Elon Musk

Did CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper appear on Canada's CBC News to endorse a set of "crypto trading secrets" supposedly launched by Elon Musk? No, that's not true: A CNN spokesperson told Lead Stories that a video which appeared to show the endorsement was "fabricated and manipulated." AI detection tool Hive Moderation found the video and audio were likely created…

Did an article accurately report that Elon Musk bought a gift for a child whose mother, a Starbucks cashier, was "struggling to buy a gift for her daughter"? No, that's not true: An article linked in the post that made this claim included an image with clear indications of having been AI generated. Furthermore, this story has been repeated with…

Does an authentic photograph show President Donald Trump posing with Elon Musk and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inside the White House? No, this image is fake: An AI generated image detection tool determined with 98.7 percent likelihood that the image was generated by AI. There is no evidence all three men were together at the White House or in…

Did Elon Musk say that the U.S. Agency for International Development is "one of the biggest globalist terror organizations in history"? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that he publicly said that. However, Musk did call the organization "criminal." The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on February 4, 2025. It read: Elon Musk has…

Did Elon Musk say Italians should stay in Italy and the Japanese should stay in Japan? No, that's not true: While speaking at a right-wing political event in December 2023, the tech billionaire argued that countries shouldn't rely on immigration to maintain their populations. Instead, he suggested that governments should promote higher birth rates and offer incentives for families to…

Did E! News report USAID paid celebrities like Ben Stiller, Angelina Jolie, Sean Penn, Orlando Bloom or Jean-Claude Van Damme millions of dollars to visit President Zelenskyy in Ukraine? No, that's not true: E! News told Lead Stories the video is "not authentic" and did not originate with them. Stiller denied he received any USAID money, posting on X that…

Is the U.S. government spending money on the "National Pillow Fluffing Initiative," the "Bureau of Elevator Music Standards," the "National Velcro Noise Study," the "Program of Ice Cube Uniformity," the "American Cloud Watching Fund," the "Federal Kazoo Orchestra Grant" and the "Federal Bureau of Traffic Cone Counting"? No, that's not true: All these supposed expenses originated in a comedy skit…

Did President Donald Trump sign an executive order on February 3, 2025, announcing the purchase of 2 billion doses of COVID shots from Moderna and Pfizer? No, that's not true: The order established a sovereign wealth fund, a government-owned fund that directs funding from various resources. In a video of the signing, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick recalled purchasing pandemic-era…

Did Bill Gates say that "defunding USAID will bring about another mystery illness across the world. Millions will die" during a TV appearance in February 2025? No, that's not true: Gates did not say that in the clip posted on X with that assertion. Lead Stories watched the full segment of Gates' appearance and did not hear Gates say it.…

Did Elon Musk tweet "Anyone protesting the Trump Administration will be suspended from X"? No, that's not true: There is no record that Musk, the owner of the X platform, ever posted this message on his official X account @ElonMusk, according to a search of the site. Had he made such a statement, it would be easily found and news…