Politics

Did President Joe Biden misspeak while addressing a picket line of striking United Auto Workers (UAW) in Michigan on September 26, 2023, saying that while he had marched in other UAW picket lines it was the "first time I've ever done it in person"? No, that's not true: Biden was misquoted in a social media post. He was speaking into…

Did Bill Clinton and Pope Francis call for "urgent depopulation" to save the planet? No, that's not true: The pope and former President Clinton had a public conversation in September 2023 during the Clinton Global Initiative 2023 meeting where they spoke about climate change but never discussed "urgent depopulation," according to the official transcripts of the event. The website that…

Did Senator Rand Paul show up to work at the U.S. Capitol barefoot wearing a red bathrobe as an apparent comment on a change to the Senate's dress code? No, that's not true: This is an AI-generated image. The poster of this on X admitted that this is a picture made by artificial intelligence. The X user who originally made…

Does a social-media video show a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) "concentration camp" in Hawaii? No, this is not true: This video, according to a FEMA spokesperson, shows a project with which FEMA is not affiliated at all. The project built tiny homes for homeless and at-risk U.S. veterans. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook published…

Did New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker wear pink booty shorts at the Capitol after the Senate changed its dress code? No, that's not true: The account that posted the image of Booker in hot pink shorts is clearly labeled satire. It later posted a message calling out the fact that people were not getting the joke. The claim about Booker…

Do photos of Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman show that he lost his forearm tattoos? No, that's not true: Two screenshots taken from videos of Fetterman reacting to a question in an animated manner do not show his tattoos, but the tattoos are visible in other frames of the same videos. This is due to the fact that human arms can…

Does a photo on social media prove that Ukraine's former minister of defense Oleksii Reznikov went to Europe to enjoy "successful earnings" right after leaving his job in September 2023? No, that's not true: Reznikov posted that image on his Facebook page in 2020. That was before he became the minister of defense, in November 2021. The claim originated from…

Does FEMA have a prison camp just outside Fairbanks, Alaska, that can hold up to 2 million people at a time? No, that's not true: "That is absolutely false," an official of the Federal Emergency Management Agency told Lead Stories. The agency said they "do not operate any prison camps in Alaska or elsewhere." There is no credible evidence that…

Did former South Carolina governor and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley shed her birth name? No, that's not true: Haley, whose birth name is Nimrata (also spelled "Nimarata") Nikki Randhawa, has explained that the middle name on her birth certificate is "Nikki". Like other married women, she changed her last name when she married her husband Michael Haley. The claim…

Did the U.S. Army arrest U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen for committing treason? No, that's not true: The website where this claim was made has a disclaimer that states it publishes satirical content. The U.S. military is currently not authorized by Congress to arrest civilians. The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on September…

Did Reuters publish 2024 presidential election polling numbers that heavily favored former president and current candidate Donald Trump? No, that's not true: Reuters has debunked the fake numbers and a map associated with the numbers. The map was created on a website that allows users to design their own "election forecast." The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published…

Does a social media post prove that a U.S. F-35 fighter jet landed safely "at the Chinese base in Cuba"? No, that's not true: The debris of an F-35 that vanished in September 2023 was found after a daylong search; its pilot had safely ejected before its crash. No official statements contradicted this version of events, and a national security…

Did President Joe Biden's family say he died and was replaced by an actor in 2019? No, that's not true: This article and accompanying video from The People's Voice is baseless. There is no member of the Biden family who has claimed that Joe Biden died in 2019 and was replaced with a body double. That claim arose from an…

Does California Senate Bill 553 make it illegal to confront or fight back against looters, burglars and shoplifters? No, that's not true: California SB 553 does not fine employees who confront shoplifters, the senator who sponsored the bill and legal experts told Lead Stories. It requires businesses to have a plan in place for employees to prevent workplace violence. The…

Did the World Economic Forum (WEF) call on governments to establish "COVID concentration camps" globally for individuals who do not comply with the "official narrative" related to COVID-19? No, that's not true: A WEF representative called it, "fake news." There is no credible information supporting these claims. The claim appeared in an article (archived here) published by The People's Voice…

Are the tweets between Michelle Obama and Donald Trump about "destroying the country" and inviting "Mike" to play basketball real? No, that's not true: No such tweets from the former first lady's official account nor the former president's were published on August 30, 2019. The messages currently do not show up on the accounts, nor do they show up on…

Did the United States transfer $6 billion to Ukraine by mistake? No, that's not true: In the summer of 2023, the Pentagon admitted that it overestimated the value of military gear sent to Ukraine due to an accounting mistake but the money was not misspent or even spent. It is still there as of this writing and will be used…

Did the state of California declare a "Trans History Month" before declaring a Women's History Month? No, that's not true: California first recognized Women's History Month in 1988, and the governor has proclaimed it every March since 1995. California is tentatively planning to celebrate its first Transgender History Month in August 2024, roughly 36 years after its first Women's History…

Has the state of Florida officially classified COVID-19 mRNA vaccines as bioweapons? No, that's not true: There is no legislation in Florida that has classified mRNA vaccines as bioweapons as of September 18, 2023. One county Republican organization in the state voted to send a letter to Gov. and Republican presidential candidate Ron Desantis requesting the classification but the letter…

Did President Biden whisper "You're one sexy kid" in the ear of a child? No, that's not true: The audio had been edited. Lead Stories found the original video on TikTok and in it, Biden did not call the child "sexy." We also could not find any further evidence that this moment actually happened. The claim appeared on X, formerly…