Was Anita Dunn, former senior advisor to President Joe Biden, arrested on November 20, 2021, by the U.S. Marine Corps? No, that's not true: officials told Lead Stories the political strategist was not apprehended. Plus, the website where the claim was published is infamous for promoting fake stories. The claim appeared in an article (archived here) posted online on November…

Was Sasha Obama, daughter of former President Barack Obama, arrested in connection with a million-dollar shoplifting ring? No, that's not true: the website where the claim originated is a part of a satirical network of websites that publishes fictitious stories about liberal or Democratic public figures. For good measure, the satire site hot-linked the word "source" to a Russian phrase…

Did Joe Biden have "one of his most disturbing moments to date" when, during Veterans Day remarks at Arlington Cemetery, he referred to Satchel Paige as "the great Negro"? Was Biden being racially insensitive, deliberately using an outdated term pejoratively? No, that's not true: Biden, who has been open about his struggles overcoming a stutter in childhood, stumbled in introducing…

Did Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez say "it is time to redefine 'natural food"? No, that's not true: This article is fake. The "Minneapolis Red-Star Tribune" does not exist, and there is no record of Ocasio-Cortez ever mentioning "cellular agriculture" when describing the Green New Deal. The claim appeared in a November 3, 2021, Facebook post (archived here) titled "AOC: Time to…

Was former first lady Michelle Obama involved in or arrested as a result of a hit-and-run accident? No, that's not true: This claim originated from a satirical website, with the story carrying a site category tag of "Michelle Obama Fan Fiction." It uses the name of a fictitious town. Also, there's been no news coverage that would be inevitable if…

Did President Joe Biden tell Pope Francis that the latter was a "famous African-American baseball player?" Yes, he did. Biden was setting up a metaphor about age. After the comment, Biden proceeded to tell the pope about Leroy "Satchel" Paige, a Negro leagues and major league pitcher who played professionally well into middle age. Biden used a quote from Paige…

Is a photo of actor Alec Baldwin wearing a T-shirt that reads, "Guns Don't Kill People Alec Baldwin Kills People," real? No, that's not true: This photo has been digitally altered. The text on the T-shirt was taken from the merchandise website of Donald Trump Jr. and pasted onto a 2013 tabloid photo of Baldwin wearing a plain black T-shirt.…

Is the widower of the cinematographer killed by Alec Baldwin the Hillary Clinton attorney indicted in the Russia probe? No, that's not true: The lawyer who was indicted by the FBI for lying to investigators is a different person who works for another law firm. The claim appeared in an Instagram post (archived here) by ryanweavercountry on October 24, 2021.…

Did Wisconsin have 89% reported turnout in the 2020 election? No, that's not true: Wisconsin allows same-day voter registration. The claim used incorrect math to calculate the percentage based on the number of registered voters at the beginning of the day and the actual number of voters, which is not how the state determines the number. "The Wisconsin Elections Commission…

Is an image depicting an anti-Joe Biden band formation in a football stadium real? No, that's not true: This image has been digitally altered. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on October 16, 2021. The post, captioned, "Relentless lol," features an image of a packed football stadium of people wearing what appears to be red and white,…

Do fact checkers never fact check posts and photos that attack conservatives? No, that's not true: If you conduct a search of fact checking sites like Lead Stories, you'll find examples that disprove the claim. The claim has appeared on several social media accounts, including this October 17, 2021, Instagram post under the title "Ever notice how the so called…

Did U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg pose for a photo wearing a breastfeeding device? No, that's not true: This image seen in the top portion of this meme has been digitally altered using photo-editing tools. The actual person's face, modeled in a blog for mothers, was replaced with a professional headshot of Buttigieg. The image appeared in a meme…

Does Congress' infrastructure bill include a 61% death tax on an individual's entire accumulated wealth and estate? No, that's not true: The American Families Plan designed by the Biden administration proposed two tax increases that suggested a death tax of about 61% for only the nation's wealthiest individuals. That measure has not been included in Congress' infrastructure act. The claim…

Did former President Jimmy Carter chastise American Christians with a rebuke that starts: "STOP saying that you want a country based on Christian values"? No, that's not true: According to comedian and creator of the quote, John Fugelsang, the saying has been misattributed to President Carter since 2013. The Carter Center also told Lead Stories that they "have no record…

Did President Joe Biden cut funding for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) by $30 billion? No, that's not true: The Biden administration originally proposed more than $90 billion in funding for HBCUs, tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) and minority-serving institutions (MSIs). That proposed funding was significantly cut by Congress, not the Biden administration. The claim appeared in a Facebook…

Did Joe Biden say that he was not the president? Yes, but he said it before he was elected president: During a campaign rally in March 2020, Biden, who was responding to hecklers, said that he was not the president at the time, which was true because the incumbent was then-President Donald Trump. The claim appeared in a manipulated video…

Would a ballot initiative proposed in Oregon ban all animal meat and replace it with "'synthetic meat'" and "lab 'plant based protein'" that are "lab grown Petri dish vats of cells"? No, that's not true: Animal meat alternatives -- which are plant-based, not cell-based -- would not replace animal meat if Oregon voters adopted Initiative Petition 13. The proposed IP13…

Did a Democratic Pennsylvania state representative create a bill that enforces reproductive responsibility for men by requiring vasectomies for some "inseminators" and by offering a $10,000 reward for reporting "scofflaws" who don't submit? Yes, that's true, but an October 2, 2021, memorandum of co-sponsorship sent out by Democratic state Rep. Chris Rabb was extravagantly written, tipping off readers his was…

Does the 2021 infrastructure bill include a $6,500 tax on dairy cows, $2,600 per head tax on beef cows and $500 per head tax on swine? No, that's not true: There is no such language in the infrastructure legislation, according to the publicly available text. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on September 28, 2021. It opens:…

Is the Biden administration implementing a per-mile "driving tax" that would charge U.S. drivers an estimated eight cents per mile? No, that's not true: The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which has not passed at the time of writing, only details a pilot program for a vehicle-miles traveled fee (VMT fee). Additional legislation would have to be passed to implement…