Mike Pence

Did a Jewish family hire Thomas Matthew Crooks to shoot former President Donald Trump? Or was Crooks trained to shoot by the CEO of BlackRock Security or by a rabbi? Has footage been leaked showing Crooks and the BlackRock CEO together carrying a gun? No, none of these claims are true: Using an AI-detection tool, Lead Stories found that the…

Does a video on social media show two versions of the same January 6, 2021, speakerphone call between then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then-Vice President Mike Pence, apparently implying at least one of the versions was staged? No, that's not true: The actual video of the call following the U.S. Capitol attack on January 6 was deceptively edited to exactly…

Did former Vice President Mike Pence, who is a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, carry a rainbow flag in a parade while dressed in a white suit with a rainbow-striped shirt? No, that's not true: This is an AI-generated image. The image features characteristic AI flaws in the rendering of Pence's right hand, and the AI detection tool…

Did a young woman blindside former vice president Mike Pence while he was walking in a parade, hitting him squarely in the back of the head with a water balloon? No, that's not true: The video shows the Stewart Manor 4th of July Parade in Hempstead, New York, where throwing water balloons is part of a long standing tradition --…

Is there legitimate footage of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi giving a "shoot to kill order" for those who participated in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021? Similarly, is there legitimate footage of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arguing with Pelosi and President Joe Biden about finding ways to punish the January 6 rioters? No, neither of…

Did John F. Kennedy Jr. write a letter to Donald Trump following the 38-year-old magazine publisher's death on July 16, 1999? No, that's not true: former President Trump wrote in his book "The America We Deserve," published in 2000, that the letter was penned by JFK Jr. the day before Kennedy's death. Kennedy's official day of death is July 16,…

Was John F. Kennedy Jr., preparing to make an announcement about his candidacy for U.S. senator of New York right before his death? No, that's not true: Although reports have suggested that Kennedy was considering running for the Senate seat, there was no indication that, before his death in July 1999, he was about to announce his candidacy. Consequently, the…

Did Donald Trump issue a statement on his "Save America" letterhead that encouraged "all the Great MAGA Patriots" to boycott the midterm elections in November? No, that's not true: According to Trump's chief spokeswoman, that April 27, 2022, statement is fake. The fabricated statement appears to have originated from The Halfway Post, a Twitter account that describes itself as liberal…

Does this video prove Ivanka Trump is joining the Democrats to run against her dad? No, that's not true: The video contents do not match the title. Also, there is no evidence the former first daughter is anything but politically loyal to her father, former President Donald Trump. She's even mentioned as a possible running mate should he make another…

Were Republican Party leaders Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Paul Manafort and Mitch McConnell born nine months after a purported UFO crash near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947? No, that's not true: Although some of the four Republican Party members were born in the 1940s, none were born in 1947. Lead Stories has previously fact-checked a similar claim in 2019, in…