Elections

Does an authentic photograph show supporters at the Republican National Convention wearing diapers for Donald Trump in July 2024? No, that's not true: A reverse image search revealed that the image originated on satire website The Shovel. Lead Stories ran the image through a detection tool which found "substantial evidence" that the image was generated using AI. The claim appeared…

Does a meme comparing raised-fist images of Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler use a real photo of Hitler to make its point? No, that's not true: While the photo of Trump is authentic, an AI-detection tool shows the image of Hitler has been digitally manipulated to closely match photographs taken of Trump right after a gunman fired at him in…

Did Kamala Harris tweet "My father is black. Trump's father was KKK"? No, that's not true: This fabricated quote is attributed to an account in an image labeled "Parody" that misspells the vice president's name. There is no record of her making such a statement on X or any other platform. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on…

Did Vice President Kamala Harris say "a problem is not a problem" as part of a longer quote in a meme circulating on social media? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the vice president's office answered "no" by email when Lead Stories asked if the quote was real. Lead Stories could find no video or news articles indicating Harris…

Did President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris personally oversee the plea deal with accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants? No, that's not true: Both the U.S. National Security Adviser and the U.S. Office of Military Commissions stated that the White House was not involved in any way. There is no evidence that either the…

Did Michelle Obama wear a gold necklace with the letters "MIKE" in 2020? No, that's not true: The former first lady's gold necklace had the four letters "VOTE" on it at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Publicly available images of Obama wearing the VOTE necklace are easily found on the internet. Multiple news outlets covered the necklace she wore and…

Did Vice President Kamala Harris suggest that young people "should not have children due to climate change," as implied by a post on X? No, that's not true: In the clip, she described how "young leaders" define climate anxiety. She did not suggest that young people "should not have children." A version of the claim appeared in a post on…

Did American billionaire Warren Buffett criticize former President Donald Trump for "begging for money" on X? No, that's not true: What appeared to be a screenshot of Buffett's account was a 2022 recycled meme. It was first published by a parody account. The claim resurfaced in a post (archived here) published on Threads on July 30, 2024. It said: Everyone's…

Does a social media video of large crowds moving through a city center show a mass public protest against the disputed results of Venezuela's July 2024 presidential election? No, that's not true: The video first appeared in 2022 and shows soccer fans gathering in the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires, to celebrate Argentina winning soccer's World Cup that year. It does…

Does the Georgia Voter Registration Cancellation Portal automatically cancel voter registration based solely on entry of a voter's first initial, last name, county and date of birth? No, that's not true: These data points are only the first step in the process. A spokesperson for Georgia's Secretary of State, which oversees elections, told Lead Stories the system asks for more…

Did Donald Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks have three offshore bank accounts totaling $1.5 million? No, that's not true: The FBI National Press Office told Lead Stories that, as of July 30, 2024, their investigation had "not uncovered any evidence" of "overseas bank accounts." Secret Service and FBI officials had briefed members of Congress that Crooks had three foreign encrypted…

Did majority X owner Elon Musk share a public message on July 30, 2024, that users of the social-media platform would be punished for calling supporters of former President Donald Trump weird? No, that's not true: As of this publication, no such post was available on Musk's verified X profile, and an archive of his profile page did not reflect…

Did President Joe Biden grow mysteriously taller after spending time away from the public eye recovering from COVID-19? No, that's not true: The video footage used by people claiming this on social media shows Biden from a lower level, which gives an illusion of greater height relative to the people and architecture behind him. Different camera angles of the same…

Did an authentic photo show Vice President Kamala Harris with Jeffrey Epstein, embracing at the beach? No, that's not true: Lead Stories ran the image through AI detection tool True Media, which found "substantial evidence" the image was generated using AI, with 100 percent confidence. A reverse image search does not offer results older than mid-July 2024, almost five years…

Does a scene from an episode of "The Simpsons" show that Lisa Simpson would win an election against former President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: An image from an episode in which Trump did not appear was altered to substitute Trump's likeness, including the bandage he wore after a July, 2024 assassination attempt. The episode actually features a different,…

Is an online video a real campaign ad using Kamala Harris' voice? No, that's not true: The audio used in the deepfake video is AI-generated, and the video's creator labeled it as a parody from the very start when he posted it on his social media account in July 2024. Despite being clearly labeled as a parody, many, including X…

Did Netflix's stock drop almost 40 percent after a "big campaign donation announcement"? No, that's not true: The story originally came from a network of satirical websites and Facebook pages. A representative for Netflix confirmed public records showing the company's stock had not dropped 40 percent. Reed Hastings, Netflix's co-founder and executive chairman, did make a major personal donation to…

Does an old photo show Vice President Kamala Harris practicing prostitution? No, that's not true: The professional photographer who took this shot in New York City told Lead Stories that the young Black woman in the picture was not Harris. Also, news reports with photos of Harris in the 1980s showed that she did not resemble the woman in the…

Does a photo taken less than two weeks after Donald Trump's right ear was grazed in an assassination attempt show it undamaged? No, that's not true: The photo on social media predates the shooting by more than seven years. There's no evidence to suggest that the former president's ear has fully healed in less than two weeks since the July…

Did Donald Trump's pick for vice president, Sen. JD Vance, write about a drunken party with embarrassingly graphic details on page 21 of his book "Hillbilly Elegy"? No, that's not true: The person who made the post on social media later clarified it was not real. Additional searches in the hard copy and digital copies of the book found no…