Politics

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 and again talked about it on the Dean Obeidallah Show on Sirius XMradio in 2021. The Reiner announcement…

Did President Trump really post a message on his Truth Social account saying that Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were murdered " reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS?" Yes, he did: The post appeared on…

Did President Trump post on his Truth Social account that Jesus told him that "my father is happy that you're making America Great Again"? No, that's not true: There is no post on Donald Trump's Truth Social timeline in which the phrase "my father is happy that you're making America Great Again" appears. Lead Stories could find no evidence the…

Did Patti Labelle, Novak Djokovic, Cardi B, James Hetfield, Morgan Wallen or a long list of other celebrities just open "America's first 100% free homeless hospital" because they wanted to leave a legacy behind? No, that's not true: Viral posts on Facebook were the latest variations of the same made-up story being spread by foreign clickbait accounts mostly run from…

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, Donald Trump or Marco Rubio "just cut the ribbon on a $150 million free education and health campus, entirely funded "by his own pocket", without a single tax dollar."? No, none of them did: The made-up stories are among dozens cranked out by Vietnam-based publishers building traffic on Facebook with stories attractive to fans of Obama, Trump…

Is a photo showing President Donald Trump using a walker to assist him real? No, that's not true: The image has the SynthID watermark that indicates it was created by Google's AI tool, according to an analysis by Google's Gemini chatbot. The image may have been created for satirical reasons since it was posted soon after President Trump signed an…

Did House Democrats release photos showing Jeffrey Epstein with a girl in a green skirt who also appears bound and gagged in another image? No, that's not true: These images have both been digitally edited. The original image of Epstein from 2005 showed him posing with Ghislaine Maxwell. It has been in the Getty Images library since 2016. The image…

Did Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem say on Fox News that calling ICE agents Nazis is rude and inaccurate because they don't wear uniforms? No, that's not true: A fabricated Fox News screenshot with that quote had the watermark of an Instagram account carrying the tagline, "Dope Dad. Comedian. Satirist. Amateur Professional." The image was taken from a June 2025…

Did Donald Trump announce that people who had cosmetic surgeries would no longer be eligible for any form of government assistance starting in March 2026? No, that's not true:There were no news stories about any such announcement from Trump, despite claims in a viral video. Neither the White House nor Trump's social media accounts showed anything looking like such an…

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 the White House call Martin Luther King Jr's birthday and Juneteenth "made up holidays?" No, that's not true: A parody account posted the meme that mimicked the format and design of White House message. The administration did remove MLK Jr. Day and Juneteenth from the list of days visitors can access National Parks for free in November 2025, but…

Did Melania Trump glare at Donald Trump when he chatted with Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum at the FIFA World Cup Final Draw? No, that's not true: The footage showing Melania looking annoyed is not real and has been edited. Donald Trump chatted with Sheinbaum and Mark Carney, as well as the first lady during the event. The altered video was…

New visa directives wrongly conflate journalism with censorship The International Fact-Checking Network is deeply concerned by reports that the U.S. State Department has instructed consular officers to deny visas to individuals who have worked in fact-checking, content moderation, and trust and safety. Fact-checking is journalism. It is the straightforward work of comparing public claims against the best available evidence and…

Did the United States send $45 million in freshly-printed cash to the Taliban in Afghanistan on a chartered flight on December 8, 2025? No, that's not true: The photo used to make the claim was published in 2023 in a report about United Nations cash shipments to Afghanistan as humanitarian aid. The UN -- not the US -- has sent…

Did comedian Trevor Noah tell Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in response to his request that a band play "Just Give Me a Reason" that he was "the reason it had to be written." No, that's not true: The story was manufactured by a spam factory in Vietnam that uses AI tools and fake Facebook fan pages to spread the…

Did CNBC correspondent Megan Cassella tell President Trump "Sir, you are the president, not God" during a press briefing? There is no evidence for that: No news articles make any mention of the quote and neither does CNBC's own website. According to a post from Cassella on X she has been on maternity leave since September 19, 2025. The viral…

Is a viral video of a purple-haired woman being sentenced to six months in jail and a $10,000 fine for attacking a law enforcement officer with a metal trash can during an anti-ICE protest real? No, that's not true: The original version of the video on TikTok included a disclaimer saying that the clip was AI-generated media. No media organizations…

Did the man charged with planting pipe bombs found near the Republican and Democratic headquarters in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, sue the Trump administration's Department of Homeland Security over illegal immigration? No, that's not true: Legal disputes referenced in a Daily Wire article making that claim confused suspect Brian Cole Jr. with his father Brian Cole Sr. It…

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…