Does a viral screenshot of a headline claiming Michael Byrd "pocketed" $190 million in HHS funds for an "unaccredited" daycare in Maryland show the current state of the article? No, that's not true: The Gateway Pundit website made several changes to the headline and the article over time, now pointing out $190 million is the total of all Federal child…
Does a medical study chart show that drug overdose deaths in the United States sharply declined in 2025 under President Trump? No, that's not true: The chart is based on a medical study published in June 2025 that looked at drug death statistics in the decade ending in October 2024, which was three months before Trump returned to the presidency.…
Did Zohran Mamdani, Melania Trump, Sen. John Kennedy or other prominent Americans go live with a 3 a.m. emergency monologue claiming they were under threat for secrets they were about to expose about President Donald Trump or former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden? No, that's not true: Nearly identical stories mentioning those and other names were published by a…
Is Rob Reiner's name on the "Epstein List"? No, that's not true: An image that lists 165 celebrities and politicians, including Reiner, who purportedly visited "Epstein Island" is fake. The actual Epstein flight logs obtained by Lead Stories and the archive of Jeffrey Epstein emails and text messages released by a congressional committee contain no references to Reiner. There is…
Is the Securities and Exchange Commission investigating 10 Democrats, including former President Joe Biden, for fraud and insider trading? No, that's not true: There is no evidence the SEC is investigating any of the 10 people whose images are included in the post. The claim originated from a satirical Facebook page that carried a satire disclaimer. The owner of the…
Did AOC show up in a town named "Barron, Delaware" to bail out Hunter Biden with a $250,000 bond related to an arrest for narcotics and disorderly conduct charges? No, that's not true: The story originated in a meme from a satirical Facebook page that originally carried a disclaimer. The owner of the page is known for tricking conservatives into…
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…
Did the Justice Department launch a grand jury investigation into California Governor Gavin Newsom, accused by critics of violating the Logan Act by going to a climate conference in Brazil? No, that's not true: The story's source was a fictional character, "US Attorney for North-Central California Joe Barron". The claim originated from a page warning its readers that nothing it…
Did the Donald Trump White House publish a press release offering pieces of the demolished East Wing for $500 per item at a website whose name suggested an affiliation with the U.S. president? No, that's not true: An image of the purported press release circulating on social media was full of nonsensical typos and redirected to a nonexistent website. As…
Does a video show authentic clips of world leaders speaking frankly about controversial narratives? No, that's not true: The video clip was posted with disclaimers in the caption and in the video itself clearly stating it is AI-generated. It was produced and published by RT, a state-controlled network funded by the Russian government. The video appears in a post (archived…
Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, misleading, deceptive or inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
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