Lia Thomas

Does this photo posted by the Twitter account @CaptainJenkem show the man who drove his vehicle into a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin? No, that's not true: This photo is not recent and has a history of being used in pranks since 2015. This photo is not related to the Waukesha, Wisconsin, Christmas parade incident on November 21, 2021. Since…

Are Facebook's independent fact-checking partners funded by vaccine makers? No, that's not true. While one of the 10 U.S. Facebook fact checkers discloses that one of its 2021 grants comes from a foundation whose stock-holdings include vaccine-maker Johnson & Johnson, vaccine makers do not fund fact checkers and have no control over fact checkers' writings. The grant in question, from…

Did air traffic controllers at the Jacksonville International Airport stage a walkout Friday, October 8, to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates, resulting in all flights in and out of Florida being cancelled? No, that's not true: The National Air Traffic Controllers Association told Lead Stories that "there was weather that affected operations" and it was "a common occurrence." The Federal Aviation…

Does an ICU nurse give proof that ivermectin is effective at treating COVID-19? No, that's not true: Ivermectin, which is frequently used to treat or prevent parasites in animals, is not approved for treating or preventing COVID-19 in humans. In fact, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) specifically warns people not to take it for those reasons. The person who…

Did French philosopher Voltaire say, "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize"? No, that's not true: Two academic authorities on Voltaire told Lead Stories the words were not those of the French writer and philosopher. Meanwhile, a white nationalist has declared he created the phrase in 1993. The claim reappeared in…

Did Chinese slaves build railroads in California in the 1800s? No, that's not true: It's estimated that 90% of the railroad-building workforce in the west consisted of Chinese labor, but historians have found no evidence they were slaves. Many of the Chinese workers were recruited by labor contractors, and they traveled to California from China, but worked for wages. This…

Did a surgeon from Ohio die shortly after receiving the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine? There is no evidence that Dr. Thomas Lee Flanigan's death on April 27, 2021, was related to the COVID-19 vaccine he had received 12 weeks earlier. The cause of his death has not been made public. Flanigan's death was reported by several news outlets…

Summary: Mike Lindell's video series allegedly proving fraud in the November 2020 elections relies heavily on digital evidence in the form of files and animations that Lindell claims show attacks on the U.S. election infrastructure coming from China and other places. Lindell has never acknowledged where these files and animations came from. Lead Stories traced them back to a website…

Does Mike Lindell's "Absolute Interference" video, his third that purports to prove 2020 election fraud, contain only proven statements? No, that's not true: It contradicts itself and recycles claims that have been debunked before, relying on discredited and anonymous guests who make unsubstantiated and disproven allegations. The video's orienting claim is that foreign and domestic actors hacked the election through…

Does a video featuring Michael Flynn and Thomas McInerney contain only factual and proven statements? No, that's not true: The video recycles, without repairing, multiple false claims about COVID-19 and the 2020 election that have already been debunked. This fact-check considers seven such claims, including the allegation that COVID-19 was a "deliberate biological attack," that the vaccines for the virus…