Politics

Was Bruce Springsteen booed off the stage at the Atlanta Southern Fried Rock Fest in May 2025? No, that's not true: A meme making that claim originated on a Facebook page with a satire disclaimer. The owner of the page is known for tricking conservatives into liking and sharing made-up content. The meme appeared in a Facebook post (archived here)…

Did Billy Joel cancel a series of concerts with Bruce Springsteen in May 2025, during the fallout from criticism by Springsteen of President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: That rumor originated on a Facebook page that describes its output as satirical. During a concert in Manchester, England, Springsteen called Trump "unfit" and described his administration as "corrupt, incompetent and…

Did basketball player LeBron James call Karoline Leavitt "KKK Barbie" in an interview and did she respond that her family "fought to end slavery" while his "came from Jamaica"? No, that's not true: A meme making that claim originated on a Facebook page with a satire disclaimer. The owner of the page is known for tricking conservatives into liking and…

Did several viral videos accurately report Whoopi Goldberg collapsed in court after losing an $800 million lawsuit to Karoline Leavitt? No, that's not true: The fictional lawsuit did not happen and the video used AI generated imagery of Goldberg. The channel that posted the video included a disclaimer saying it did "not claim absolute truth" and that the video was…

Did Antifa hang a Jeffrey Epstein banner next to Donald Trump's banner on the Department of Agriculture building in Washington? No, that's not true: Epstein's image was added with digital manipulation of a real photo of the front of the Agriculture Department headquarters next to the National Mall. The account that first shared the image said in another post that…

Does a viral image confirm that the Ukrainian government issued new rules prohibiting taking pictures of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from certain angles? No, that's not true: Talking to Lead Stories, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States referred to the image as "fake". The "rules" were self-contradictory and lacked any specific identifying information tying it to…

Does House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries not want to discuss a $1.2 million luxury apartment the Mexican government gifted him in 2022? No, that's not true: The rumor was launched by a Facebook page that profits from political satire. The fake claim came amid backlash against President Donald Trump's decision to accept the gift of a 747 from the government…

Did a video shared widely in May 2025 authentically show President Donald Trump describing the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio as "the largest environmental terror attack in world history" and "an inside job"? No, that's not true: Trump never made such remarks. The clip in question contained fake audio and edited mouth movements, both likely the products of…

Does an image authentically show (presumably) Palestinian women and children crying on demand for a cameraman wearing a green on white headband with Arabic lettering on it? No, that's not true: The scene, which also contained rubble and a boom microphone, was AI-generated according to at least two detection tools. It also contained telltale signs of AI such as weird…

Is there evidence that music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs divulged, in testimony, that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries attended "Communist Party Freak Off" parties, as a social media post claimed? No, that's not true: The post appeared while Combs was on trial in federal court in Manhattan on charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. But Combs had not testified at…

Did authentic photos shared in May 2025 show President Donald Trump covered in blood after being "shot again while exiting the White House"? No, that's not true: We found no source or corroboration for the two images in question, which appear to have been created using AI. No news reports existed on the supposed shooting of Trump, which would have…

Does U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer "drive to work every day" in a Rolls Royce he received as a gift from the British government? No, that's not true: That rumor originated on a Facebook page that describes its content as satirical. The fake "Rolls Royce" claim came amid backlash against President Donald Trump's decision to accept the gift of a jet…

Did Al Gore receive a $90 million custom Gulfstream jet from the Sultan of Kuwait? No, that's not true: The story appeared on a site that is clearly labeled as satirical. It is run by a man known for tricking conservatives into liking and sharing made-up content. The story appeared as an article published by The Dunning-Kruger Times on May…

Does a viral video show a crowd of passengers streaming off a ferry that has landed in Germany? No, that's not true: It's just a re-post of an old video, with a label mis-identifying the location. Nothing in the post provides verification of the claim that it shows Germany, while an earlier post of the exact same video identifies it…

Does a viral video prove U.S. President Donald Trump refused to drink coffee in Saudi Arabia in May 2025? A longer version of the viral clip showed him gazing around while holding the untouched coffee cup, as other reception participants, including the host, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, took one or more sips. Yet, the footage does not offer…

Does an authentic video show U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. he's "declaring war on fat, gay kids, not the kids themselves but whatever is making them so fat, gay, and pathetic?" No, that's not true: A disclaimer saying the video is "a deepfake, quite obviously" appears in the last second of the 55-second clip. The…

Did the Saudis give Bill Clinton a helicopter worth $17 million "to use in their airspace" and did he then get to keep it as a "gift" when he left office? No, that's not true: The viral claim originated on two self-described satirical Facebook pages. The owner of the pages is known for tricking conservatives into liking and sharing made-up…

Did online posts accurately show a woman dancing with a "Trump 2024" flag, then being deported? No, that's not true: The posts combined two clips that showed entirely different people. The first was Lenette Saunders, who posted "Latinos celebrating Papi Trump's victory" in November 2024. The second woman was Alejandra Juarez, who was deported in 2018. The claim appeared in…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump call Australian PM Anthony Albanese a "total RETARD" in a post on Truth Social? No, that's not true: A fabricated screenshot of such a post, in which Trump accused Albanese of "running the country into the ground" originated on an X account that said it was "fake". There is no trace of such a post…

Did U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi publicly confirm a RICO investigation against the Clinton, Obama and Biden families? No, that's not true: Neither the Attorney General's website nor credible media organizations show the purported announcement. The account that posted the claim displayed a satire label. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X where it was published on…