Did state Rep. Terry Meza support her proposed amendment to Texas' "Stand Your Ground" law by saying robberies are "equitable distribution of wealth" and that home intruders only carry guns "to provide an incentive to cooperate"? No, that's not true. The quotes were fabricated to satirize Meza's proposal to require residents to exhaust all efforts to flee before turning to…

Do kids have to have the same father to receive the $1,400 stimulus check? No, that's not true: Nothing in the 628-page legislation, known as the American Rescue Plan, specifies that. Some users on social media apparently took the claim as real, but all signs suggest it is satire. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published by…

Is Donald Trump the "real" president, does Joe Biden not fly on Air Force One, does hydroxychloroquine "fix" COVID-19 and do masks not stop the spread of coronavirus? No, that's not true: Biden won the election and became President of the United States at 12:01 on January 20, 2021, per the U.S. Constitution. Trump is no longer the president and…

Did U.S. Navy SEALs arrest Hillary Clinton? No, that's not true: Clinton was not arrested under a secret order former President Donald Trump gave to the Navy. "The story is fabricated and not factual," Cmdr. Courtney Hillson, assistant chief of information, Media Operations/Plans for the U.S. Navy, told Lead Stories. The claim appeared as an article published by Real Raw…

Is 92% of the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill going to "foreign entities"? No, that's not true: The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 consists almost entirely of domestic spending, a fact that's confirmed by experts and the legislation itself. The claim is made without sources or evidence. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published on March 8,…

Was the "Keystone" pipeline "just about completed" when President Joe Biden stopped it? No, that's not true: Less than one tenth of the Keystone XL segment of the Keystone system was complete when Biden revoked the permit for Keystone XL by executive order on January 20, 2021. The XL, which is the fourth phase of the Keystone system, had not…

Was Nancy Pelosi drunk on vodka or "losing it" when she declared, "In order to open these doors, we do not say, 'Open Sesame.' We say 'Open Biden'"? No, that's not true: Pelosi staff and family members have publicly declared the House Speaker does not drink alcohol and no publicly available evidence disproves them. The claim, which provides no evidence…

Were ballots from the 2020 election found shredded and trashed in Maricopa County, Arizona? No, that's not true: The ballots cast in that election are safely sealed and stored in a vault, according to a spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Elections Department. She said that "Maricopa County has not, and would never destroy voted ballots until legally authorized to do…

Did El Chapo testify in U.S. court that he paid off House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to keep the Mexican/U.S. border open for drug cartels? No, that's not true. Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was found guilty in 2019 of 10 counts of drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit murder, money laundering and engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise. He…

Did a laboratory analysis commissioned by a German children's charity find bacteria and mold on a mask? Yes, that is true, but it does not mean these microorganisms are harmful or abnormal. According to experts, it is likely that the bacteria found on the mask are just the regular bacteria found on the skin and in the mouth. Without further…

Did Nevada voter Christina Gupana "disappear"? Is the "Louder With Crowder" show correct in saying her vote in the 2020 general election was fraudulent? No, that's not true: Lead Stories located Gupana and spoke to her on several occasions. She is registered to vote in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her listed address, 353 East Bonneville Avenue, Unit 435, was her address…

Has the Dr. Seuss book, "The Cat In The Hat," been "canceled"? No, that's not true: "The Cat In The Hat" is not among the six titles Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced March 2, 2021, that it would no longer publish because some portrayals of people in the books were "hurtful and wrong." The company owns the rights to Dr. Seuss…

Will Donald Trump be inaugurated on March 4, 2021? No, that's not true: The "five pieces of evidence" held up to support such a claim have been debunked before or are speculative, assigning significance to otherwise neutral facts. Joe Biden is president of the United States, has been since January 20, 2021, and all publicly available evidence confirms that he…

Has President Joe Biden "killed" Dr. Seuss, as six Seuss books will no longer be published? No, that's not true: the publisher of the books, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, says it decided last year, in conjunction with a panel of experts, to stop publishing six Seuss titles that included "hurtful" portrayals of people. The claim appeared in a post (archived here),…

Is Donald Trump in control of the military? No, that's not true: At the time of writing, March 2, 2021, Joe Biden is commander in chief, a position he assumed when he was sworn in as president of the United States on January 20, 2021 on the nation's tv system. This claim's argument that Trump is in control relies on…

Did Jerry Nadler say "God has no authority in the House of Representatives"? No, that's not true: Video from the debate during which the New York representative supposedly said that shows he didn't utter the phrase. Lead Stories rates the claim false because, regardless of meaning, the claim is at odds with the publicly available transcript and recording, which clearly…

Is a "Louder with Crowder" video that shows vacant lots at voter addresses in Nevada and Michigan proof of voter fraud? No, that's not true: Lead Stories dug into the Nevada data and found at least two types of mistakes. In some instances, host Steven Crowder reported names and addresses that do not match Nevada voter records. In other instances,…

Is Joe Biden not the official president because soldiers at a wreath ceremony did not wear their decorations on their coats and the 21-gun salute was moved to Arlington Cemetery on January 20, 2021? No, that's not true: Biden is the official president. The service members were wearing heavy, less-decorated cold weather coats at the wreath ceremony at the Tomb…

Does "Communist China" own DreamWorks Animation? No, that's not true: In 2016, DreamWorks was acquired by NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast Corporation. Both NBCUniversal and Comcast are American companies. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published on February 19, 2021. The post included a brief introductory message that read: "Hey Fact Checkers, debunk this please." The post…

Did President Joe Biden send out a racist tweet regarding his comment about minorities not being able to use the internet ? No, that's not true: the viral screenshot of the supposed tweet is an obvious forgery containing way more characters than it is possible to have in a tweet and there is no online record in search engines of…