Space Mission

Has the Department of Transportation under Secretary Pete Buttigieg spent $7.5 billion on only eight EV charging stations? No, that's not true: Much of the money set aside for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program has yet to be spent as states apply for grants to fund EV charging projects. According to the Federal Highway Administration, 214 charging ports have…

Did Major League Soccer or FIFA publicly announce that LGBTQ+ flags will be prohibited at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup? No, that's not true: The rumor originated from websites with satire labels. As of November 20, 2024, Lead Stories found no confirmation that either of the two sports organizations had issued such a statement. The claim appeared in a…

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 Seattle police say that a woman charged with killing her father with an ice ax was overwhelmed by President-elect Donald Trump's election? No, that's not true: The suspect's answer to a routine question about what day it was showed up as a statement of motive in the early version of a news article. A post on X used the…

Did Taylor Swift cancel "red state shows" after President-elect Donald Trump won the 2024 general election? No, that's not true: This first appeared on social media in a post on Facebook with "satire" in the caption. Plus, the Facebook account that posted the information says in its bio that it shares satire and parody content. The article the post was…

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 CNN air a screenshot of election numbers that showed Kamala Harris winning Texas with 51.8 percent and 1,113,499 votes against Trump with 45.7 percent and 982,091 votes? No, that's not true: CNN said the image was "completely fabricated and manipulated" and that it "never aired on any CNN platform." Lead Stories found no credible proof that the post image…

Does a real photo show Elon Musk, Donald Trump and the lieutenant governor of North Carolina, Mark Robinson, together? No, that's not true: This image was made by combining three individual photos taken at different locations on different days. Not only were the subjects from three images collaged together, but some elements in the source photos were digitally altered, notably…

Does a recently updated Pentagon directive now authorize the military to kill American protesters? No, that's not true: The Pentagon told Lead Stories the new policies "do not authorize the DOD to use lethal force against U.S. citizens ..." The online text of Department of Defense Directive 5240.01 does not allow the military "to kill Americans who engage in political…

Does the closure of airspace in North Carolina for the visits of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris halt the Hurricane Helene rescue missions? No, that's not true: A Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson told Lead Stories that pilots involved in "aid and assistance" for hurricane recovery can fly through restricted areas if they plan the flight with air…