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Did President-elect Donald Trump tell Elon Musk to "stay in your lane" in a post shared to Truth Social? No, that's not true: This supposed post was fabricated. Lead Stories checked Trump's verified Truth Social account and did not find such a post as of this publication. The post in question was also not included in a website that archives…

Did Rep. Dan Crenshaw share a post on X that included inflammatory language boasting of "over 300 confirmed kills," as an image on the platform suggested? No, that's not true: The quote is known colloquially as the "Navy Seal Copypasta," a phrase used to mock aggressive rhetoric online. The supposed screenshot of Crenshaw's post shows signs of manipulation, including its…

Did Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum threaten to deport 2 million American immigrants if President-elect Donald Trump sends migrants back to Mexico? No, that's not true: Lead Stories could not find any news reports or press releases from the Mexican government mentioning such a statement. In November of 2024 Sheinbaum posted to X that Mexico's position on the issue of migration…

Does an authentic video show Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in December 2024 with a large white bandage around his head, standing mute at a lectern, when a woman asks if his head is "OK after that fall"? No, that's not true: An old video clip showing the moment McConnell froze up in 2023 has been edited. A large bandage…

Did Donald Trump say, "I'm naturally selfish, and the idea of representing the interests of others is alien to me"? No, that's not true: The statement is part of a supposed 1990 quote attributed to Trump that has been on social media since at least 2018. However, there is no evidence in online searches that President-elect Trump ever said those…

Did Fox host and former prosecutor Jeanine Pirro criticize President-elect Donald Trump over pardons? No, that's not true: An authentic video of Pirro was included in a social media post with photographs of Trump. In reality, Pirro was criticizing President Joe Biden for pardoning his son, Hunter Biden. The claim appeared in a post and video on Threads on December…

Did The Daily Mail report that Sen. Lindsey Graham is a pedophile who "plied boys with drugs and sexually assaulted them" and breached parole after his release from jail? No, that's not true: An account on X plastered a photo of Graham onto an authentic Mail article about an Australian politician to make it look like Graham was the subject…

Is there no way to avoid that January 19, 2025, is TikTok's last day of operation in the United States, as implied in a "BREAKING" post on Threads? No, that's not true: On the day the post appeared, there was no breaking news about enforcement of a federal law forcing the sale of TikTok to non-Chinese ownership. The bill signed…

Does a photo circulating on social media really show Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to be attorney general, jogging in her underwear? No, that's not true: The image has been manipulated. The original picture portrayed a young woman at the University of Arizona's 2009 "Undie Run," where stripped-down students ran around campus to raise cash for charity. The photo…

Did Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene publicly say that if members of Congress resigned over the same allegations leveled against former Rep. Matt Gaetz, "Democrats would have a supermajority"? No, that's not true: A satirical social media account made up that supposed quote. No credible news outlets have reported that Greene made that statement. The claim originated in a post (archived…

Did the state of Texas gift Donald Trump 355,000 acres for deportation camps? No, that's not true: The Texas land commissioner wrote to President-elect Trump on November 19, 2024, to offer a 1,402-acre state-owned ranch for deportation facilities, consistent with his campaign promise that he will deport millions of undocumented residents. The social media account that posted the 355,000-acre claim…

Would President-elect Donald Trump's immigration plan have denied his son Barron citizenship in the United States? No, that's not true: Barron Trump's father is a U.S. citizen. While his mother Melania Trump was not yet a naturalized citizen when Barron was born in 2006 in New York City, she was a legal resident at the time. Thus under Trump's stated…

Did former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz tweet on X about "age gap dating" in November 2024? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Gaetz ever made such a post. Also, the account that published a screenshot of the supposed Gaetz post later revealed online that it was fake. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Threads…

Will the White House address appear on "the national registry of sex offenders" once President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January of 2025? No, that's not true: Trump was not convicted of a sex offense in a criminal case. He was found liable in a civil case that involved sexual abuse allegations. Only people who have been convicted in a…

Did Elon Musk's satellite-based high-speed internet system Starlink play any role in counting or uploading votes in the U.S. election that could have allowed for potential vote manipulation or cheating? No, that's not true: Election security experts told Lead Stories that there's no evidence of vote tampering involving Starlink. U.S. voting systems are managed by county and state offices on…

Were there 15 million, 18 million or even 20 million fewer votes in 2024 versus the election numbers from 2020, disproving reports of record turnout or implying cheating in vote totals? No, that's not true: As of November 7, 2024, final vote numbers had not been reported in any state. An election expert told Lead Stories that count would take…

Did President-elect Donald Trump release a statement saying "I look forward to ... enact[ing] Project 2025"? No, that's not true: An image showing such a statement that went viral on social media was fabricated. Lead Stories searched Trump statements released on November 6, 2024, the same day as the date on the purported statement, and could not find this quote…

Did Fox News' "Hannity" guests react to Donald Trump's stumbling entry into a garbage truck with calls for cognitive testing and medical records? No, that's not true: "The Daily Show," which satirizes the news, created the footage. It took authentic clips from Fox News' "Hannity" show on February 4, 2017, where guests Dr. Ben Carson, Dr. Marc Siegel and Dr.…

Does a video on social media show a Trump rally crowd in Salem, Virginia, in November 2024? No, that's not true: The original video is taken from pop-music singer-songwriter Chappell Roan's performance on October 6, 2024, at the Austin City Limits music festival in Texas, an event unrelated to Trump's presidential campaign rally in Virginia in November 2024. The audio…

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…