Elections

Does a viral post accurately summarize Zohran Mamdani's words from a podcast recorded more than five years before he was sworn in as New York City mayor? No, that's not true: The quote was shortened, and it changed its meaning. A longer, more elaborate fragment of his speech shows that he suggested that it shouldn't be the police, but specially…

Did Johnny Depp, Eminem, Cher, Paul McCartney or any other celebrity tell Donald Trump "You're tearing families apart ... Shame on you" at a live town hall meeting on immigration? No, that's not true: Nearly identical stories mentioning those and more than 40 other celebrities were published by a network of foreign websites and Facebook pages. There were no news…

Does a video show real footage of a U.K. member of Parliament asking why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not been captured the same way the United States captured Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela? No, that's not true: The clip was generated using artificial intelligence. Early versions of the video included a watermark indicating a specific generative AI tool. There…

Did Cher, Patrick Mahomes, Bono and other celebrities pull business deals with Amazon over founder Jeff Bezos' "quiet alignment with Trump," sending messages to Bezos that all began "Wake up, Jeff"? No, that's not true: The posts tell nearly identical stories featuring those and dozens of other famous names all quitting Amazon. The clickbait fictions were published by a network…

Are 315,000 unsigned early votes in Fulton County, Georgia proof of electoral fraud? No, that's not true: The Georgia secretary of state told Lead Stories that the missing signatures on tabulator results were the consequence of a clerical error and did not invalidate legally cast votes. An election expert told Lead Stories that the minor administrative error did not affect…

Were President Donald Trump, former President Barack Obama or TV host Jimmy Kimmel silenced after calling Harvard grads "overrated and dumb" when opponents revealed their SAT scores? No, that's not true: There is no public record of Trump, Obama or Kimmel saying it. There is also no record of anyone confronting those men with their SAT scores. Facebook pages administered…

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…

Did the late Rob Reiner publicly say he was developing a television series about Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump called "The Spy and the Asset"? Yes, that is true: Reiner announced the project in 2020 on the Mehdi Hasan Show on MSNBC. He again talked about it on the Dean Obeidallah Show on Sirius XMradio in 2021. The Reiner announcement…

Has Tina Peters been "fully pardoned" by Donald Trump, wiping out her prison sentence for giving unauthorized access to Mesa County, Colorado, voting machines in 2021, when she was county clerk? No, that's not true: Trump's "pardon" of Peters is only symbolic, not official. The U.S. Constitution grants the President power to pardon only those criminals facing federal charges. Peters,…

Did Barack Obama say that he wants to return to the White House in 2028 as president through "legal avenues" or as a "proxy candidate"? No, that's not true: Contrary to the posts citing his "exclusive interview on a major news network" on December 7, 2025, the former president did not talk to any TV stations on that day. He…

Did Ohio Democrat Amy Acton spread a fake video of Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy advocating year-round school, as social media posts claim? No, that's not true: Four days into the controversy over year-round school, the Ramaswamy campaign had not publicly stated the video was fake and declined to answer questions from Lead Stories. The Columbus Dispatch quoted an un-named…

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 Barron Trump announce a 2028 run for U.S. Senate at an event that "broke Washington in half"? No, that's not true: Barron Trump would still be too young to qualify for service in the U.S. Senate in 2028. A viral Facebook post contained verifiably false details about a viral hashtag and there being actual news reports about such an…

Did White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt attempt to explain the presence of Donald Trump's last name in the newly released Epstein files by saying that it was "another person with the same name", not a reference to Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of the United States? No, that's not true: The rumor originated from a self-described satire…

Did a "Breaking" news story show White House lawyers worried that Rep. Lauren Boebert and Rep. Nancy Mace had recorded phone calls in which President Donald Trump "begged" them to vote against release of the Epstein files by the FBI? No, that's not true: There was no such report and the rumor started on a social media satire page. The…

Did Andrea Bocelli cancel his New York City concert after Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor, saying "I don't sing for communists"? No, that's not true: There are multiple social media posts showing Bocelli and other artists including Jason Aldean, Kid Rock, Brandon Lake, Steven Tyler and George Strait with a message saying that they have canceled upcoming concerts in New…

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…

Is a video of U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat, saying he voted to keep the government shut down because he could never say no to Chuck Schumer, real? No, that's not true: A small disclaimer at the bottom of the video acknowledges that it was made by an artificial intelligence tool. The video, which was shared on the…

Was former first lady Michelle Obama videotaped executing a barbed takedown of Donald Trump on the 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' show in the fall of 2025? No, that's not true: As of November 12, 2025, no such video recording existed. Michelle Obama hadn't been on Kimmel's show for years at that time. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published…

Did the New York Stock Exchange react to Zohran Mamdani's victory in the mayoral election by relocating to Texas from its 230-year base on New York City's Wall Street? No, that's not true: Intercontinental Exchange, the company that owns and operates the New York Stock Exchange, announced in February, when polls showed Mamdani with a single-digit pool of support, that…