Elections

Did Liz Cheney tweet questioning why people won't get more than $750 for hurricane damage, saying it's because Donald Trump won't let House Speaker Mike Johnson pass a hurricane relief bill? No, that's not true: The X account that originally posted the fake screenshot carries a disclaimer, "This account itself is not a parody but most of the images we…

Does a viral image authentically show Donald Trump sitting next to Thomas Matthew Crooks, who is accused of shooting at Trump during a presidential campaign rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania? No, that's not true: The image shows signs that are consistent with generative AI technology. The image did not appear in credible news coverage of that assassination…

Did Kamala Harris swear her vice-presidential oath with her hand on top of a "Holy Bible" clutch or wallet that isn't actually a bible? No, that's not true: She had her hand on an actual Bible. In fact, her hand was atop two Bibles -- one belonged to a family friend, while the other belonged to the late Thurgood Marshall,…

Does a recently updated Pentagon directive now authorize the military to kill American protesters? No, that's not true: The Pentagon told Lead Stories the new policies "do not authorize the DOD to use lethal force against U.S. citizens ..." The online text of Department of Defense Directive 5240.01 does not allow the military "to kill Americans who engage in political…

Do photos showing luxurious mansions depict the real Quebec childhood home of Vice President Kamala Harris and prove she was not raised in a middle-class family? No, that's not true: The images in this post display houses not found on the street where she lived in Montreal, the main city in Canada's Quebec province. At least one of the photos…

Does a video show someone in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, destroying real mail-in ballots from voters who voted for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump? No, that's not true: The Bucks County Board of Elections, the Bucks County District Attorney and the Bucks County Republican Committee all confirmed the video is fake. The local GOP pointed out discrepancies in the filmed election…

Was Amos Miller's farm in Pennsylvania's Amish country raided by federal authorities during the years of Kamala Harris's vice presidency? No, that's not true: The well-publicized "raid" within that time frame took place on January 4, 2024, and was conducted by state authorities. Lead Stories found no evidence that any federal agencies were at the scene when the Pennsylvania Department…

Does a video show an unauthorized person being given mail-in ballots in Somerset, Massachusetts? No, that's not true: The clip shows the assistant town clerk transferring the ballots to the registrar. The Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts told Lead Stories that "nothing" in the video "appears to be contrary to any state election laws or regulations."…

Are 53 voters registered at an Erie, Pennsylvania, address where no one lives? No, that's not true: The address corresponds to a monastery. The Benedictine Sisters of Erie have said publicly that they live there. The claim appeared in an article (archived here) on X on October 22, 2024, on the official X account of Cliff Mahoney, leader of The…

Did Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz break the law by helping his son vote? No, that's not true: It is not against state law for a candidate in an election to help a voter who has requested voting assistance at the polls. A representative from the Minnesota secretary of state's office told Lead Stories the restriction had been "struck from the…

Did a possible voting machine glitch in Tarrant County, Texas, on one ballot indicate widespread vote-switching? No, that's not true: Tarrant County elections administrator Clint Ludwig said he believes the one person making the claim about their vote changing from the machine to the printed ballot "did make a selection on the machine and that selection was printed on their…

Does an online video prove door-to-door canvassers for the Kamala Harris campaign stole mail in Erie, Pennsylvania? No, that's not true: There's nothing in the clip to establish the address, nor that the canvassers deprived the homeowner of their mail. The clip shows a woman wearing a Harris/Walz sticker on her blouse and a "volunteer" lanyard around her neck, accompanied…

Have key battleground states Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania officially announced that they will not have election results available on election night, pointing to election cheating already in the works? No, that's not true: The rules for certifying election results vary between states, and some states have rules in place that result in an anticipated delay in processing all the ballots…

Did a "food for everyone" headline show Donald Trump had left a McDonald's location without paying the bill in 2024, as a post on X suggested? No, that's not true: The headline appeared in a 2023 article published by The Guardian after he had left a Miami restaurant. The article had nothing to do with Trump's October 2024 appearance at…

Does the cancellation of 132,336 "absentee ballot" application duplicates and "418 absentee ballot applications" from dead people prove that "the steal in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is already well underway"? No, that's not true: That only proves that election officials do their job ensuring proper verification of mail ballot requests, Pennsylvania Department of State's press secretary told Lead Stories. Mail…

Did inflation "since Biden and Kamala took over" cause a New York City barbershop owner to experience unusually high electric bills, as a post on social media says? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for Con Edison, the utility company that provides power to New York City residents, told Lead Stories the barber's recent bill was in error and that…

Did The Atlantic magazine publish an article titled, "TRUMP IS LITERALLY HITLER"? No, that's not true: The Atlantic put out a statement saying they did not publish this article. One of the accounts on social media that said the magazine had published such an article stated that its post was "satire." A reverse image search for the alleged article did…

Does a viral post on social media prove that the total size of undocumented populations in seven states has increased by triple-digit percentages between 2021 and 2024? No, that's not true: The chart shared online didn't reflect the correct updated totals and one column referred to court filings in immigration courts, not total populations. Court filing numbers do not represent…

Does a video posted on Instagram genuinely show a woman who has pledged to eat dog food until Kamala Haris is president? No, that's not true: The video originated from a TikTok account featuring a woman who cosplays as a dog named Lassie. The account features videos of the woman behaving like a dog in various ways. The original version…

Did Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis say Dominion Voting Systems will not operate in the state? No, that's not true: Dominion is one of two certified election systems in the state, with 18 of Florida's 67 counties using it in 2024, according to the Florida Division of Elections website. There has been no verified statement or policy announcement from the governor…