Deep State

Did Adm. Rob Bauer, who heads NATO's Military Committee, say the group would launch pre-emptive strikes on Russia in the event of war? No, that's not true: In his remarks at a conference in Brussels, Bauer never mentioned the possibility of NATO attacking Russia pre-emptively. In fact, he stressed Russia would have to hit NATO targets first before the Alliance…

Does a video show members of the European Parliament giving a standing ovation to the U.S. decision to permit Ukraine to strike deeper into Russia with U.S.-supplied weapons? No, that's not true: The post's caption mislabels the content of a video shared online. The video showed members of the EU parliament clapping before and after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's address…

Did Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni say Italy opposes President Joe Biden's policy change that permits Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles to strike deep into Russia? No, that's not true: There is no publicly available recording or transcript of Meloni expressing Italian opposition to the change. During the Group of 20 summit on November 18 and 19, 2024, shortly…

Did President-elect Donald Trump announce $6,400 "relief checks" that "any American can qualify for"? No, that's not true: A video on Facebook showing Trump announcing the checks is a deepfake. A link in the post did not direct users to an official government website but rather to a health insurance webpage. As of this publication, the government had not announced…

Did President-elect Donald Trump say that if he was elected, he would personally have Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrested if Trudeau sets one foot in the United States? No, that's not true: This is an AI-generated voiceover that has been added to a video clip of Trump. The original TikTok video was marked with the hashtag "fake video." The…

Did Tesla CEO Elon Musk publicly announce plans to introduce a car with a water-powered engine in November 2024? No, that's not true: There is no record that Musk or Tesla formally introduced this concept, such as trustworthy media reports. An online AI detector tool found that images published in a post about the supposed announcement were almost certainly fakes…

Did Elon Musk publicly announce plans to "officially" buy McDonald's in November 2024? No, that's not true: As of this publication, there is no record of Musk having formally announced plans to buy the food company, and McDonald's has not reported such a purchase. Furthermore, an online AI detector tool found that images published in the post that depicted Musk…

Did McDonald's stock climb 200 percent after Donald Trump made a campaign appearance at one of its franchises? No, that's not true: This comes from a website that regularly publishes fake stories, and the original article was clearly labeled as "satire." McDonald's shares actually dropped after Trump visited one of its restaurants. The claim appeared in a post (archived here)…

Did Elon Musk buy CNN in November 2024? No, that's not true: A CNN spokesperson told Lead Stories "there is no truth in rumors of a sale or change in ownership of CNN whatsoever." The assertion was made by Argentinian President Javier Milei and was picked up by Argentinian news outlets, but he offered no proof of such a sale.…

Did "White Hats" stop "three busses" full of "Harris supporters" who had voted in New York, then boarded a bus to vote again in Pennsylvania, with 150 of these people detained? No, that's not true: This claim was made from an account connected to a website with a disclaimer that it publishes made-up content. A search on Google News brought…