9/11

Did Donald Trump pay hundreds of workers to help with search-and-rescue efforts after 9/11? It's unclear, but unlikely: Almost immediately after the attacks, Trump told reporters that he had men helping in the efforts. But we could find no independent confirmation of such a claim. And, on the contrary, sources have cast doubt on Trump's assertion, including a retired deputy…

Did Netflix tweet that its content is "mostly pedophila-free" in response to criticism over its streaming of "Cuties"? No, that's not true: The claim was made in a satire article on a popular satire site. However, several non-satire sites republished the claim without satire labeling. It also became a meme that appeared to be taken seriously by those who shared…

Did Netflix CEO Reed Hastings get busted by the FBI on child porn charges? No, that's not true: This claim was published by a known fake news website and there is no evidence from local, state, or federal law enforcement that Hastings was arrested. In fact, Hastings was interviewed by CNN on Thursday -- when the raid of his Santa…

Did TIME Magazine feature a cover of Barack Obama in an electric chair? No, that's not true: This is a fake cover that never actually appeared on any issue of the magazine. Since Donald Trump's election to office, the TIME Magazine archives do not feature this image on the cover. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) where…

Did the Democratic governor of New Jersey have all the American flags taken down from highway overpasses? No, that's not true: Gov. Phil Murphy was against the flag ban, which was proposed by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the ban has subsequently been suspended. The claim appeared in a meme (archived here) published by Facebook on September 7, 2020.…

Does a photo show Kyle Rittenhouse's mother dressed in militia gear and carrying an AR-15 rifle at the Kenosha protest the same night her son allegedly killed two men and wounded a third? No, that's not true: The image used in a meme claiming Wendy Rittenhouse drover her son the 20 miles to Kenosha, Wisconsin, from his home in Antioch,…

Has former U.S. President George W. Bush said he supports the Democratic presidential ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris? No, that's not true: While Bush has said he would not support Donald Trump's reelection campaign, he has not endorsed Biden and Harris, as of September 5, 2020. The claim appeared in a meme in a post shared on August…

Does an upcoming book on President Donald Trump report he suffered a mini-stroke or other cerebral event when he unexpectedly went to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in November of 2019? No, that's not true: Posting on Sept. 1, 2020 in response to the claim, the book's author -- New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt -- wrote that he…

Does a meme promising "fun facts" about the USPS contain only true facts? No, it doesn't. Although the United States Postal Service employs more than 500,000 people, the agency is in debt, it costs taxpayers $100 million a year, it only became self-sustaining in 1970 and it is not the largest employer of veterans. The meme appeared in a post…

Steve Brusk is the Assignments Manager at Lead Stories, assigning stories to writers and coordinating fact checking research. He worked on the National Desk and in Washington for CNN for twenty years. He was part of the network coverage of five presidential campaigns, the White House, 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. He was an assignment editor in Cleveland, Houston and Columbus,…