Current Events

Did The Atlantic publish an op-ed saying that ending racism is worth a rise in sexual assaults by migrants? No, that's not true: As of this writing, the magazine's website did not show such an article. No other credible media outlet mentioned the purported story, and a supposed screenshot of it was a digital fabrication. A spokesperson for The Atlantic…

Did White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt say "Avoid woke things like math, and you'll love the tariffs." on Fox News? No, that's not true: A screenshot with that quote in a chyron has been digitally fabricated. The original screenshot said "ONE-ON-ONE WITH KAROLINE LEAVITT". The fake screenshot appeared in a post on Bluesky (archived here) published on April 17,…

Did a photograph show a fake hand on board the crew capsule after an April 14, 2025, Blue Origin space flight, suggesting the whole endeavor was a hoax? No, that's not true: The photograph did show the hand of a mannequin, but it was taken after a December 2017 test flight, not the crewed mission in 2025. The picture, placed…

Did former Congresswoman Liz Cheney write an open letter to the Democratic Party in April 2025, saying "I need more from you"? No, that's not true: The viral letter appeared in a Facebook group called "Liz Cheney/Adam Kinzinger Against Trump", which may have caused the confusion. The earliest available version was posted to that group by a user named Pru…

At the press briefing during his visit to Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, was the casually-dressed Vice President JD Vance asked "Why don't you wear a suit?", as a TikTok video makes it sound? No, that's not true: The TikTok clip combines authentic video from Vance's March 28, 2025 Greenland visit with authentic audio from a February 28, 2025 White…

Did an image shared on social media capture the recent arrest of a "45-year-old British mother in the UK" later sentenced to nine months in prison for a Facebook post? No, that's not true: The image first appeared online in 2017. It documented a drug bust. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on April 16,…

Did activist and former swimmer Riley Gaines "make it to the Olympics"? No, that's not true: Her name was not on the 2024 U.S. national team roster. It doesn't appear on the official website of the Olympic Games, either. The claim appeared in an interview aired on Fox News and uploaded to YouTube on April 16, 2025. At the 1:25…

Did "New York police" say publicly in April 2025 that President Donald Trump's height and weight were 5'10" and 287 pounds? No, that's not true: Neither the New York Police Department nor the New York State Police made any statement about Trump's physical attributes in response to the publication of his annual physical examination. According to Trump's physician, U.S. Navy…

Did a widely shared image accurately depict the all-female crew of a Blue Origin spaceflight, with one post describing it as "one giant leap for Botox"? No, that's not true: The image was digitally edited. The original picture was taken by Justin Hamel for the New York Times and showed Katy Perry, Gayle King, Aisha Bowe, Kerianne Flynn, Lauren Sánchez…

Does a draft paper by scientists at The Cleveland Clinic "reveal" that the 2024/2025 flu shot increased the risk of flu, as social media posts claim? No, that's not true: This study's finding that vaccination was "associated with" a higher risk isn't the same as showing the vaccine is what caused increased risk. The authors of the study found that…

Did a video shared in April of 2025 authentically show a teacher yelling at students in her classroom for bullying a student who wore a MAGA hat? No, that's not true: the video was one of several featuring the same actors in a variety of roles and settings. In another video the same "teacher" throws a student out of her…

Did tech billionaire Elon Musk "step in" to take care of an infant left behind by its parents? No, that's not true: The viral rumor originated from AI generated images coupled with AI generated text. As of April 15, 2025, no credible media outlet reported the purported event. The claim reappeared a post (archived here) published on Facebook on April…

Did Elon Musk use a Neuralink implant to save the life of a boy named "Tristan Killip", who had been comatose for a year after a drowning accident? No, that's not true: The story, shared widely in April 2025, was no more than fantasy fiction, and news archives contained no trace of a purported press conference featuring Musk and the…

Does a bodycam video authentically show a black female lawyer arguing with an "arrogant cop" after she was trying to throw out trash at her office? No, that's not true: The video in which a woman who says her name is "Linda Jones" gets in a confrontation with a police officer originated on a YouTube channel that says it publishes…

Did Cody Balmer, who is suspected of arson at the residence of the governor of Pennsylvania, publish a selfie with a "Fuck Trump" inscription? No, that's not true: The picture that went viral after the release of the suspect's name was digitally altered. The caption of the original selfie, which predated the attack by five years, did not mention Donald…

Did investor Warren Buffett publish an opinion article titled "Sell American. I Am" on April 11, 2025? No, that's not true: A viral image purporting to be a screenshot of such an article was created as a joke according to the account that posted it. There is no record of such an article in Google News. Buffett did write an…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump write on social media that he would increase tariffs on China for every 1,000 "likes" he gets? No, that's not true: The viral image of the supposed screenshot of his account was fake. The promise to increase levies on China based on likes did not appear on Trump's social media, as of this writing. The…

Did a video shared widely in April 2025 contain an authentic audio recording of a Spirit Airlines Flight 861 pilot landing at an airport despite orders from an air traffic controller to cede the runway to the U.S. president? No, that's not true: the audio was fake, and the incident was a fabrication. The account that originally posted the video…

Did U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement post on X about ideas crossing the border illegally, along with people, money and products? Yes, that's true: Screenshots of the post were shared widely, amid a backlash around what critics described as the concept of "illegal ideas." ICE later deleted the post, but archived versions of it prove its authenticity. A screenshot of…

Do viral posts tell a real-life story about Elon Musk meeting Keanu Reeves in a heated televised exchange in 2025? No, that's not true: No credible media outlet reported such a debate, as of April 9, 2025. Many of the social media posts about the supposed confrontation resorted to the apparent use of generative AI to make images that barely…