Biden

Did three former U.S. presidents -- Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Bill Clinton -- reject Secret Service detail assigned under the Trump administration for being "DEI hires"? No, that's not true: The rumor was first published on a self-described satire website. No professional journalistic organization reported on any such claim. The rumor originated from an article (archived here) published on…

Was Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer arrested by "U.S. Navy JAG" on "treason charges" related to the weak July 2025 job report published by the agency? No, that's not true: As of this writing, McEntarfer was fired by the Trump administration, but no credible source has published any reports about the purported arrest. The rumor came from a…

Did former President Barack Obama charge the Biden Administration $18 million a year for consulting? No, that's not true: The post spreading that claim originated on a Facebook page with a satire disclaimer and a warning that all the contents of the page are fabricated. The owner of the page is known for tricking conservatives into liking and sharing made-up…

Was American Derek Huffman killed in a drone strike while fighting for the Russian military in Ukraine in July 2025? A YouTube account used by his wife claimed in a comment that Huffman is alive and well. Another American acquaintance of Huffman also told Lead Stories that Huffman is alive, but definitive proof was not immediately available. Here's what we…

Did Democratic nominee and then-sitting Vice President Kamala Harris get 68 million votes in 2024? No, that's not true: In reality, she got more than 75 million, according to data on the Federal Election Commission website. That's fewer than Joe Biden's 2020 total of 81 million, but 7 million more than is claimed by a viral meme. The claim appeared…

Did Vice President Kamala Harris say "If we elect Trump, we will be at war within 6 months" as multiple viral memes claim she did? No, that's not true: There is no publicly available proof she said it. None of the multiple versions of the meme provides the time or place when she is supposed to have said it. Had…

Did the Biden administration approve the permit in June 2024 for a "grand parade" for the Army's 250th birthday? No, that's not true: The parade permit application was submitted in March 2025, more than a month after President Biden left the White House and President Trump's administration began, according to a National Park Service spokesman. The permit application for a…

Did an authentic news outlet report that the May 2025 expense report of the California Democratic Party showed it bought 200 pallets of bricks ahead of ICE protests in Los Angeles? No, that's not true: The story originated on a Facebook account that identifies the owner as a comedian working for Donald Trump. The bricks story did not include links…

Was U.S. President Donald Trump's account on X blocked again in the aftermath of the public feud with the platform's owner Elon Musk on June 5, 2025? No, that's not true: The account was still active, as of this writing. The screenshot that resurfaced on social media showed what Trump's account looked like in 2021 - after he had been…

Did President Trump reshare a Truth Social post that claims Joe Biden was executed in 2020 and replaced with "clones doubles & robotic engineered souless mindless entities"? Yes, he did: Trump's Truth Social timeline showed the post was shared by the president at 7:06 p.m. on Saturday, May 31, 2025. The post was still active at the time of writing…