Did Barack Obama say that he wants to return to the White House in 2028 as president through "legal avenues" or as a "proxy candidate"? No, that's not true: Contrary to the posts citing his "exclusive interview on a major news network" on December 7, 2025, the former president did not talk to any TV stations on that day. He…
Did comedian Trevor Noah tell Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in response to his request that a band play "Just Give Me a Reason" that he was "the reason it had to be written." No, that's not true: The story was manufactured by a spam factory in Vietnam that uses AI tools and fake Facebook fan pages to spread the…
Is "Tech world on fire" over news that Elon Musk bought Facebook in order to "delete it"? No, that's not true: Meta (which owns Facebook) had not, as of this writing, announced or documented a sale, as is required of publicly traded companies. Lead Stories found no credible news reports of an impending sale to Musk. The site that generated…
When I received an invitation last month to come to Macedonia to talk with the fact checkers and journalists at the Metamorphosis Foundation about Lead Stories' experience with our automatically generated short-form fact checking videos, I didn't hesitate for a moment. Ever since 2019 when I wrote about a network of Macedonian fake news websites operating out of the town…
Did Netflix announce it is releasing a documentary about the life of former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg titled "Pete: A Spectacular Life"? No, that's not true: Neither the company nor media organizations said anything about that. The website that spread the claim appeared to be connected to an overseas network that capitalizes on people's engagement provoked by fake…
Did Pete Buttigieg stand at the podium at a public town hall meeting with Joe Biden joining by live feed, and announce he's running for President in 2028? No, that's not true: At the time the rumor was posted, no news outlets had carried the story of such an announcement by the former Secretary of Transportation. There were no news…
Do viral posts about a confrontation between AOC and Donald Trump's son Barron, with the involvement of Louisiana Senator John Neely Kennedy, describe a real-life event? No, that's not true: Contrary to the claim, there is no video recording of an exchange that allegedly happened on the Senate floor. The posts appear to be part of foreign-operated networks that share…
Did former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg open "America's first 100% free homeless hospital"? No, that's not true: The picture purporting to show the opening ceremony was AI generated. No credible news organizations published any reports about it. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook, where it was published on November 23, 2025. PETE BUTTIGIEG JUST…
Has Preston Kennedy, the 43-year-old son of Senator John Nealy Kennedy of Louisiana, been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer? No, that's not true: Sen. Kennedy's son is 29, not 43. He was born six years after his parents' 1990 marriage. There are no reports of a cancer diagnosis on Kennedy's social media timelines or in the news media. The…
Did Barron Trump announce a 2028 run for U.S. Senate at an event that "broke Washington in half"? No, that's not true: Barron Trump would still be too young to qualify for service in the U.S. Senate in 2028. A viral Facebook post contained verifiably false details about a viral hashtag and there being actual news reports about such an…
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