Elections

At the press briefing during his visit to Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, was the casually-dressed Vice President JD Vance asked "Why don't you wear a suit?", as a TikTok video makes it sound? No, that's not true: The TikTok clip combines authentic video from Vance's March 28, 2025 Greenland visit with authentic audio from a February 28, 2025 White…

Did Wisconsin run out of ballots in Republican-leaning "red areas" on the day of the State Supreme Court election on April 1, 2025? No, that's not true: The shortage affected only the City of Milwaukee, election officials told Lead Stories. In the last three federal elections, the city supported Democratic candidates. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published…

Did President Donald Trump cancel 20 truckloads of food en route to Ohio food banks and throw it away rather than give it to needy people? No, that's not true: While the U.S. Department of Agriculture in March of 2025 cut federal funding for local food purchased for food banks and schools, there is no evidence this required fresh food…

Does a "loophole in U.S. law" legally grant permission to noncitizens to vote in federal elections if they believe they are U.S. citizens? No, that's not true: A professor specializing in election law told Lead Stories that what was referred to on social media as a "loophole" described such a narrow exception that "it's hard to imagine whom it might…

Did actor James Woods post an authentic copy of a tweet by Congresswoman Maxine Waters in which she misspelled impeach as "inpeach" and confused a urine test with an IQ test, supposedly responding to President Donald Trump calling her "Low IQ Maxine"? No, that's not true: Woods posted to his X account a copy of a fake tweet that was…

Did Donald Trump admit in an Oval Office ceremony on March 7, 2025, that the 2024 election was rigged so that he could become president again? No, that's not true: President Trump was claiming the 2020 presidential election won by Joe Biden was rigged, not the 2024 election. If he had won in 2020, he would not be president when…

Did Elon Musk tweet "The USA needs to hold an election. Trump would lose by a landslide." on March 7, 2025? No, that's not true: The post in question does not appear on Musk's X account and it was not indexed by Google. A viral screenshot that appears to show such a post bears signs of digital manipulation. An example…

Did Elon Musk leave his son behind while exiting the stage at a January 2025 rally? No, that's not true: A video clip circulating on social media to support this assertion was edited and shortened to suggest Musk left his son behind. Uncut video footage of Musk's exit off-stage shows that he paused, turned around, and waited for his son…

Did Sheriff Joe Arpaio hold a press conference on Barack Obama's birth certificate in February 2025? No, that's not true: The posted footage of the press conference held by the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona is from 2016, not 2025 as is implied by a post on social media. The press conference was documented by local media in 2016.…

Did Germans students participating in a mock federal election known as U18, for people under 18, overwhelmingly vote for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, resulting in a sweep by a "massive majority" in every polling district? No, that's not true: A graph shared on social media shows the results of one polling place. While the AfD did win…

Does a 2025 poll say Germans think President Donald Trump is the greatest threat to world peace just weeks after taking office? No, that's not true: The poll being circulated in February 2025 was actually conducted in 2019, toward the end of Trump's first term in office. The graphic being shared comes from a 2019 Fox News story reporting that…

Did Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum say she thought Americans encouraged felons and rapists to come to the United States since "that's what they chose to be their president"? No, that's not true: There is no evidence Sheinbaum made such a statement. The quote originated on a TikTok channel that describes itself as a place for "Awful Sports Takes, Brutal SportsBetting…

Did Melania Trump win a $900 million defamation lawsuit against the TV show "The View"? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for "The View" told Lead Stories the story was false. No news websites indexed by Google News reported anything about such a lawsuit and there was no trace of it in court dockets in New York and Palm Beach.…

Was Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde removed from the National Cathedral by the Episcopal Archdiocese of Washington after she angered newly elected President Donald Trump during the inaugural prayer service? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the Washington National Cathedral told Lead Stories that Budde "very much remains the Episcopal Bishop of Washington." This story came from a self-described satirical…

Did Whoopi Goldberg, Megan Rapinoe and Taylor Swift announce they were leaving the United States, presumably after Donald Trump's return as president? No, that's not true: The article cited in the comments of a social media post making this claim did not offer any quotes or sources to confirm this. A review of the social media accounts of Goldberg, Rapinoe…

Did a North Carolina hurricane survivor seen admiring her new apartment in a widely shared video move in after President Donald Trump's return to the White House? No, that's not true: The woman moved in on January 9, 2025, two weeks before Trump took office on January 20, 2025, according to information found in the original description of the video.…

Did the Fraternal Order of Police rescind its endorsement of President Donald Trump in response to the sweeping January 6 pardons he gave after his 2025 swearing-in? No, that's not true: The Fraternal Order of Police issued a letter that criticized pardons by both Trump and former President Joe Biden of people convicted of violence against law enforcement officers, but…

Does a collection of still images demonstrate that other politicians have made the same gesture as Elon Musk did at the closing of his speech at President Donald Trump's inauguration rally in 2025? No, that's not true: These photos do show real moments in time, and they are authentic -- but they do not capture the full context in which…

Would a proposed constitutional amendment by a Republican congressman meant to help President Donald Trump serve a third term also allow Barack Obama to be elected president again? No, that's not true: The proposal specifies that only presidents who have not served two consecutive presidential terms would be eligible to be elected for a third term. Obama was president for…

Does a video show an Orange County, California, election worker committing electoral fraud by scanning ballots three times? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the Orange County Registrar of Voters denied the accusation of fraud, saying the video "shows an Orange County election worker scanning a batch of ballots three times, but only saving the batch once." The first…