel Peace Prize is private, and not made public until 50 years after it is awarded. The meme making the claim said the removal was done "quietly," yet it also shows…
Did Kid Rock endorse California Governor Gavin Newsom in mid-August 2025? No, that's not true: The origin of the viral image is satirical. The picture was a parody of Donald Trump's post from the previous year, when he said he accepted Taylor Swift's nonexistent endorsement from an AI generated image. What looked like a statement appeared in a post (archived…
Did the Baltimore Ravens reject a $500 million sponsorship deal offered by Tesla or Elon Musk? No, that's not true: This is one of a series of clickbait fake news items falsely declaring Musk and/or Tesla is sinking millions into NFL teams like the Dallas Cowboys or New York Jets. Musk handles all PR for all his companies and has…
Is a photo showing Melania Trump kissing Jeffrey Epstein an authentic image and was it "unseen" until aired by Stephen Colbert? No, that's not true: The photo is not real and it was not shown on an episode of CBS's "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." The Hive Moderation AI content detection tool rated the image as 99% fake. The…
Did sections of the U.S. Constitution concerning habeas corpus and the powers of Congress disappear from the U.S. Congress website before August 6, 2025? Yes, that's true: Archived versions of the pages recorded the changes that omitted sections 9 and 10 from Article 1. The Library of Congress, which manages the Congressional website, acknowledged the deletions and said it was…
Did President Donald Trump redefine marriage by decreeing that couples who date for over five years are legally married? No, that's NOT true. There have been no announcements from Trump nor statements from the White House press secretary nor any of their spokespersons regarding new laws aimed at redefining marriage by including within its legal framework unmarried couples who have…
Does authentic video show President Trump dancing on the White House roof on August 5, 2025? No, that's not true: A review of the actual C-Span video available online shows that the fake video, which includes a C-Span logo, does not match the authentic footage. There is no dancing on the C-Span video. President Trump paused to answer questions shouted…
Has President Trump's fragrance 45-47 been recalled from retailers because it is extremely flammable? No, that's not true: The fragrance is only available for order online from one website and it is not sold in retail stores. There is no evidence of a recall of the product on the Consumer Product Safety Commission recall database or in media reporting. The…
Did former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warn President Donald Trump that he should not think that "the Mossad alone has a video archive of his past depravities"? No, that's not true: The quote was attributed to "Russia media" by a website that claims to be in Israel, but appears to be managed in Ukraine. Lead Stories could find no evidence…
Did President Trump name his former CFO Allen Weisselberg to be director of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics? No, that's not true: A fake news release making the claim was created by the AI tool Grok as a joke and then shared on X hours after Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, as head of the federal agency that reports employment…
Does an image of a large addition that replaces the West Wing and the west colonnade of the White House accurately show what the new ballroom will look like? No, that's not true: The official renderings show the ballroom adjacent to the East Wing, with the east colonnade intact. The fake rendering shared on social media shows the ballroom replacing…
Did the Federal Bureau of Prisons' inmate search database say that Ghislaine Maxwell was "Not in BOP custody" on Friday, August 1, 2025? Yes, that's true: A search for Maxwell by Lead Stories at 2 p.m. EDT showed a page that indicated she was not in the custody of the federal prison system. A statement from the BOP to Lead…
Is a "newly leaked" photo of Jeffrey Epstein with his arm around Melania Trump authentic as claimed in a social media post? No, that's not true: The original photo was Epstein holding his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, but the image was reversed and Trump's head was digitally added to replace Maxwell's. The photo of Epstein and Maxwell was released by the…
Did President Donald Trump post a meme of him and Vice President Vance in police cars chasing Barack Obama in a white Bronco on a freeway? Yes, that's true: The meme was created from a real photo of Los Angeles police chasing O.J. Simpson on a freeway on June 17, 1994. It was altered to include Obama's head in place…
Does a viral image really show Hulk Hogan posing in front of caged migrants at "Alligator Alcatraz"? No, that's not true: The image is composed of two different pictures. One showed a Border Patrol facility in Texas in 2019 and the other showed a promotional picture of Hulk Hogan from 2014. The image originally appeared in an Instagram post (archived…
Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, misleading, deceptive or inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
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