Qanon

Is video of giant pandas playing in the snow a coded message? No, that's not true: The video that originated from the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C., is just a cute diversion. Any suggestion that it contains a secret message is not based in fact. Such suggestions play off the unsubstantiated belief, shared by some followers of QAnon, that…

Is a video of buses at the U.S. Capitol evidence of an operation against lawmakers? Does it show anything unexpected? No, that's not true: There's no publicly available evidence to support the idea that lawmakers were the target of a military operation. A National Guard official told Lead Stories that what's seen in the video would be consistent with a…

Does a video titled "Hold The Line" present the truth about President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and a range of other subjects from COVID-19 to birth certificates? No, that's not true. The video pushes debunked QAnon conspiracy theories surrounding the authenticity of the 2020 presidential election, claims that Joe Biden is not the real president and that Donald…

Was the Biden inauguration pre-recorded? No, that's not true: Joe Biden's inauguration was a live event that took place on January 20, 2021, in Washington, D.C., at the Capitol Building. Conspiracy theorist Charlie Ward provides no evidence other than saying he had a video hours before the live broadcasts and that he "shared it with all my people." He does…

Did a broken link that included the word "Guantanamo" on the website of the Office of Military Commissions have any special significance? No, that's not true: There's no evidence the link, which took users to a dead page on the site of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, had any import at all. The federal court has…

Is John F. Kennedy Jr. actively working to expose his father's killers, even if it means he has to bring down the whole government? No, that's not true: JFK Jr. has been dead since crashing his small plane into the Atlantic Ocean on July 19, 1999. One common belief of QAnon followers is that the younger Kennedy is still alive…

Did CNN issue a correction over a misidentified Qanon pin supposedly being worn by Ted Cruz that turned out to be a Dorito chip? No, that's not true: CNN never reported such a story in the first place and the image with the correction is fake. Cruz commented on the story himself on Twitter An example of the viral image…

Was the inauguration cancelled; will Donald Trump remain in office; and will ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CNN, MSNBC all lose their licenses? No, none of that is true: A made-up story containing those claims and predictions was written by a discredited conspiracy writer and published by 'Before It's News', a news platform that lets anyone write and publish what they…

Does a letter published by the chairman of a Nevada county Republican Central Committee, disputing the outcome of the presidential election, include evidence for the conspiracy theories proposed? No, that's not true: the widely viral article cites several unproven and disproven conspiracy theories, including "vote dumps", servers in Germany switching votes, President Trump escaping Washington on a "Doomsday" plane and…

Did "The Simpsons" predict the protester wearing viking horns who stormed the United States Capitol building? No, that's not true: A meme claims a Simpsons TV episode once showed the "Groundskeeper Willie" character dressed like the man in viking horns who was photographed inside the Capitol with insurrectionists on the afternoon of January 6, 2021. The image of the Simpsons…