Did Donald Trump once say he had talked to the "President of Puerto Rico", as social media posts claim? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no public record of Trump ever saying that. He did, in 2017, say he had talked to the "President of the Virgin Islands," a gaffe which his staff at that time cleared up in…
Does a video depict a true story of an IDF soldier who converted to Islam and became an activist for Palestine? No, that's not true: The video uses clips showing several different women to illustrate a made-up story. The woman dancing in the first scene wearing an Israeli Army uniform is eyebrow artist Karin Edri. The woman pictured leading the…
Do viral clips with a pop-up warning advising people "under 18 years old" against watching videos of the "overcrowded Oktoberfest" show dramatic events in Munich, Germany? No, that's not true: It's engagement bait added to routine video of the annual beer and folk culture festival. Such pop-up banners attempt to make social media users hit "like" or "follow" buttons as…
Does an authentic video on TikTok show Keith Urban saying that "Nicole cheated"? No, that's not true: The video has been edited with a fake voice. The original video interview was published by Variety in 2024 and featured Urban trying to guess which of his songs certain lyrics came from. The topic of the reason for the marriage breakup was…
Does a video authentically capture Donald Trump saying planned Super Bowl 2026 half-time performer Bad Bunny is from "the Mexican City of Puerto Rico" ? No, that's not true: The audio was lifted from a Trump impressionist's YouTube video and plays while the person in the TikTok video reacts to what is said. There is no publicly available report that…
Does a video show a crowd on a beach in Gaza who came to greet the arriving Samud Flotilla? No, that's not true: The crowd in the video gathered on Sidi Bou Said beach near Tunis, which is 1,400 miles across the Mediterranean Sea from Gaza. The video was filmed Sept. 10, 2025, weeks before the flotilla approached Gaza. The…
Do California and New York issue commercial driver's licenses with no name given, and did Oklahoma arrest 125 "illegals" with such CDLs? No, that's not true: The so-called "No Name Given" commercial driver's licenses include a mononym, which is a single name. The use of mononyms is legal in the United States and is even accepted for U.S. passports. State…
Did "all of India's telemarketers" threaten "to go on strike permanently" if the U.S. places increased tariffs on imports from that country? No, that's not true: No media organizations reported that. The viral post that resurfaced at the end of September 2025 appeared to be a joke. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on September…
Did the public school system in Hamburg, Germany ban music lessons to avoid offending Muslims who view them to be forbidden or 'haram'? No, that's not true: The Hamburg public schools did no such thing. A German language news report has been misrepresented in social media posts. The report followed the signing of a joint statement by religious representatives and…
Is a video that shows a man in Union Jack underwear throwing water over a Palestinian protester authentic? No, that's not true: The video appears to be AI generated using a still image of British MP Zarah Sultana that has been publicly available on the internet since 2021. There are tell-tale signs of AI in the video with glitches appearing…
Does a viral photo document ISIS militants parading caged Yazidi women through Mosul, Iraq in 2016 before burning them to death? No, that's not true: The photo was taken in Alexandria, Egypt in 2013. It appeared in the Sharkia Today news site's coverage of Egyptian female protesters staging a symbolic demonstration unrelated to the burning deaths, which were reported to…
Did the Nobel Peace Prize Committee permanently disqualify Donald Trump from ever receiving the prize and was this news announced via a press release? No, that's not true: A fake press release using the the logo of Associated Press and mentioning a defunct website named swisstimes.org originated on the X account of a parody website. There were no media announcements…
Did Meta, the owner of the Threads social media platform, announce it had begun labeling some accounts with a warning that "This user is suspected of being part of a terrorist organization called Antifa. Please report any suspicious behavior."? No, that's not true: Users add the italicized phrase themselves at the bottom of their own posts. Neither Meta nor Threads…
Did Tylenol tweet a warning that they "actually don't recommend using any of our products while pregnant?" Yes, that's true: The drug maker posted the message on its official Twitter account in 2017 in reply to another post that has since been deleted. The company's reply was still on the Tylenol timeline on September 24, 2025. The claim appeared in…
Is it true that Cuba has no access to Tylenol and virtually no autism? No, that's not true: This rumor is false on both counts; Tylenol, usually marketed in Cuba as Paracetamol, is available -- although there can be shortages. The rate of diagnosed autism in Cuba is lower than world averages. There are nine schools for autistic children in…
Is there any evidence that Charlie Kirk's widow Erika Kirk's "Romanian Angels" or "Everyday Heroes like You" ministries were accused of "snatching children only to send them straight into sex and organ trafficking networks in the United Kingdom and Israel? No, that's not true: A review of Romanian court records and media reports by Lead Stories' Romanian staff found only…
Does a viral video show two military pilots arrested for refusing to fly armed planes to Israel? No, that's not true: A video with a false caption has gone viral more than two weeks after it was filmed. The chaotic scene was filmed on Sept. 3, 2025 when a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing was disrupted with shouts from…
Did UK police attempt to seize a child's phone for viewing a social media post? No, that's not true: In the recording shared as "proof" of the claim, police were heard saying the reason for their visit was different. In a statement released in response to social media posts, police said that their visit to the home of a suspect,…
Did a real photo show Donald Trump slurping up a plate of spaghetti while King Charles III made a speech at a state banquet? No, that's not true: The picture of Trump with a mouthful of spaghetti has been digitally edited. At no time during the King's speech was Trump eating, and videos of the table show that there was…
Did Israel's Chief Rabbi, David Yosef, write a condolence letter to the family of Charlie Kirk on September 2, 2025 -- more than a week before Kirk was killed? No, that's not true: The letter was written on Sept. 12, 2025, but it was shared publicly online with a typing error -- it was dated September 2, 2025. In an…
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.
Spotted something? Let us know!.
