Politics

Did Ed Sheeran release a song called "Rest in Peace, Charlie Kirk", possibly together with Adele? No, that's not true: The viral YouTube video was synthetically generated according to the description below it. A specialized detection tool confirmed the song was made with artificial intelligence. Several AI generated variations of the song that are in circulation aren't real either. The…

Is this a real video of Presiden Trump saying the far right doesn't exist and that "the left" is "poking a sleeping bear with sticks" in remarks on Charlie Kirk's death? No, that's not true: The viral clip contained AI generated sound that doesn't match the original footage published by the White House and was published by an account the…

Is this a real video of President Trump calling people who say both sides are bad "spineless cowards" and threatening them with "Alligator Alcatraz"? No, that's not true: The audio portion of the clip was generated using AI tools according to specialized detection software. The video was published by an account that says it publishes satire and it has an…

Does an image on social media platforms really show the bullet casing inscribed with 'Notices bulges OWO' found after the fatal shooting of activist Charlie Kirk in Utah? No, that's not true: The picture in question did not come from investigators, authorities or credible media organizations. Three online detectors determined that the image was likely created by AI and the…

Is a video in which JD Vance explains why tilting Charlie Kirk's coffin thirty degrees was done to protect his corpse from further damage real? No, that's not true: According to a specialized detection tool the audio in the clip was generated using AI. The part of the clip that shows Vance speaking came from an old CNN interview in…

Did Eminem and Kid Rock bury their political differences to launch a charity in Charlie Kirk's name, called "Charlie Kirk: From Debate to Great?" No, that's not true: The article making the claim offers no credible sources and the timeline given for the creation of the charity is not practical. Beyond the questionable website publishing the article and the Vietnam-based…

Did a man named Damien Slash get fired from a job at Microsoft over comments he made on Bluesky about the killing of Charlie Kirk as he explained in a viral video? No, that's not true: The man with the nose ring who said he worked for six years building the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion department is actually a comedian.…

Did singers Dolly Parton, Adam Lambert, Elton John, Barry Gibb, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Vince Gill, sports figures Sam Pittman, Cade Klubnik, or Marc Marquez honor Charlie Kirk by calling for a moment of silence or by attending his funeral? No, that's not true: Social posts and articles claiming that these celebrities reacted to the killing of Kirk on September…

Did Paul McCartney hold one minute of silence for Charlie Kirk and the victims of 9/11 during a concert at Madison Square Garden in New York? No, that's not true: The story was made up by a Facebook page and website managed by someone in Vietnam. No such concert was listed on the website of the venue and the story…

Does an authentic photo show Tyler Robinson wearing a Trump T-shirt? No, that's not true: The photo of Robinson is real, but it has been digitally manipulated. The shirt he was wearing in the original photo was plain with no printing and burgundy, not red. The edited photo appeared in a post (archived here) on X by @UchePOkoye on Sep.…

Is Tyler Robinson, the suspect in custody for the shooting of Charlie Kirk, a Republican? No, that's not true: Voter registration records in Utah show he chose to vote neither as a Democrat nor as a Republican. He registered as "Unaffiliated." The claim appeared in a September 12, 2025 Facebook post (archived here) on the whitesarahh account under the title:…

Did a viral story about Dale Earnhardt Jr. making a fierce statement against the Charlie Kirk shooter come from an actual news source? No, that's not true: The story appeared on a foreign-run clickbait site and Facebook page and showed signs of having been generated using AI. The supposedly viral hashtag #AbsolutelyReady mentioned in the story was not used on…

Does a viral clip show Tyler Robinson speaking in front of an audience at an event organized by the Democratic Socialists of America? No, that's not true: The original caption said it was a different person who doesn't even look like the suspect in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk. A face comparison tool confirmed that those are two different…

Did Qatar "demand" returning the jet it gave to the Trump administration in the late spring of 2025? No, that's not true: As of September 12, 2025, Lead Stories found no credible reports corroborating the claim. The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs made no such public demands. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on September…

Does a photo spread virally on social media show Tyler Robinson, the suspect in the assassination of Charlie Kirk? No, that's not true: This is a photo of Jack Bellows, a cochair of the Salt Lake Democratic Socialists. During the manhunt for the person who shot Charlie Kirk, someone suggested Bellows might be the person of interest who appeared in…

Is there a video of Charlie Kirk's father collapsing in grief at a memorial set up outside the Turning Point USA headquarters? No, that's not true: The promise of a video of Kirk's Father collapsing is a clickbait ploy. There is no video at the link provided in the Facebook post from a page operating from Vietnam. The photo included…

Was "The Shooting Of Charlie Kirk" book published by "Anastasia J. Casey" the day before Kirk was shot and killed in Utah? No, that's not true: An Amazon spokesperson told Lead Stories the title was published in the late afternoon on September 10, 2025, and the date of September 9, 2025, that appeared on the website for the book was…

Did Elon Musk step in and pledge to pay all living and educational expenses for the children of Charlie Kirk? No, that's not true: That story originated on a website and Facebook page run by someone in Vietnam and it contained several hallmarks of having been generated with AI. No actual news reports made any mention of such a pledge…

Was a Secret Service agent standing with Donald Trump after he was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, also standing close to Charlie Kirk when he was fatally shot in Orem, Utah, on September 10, 2025? No, that's not true: The male Secret Service agent holding Trump's left arm as Trump raised his right fist in the air…

Was the FBI the source for crisp, clear video a social media post distributed, saying it showed a person sought by the FBI in its investigation of the killing of political activist Charlie Kirk? No, that's not true: The real images released by the FBI were grainy pictures from security camera footage. The person who posted the high-resolution video has…