Election

Did Hamas announce that it was ending its role in the conflict with Israel in response to Donald Trump's election win, as implied in a social media post? No, that's not true: In the Newsweek article included in the post, a Hamas spokesperson called for "an immediate cessation of the aggression against our people, especially in Gaza" by Israel. Hamas…

Did CNN publish an article saying more than 75,000 voters wrote in "Hawk Tuah" or "Talk Tuah" on their ballot papers? No, that's not true: Searches of the cnn.com website turned up no headlines containing the vulgar "Hawk Tuah" expression. A CNN representative also confirmed to Lead Stories that the image in a social media post was a fake. The…

Did Vice President Kamala Harris announce that she would not attend "the presidential induction ceremony" after Donald Trump won the November 5, 2024, election? No, that's not true: In a concession speech on November 6, 2024, Harris stated that she would "help" Trump transition to the White House and "engage in a peaceful transfer of power." As of this writing,…

Did Vice President Kamala Harris fail to outperform President Joe Biden's 2020 election results in any U.S. county in 2024? No, that's not true: A video on social media has been edited to make it look as if that's what CNN reported. The full version of CNN's coverage reveals that anchor Jake Tapper actually asked whether Harris had underperformed Biden…

Did Donald Trump post on Truth Social, explaining his pantomime with a malfunctioning microphone at a Milwaukee rally was "pretending to eat a corn dog" rather than "performing oral sex on my mic"? No, that's not true: Trump did have some problems with a microphone and its stand, but he never made this post on Truth Social. The fake post,…

Did Jill Stein's vote total jeopardize Kamala Harris' chances of winning in Virginia? No, that's not true: Harris did win in Virginia. The vote total showing Donald Trump in the lead in a social media post was earlier on Election Day, with just 52 percent of the ballots counted. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X on…

Could Kamala Harris have won Wisconsin if the votes cast for one of the independent candidates -- Jill Stein -- had gone to the Democrat? No, that's not true: That implication on social media was based on incomplete early totals. As more and more ballots were counted, Donald Trump's lead significantly outgrew the number of Stein's votes. The claim appeared…

Does a fold line or a crease in the candidate name area void paper ballots so "the machines cannot count it" in Wisconsin? No, that's not true: The Grant County clerk, where the complaint about a wrinkled ballot was reported, told Lead Stories a ballot with a crease or a fold would not be voided. She also said that the…

Did election fraud occur when 60 people in Maricopa County, Arizona, registered to vote using a municipal building as their home address? No, that's not true: The Maricopa County public information officer told Lead Stories that the voters registered in this building, the West Court Building, do not have a permanent address and can use the courthouse as their address.…

Does a video showing Kamala Harris holding a phone with the camera app open prove that she faked a phone call, as a post on X said? No, that's not true: According to Apple user documents, having the camera app open while on an active call is entirely possible. Lead Stories tested this with an iPhone 14 Pro Max and…