Tim Walz

Did Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sign into law a new definition of "sexual orientation" to protect adults who are physically and sexually attracted to children? No, that's not true: Pedophilia is not considered a legally protected sexual orientation in Minnesota. Changes to the law removed some language specifically excluding pedophilia from the definition of protected sexual orientations. But, that does…

Did Tim Walz, Minnesota governor and Democratic Party vice presidential pick, overstate his rank in the Army National Guard and abandon his unit before it was about to deploy to Iraq? No, neither is true: The Minnesota National Guard told Lead Stories that Walz held the rank of command sergeant major when he left the Guard in 2005. He retired…

Did The Associated Press fact check a story that said Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz had his stomach pumped because he consumed "a gallon of ... semen" from a horse or a human? No, that's not true: AP's media relations manager denied that the outlet fact checked the claim. Lead Stories could not find any evidence that Walz has…

Is it true that there was "not an American flag in sight" at a Philadelphia rally with Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on August 6, 2024, as a post on X stated? No, that's not true: A Lead Stories journalist covered the rally and saw flags first-hand, and American flags were also seen in a video…

Did Secret Service personnel grin widely, showing their teeth, while escorting former President Trump to safety after the assassination attempt at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024, as a social media post claims? No, that's not true: A tool created to detect ai-generated images found substantial evidence the image had been remade with generative ai systems.…

Does the image in a video on social media show the son of "Dr. Sebi" on trial for purportedly revealing "HEALTH SECRETS"? No, that's not true: The claim was made without providing names, dates, locations or other details by which to independently verify such a trial occurred or that the person shown is related to the late Alfredo "Dr. Sebi"…

Does footage on social media show Palestinians celebrating at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem after they heard news of Iran's mid-April 2024 aerial attack on Israel? No, that's not true: The video was shot days before Iran launched drones and missiles against Israel. The video was recorded during the last Friday of Ramadan, according to a BBC reporter. Lead Stories…

Does a video shared on X document lab-grown meat moving autonomously? No, that's not true: The video in question was made by a content creator who produces videos containing sculptures of food items that move as if they are alive. Lab-grown meat is not created in a way that would allow it to move autonomously. Sarcastic captions on the video…

Do midterm election graphs of unofficial, private election tallies used by My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell on social media and on his Frank Speech website prove 2022 elections were stolen? No, that's not true: Spikes in the vote counts are a normal part of clean elections. A Lindell ally said he scraped and graphed data that Edison Research supplies to…

Do eight families make up a "Federal Reserve Cartel" and own the BIS (Bank for International Settlements), IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank? No, that's not true: These three institutions are not privately owned and are run by international governments, not eight of the wealthiest families in the world. Jewish control of major banks and financial institutions is…