2024 Presidential Election

Are Progress 2028 ads on Facebook authentic ads supporting Kamala Harris' presidential campaign? No, that's not true: These ads are not affiliated with the campaign or its supporters; instead, a conservative group paid for them to misrepresent her stance on controversial issues like gun buy-back programs and fracking. A Harris campaign aide told Lead Stories that Progress 2028's ads lie…

Did the E.coli outbreak involving McDonald's occur soon after Donald Trump worked at one McDonald's restaurant for one hour during his 2024 presidential campaign? No, that's not true: The E.coli outbreak traced to some McDonald's franchises began weeks before Trump's announcement he would do a shift at a single McDonald's restaurant. The Food and Drug Administration reported that the outbreak…

Did a Virginia voting machine ballot include an 'i' in Donald Trump's last name, as a video on social media displays? No, that's not true: The misspelling of the presidential candidate's name appears only on an optional ballot review screen -- not on the paper ballot itself -- in Washington County, Virginia. The director of elections there told Lead Stories…

Did Democratic political consultant James Carville say that he believes Vice President Kamala Harris will lose the 2024 U.S. presidential election? No, that's not true: Carville posted on X that he would donate $100 to the Donald Trump campaign if a credible person came forward and proved they heard him make the statements attributed to him in a social media…

Did Kamala Harris' presidential campaign pay superstar Beyoncé $10 million to attend a Harris rally in Houston? No, that's not true: No public evidence exists to support this claim. The Federal Elections Commission's most recent records do not show that the Harris campaign paid Beyoncé for appearing at the rally. A campaign finance expert told Lead Stories he did not…

Did non-English-speaking voters cut in line to vote early in Pennsylvania? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, told Lead Stories that a video circulating online is incomplete; some elderly and disabled people were allowed to wait their turn inside. A group of voters applying for mail-in ballots needed the help of translators, and the rest of…

Did Kamala Harris respond with a "blank stare" when a CBS News reporter mentioned that Donald Trump had called for Harris to take a cognitive test? No, that's not true: A video circulating on social media that shows Harris' response has been edited. In the full video, Harris actually challenged Donald Trump, her Republican presidential rival, to take the "same"…

Does a real photo show Elon Musk, Donald Trump and the lieutenant governor of North Carolina, Mark Robinson, together? No, that's not true: This image was made by combining three individual photos taken at different locations on different days. Not only were the subjects from three images collaged together, but some elements in the source photos were digitally altered, notably…

Did Donald Trump call British protesters to join a march on the U.K. parliament in October 2024? No, that's not true: A video that purported to have narration by Trump showed signs that it was not authentic, according to several AI detectors. Lead Stories found no credible sources confirming that Trump ever said the words attributed to him. The claim…

Does a social media video show a line of thousands of early voters in Grand Rapids, Michigan? No, that's not true: The video shows Michigan residents waiting in line to see Vice President Kamala Harris speak at a campaign rally. Early voting in Michigan started a day after this video was posted. The claim about the video appeared in a…