Did Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene scrub her Twitter account of support of Rep. Matt Gaetz? No, that's not true: Greene's Twitter is still full of tweets supporting Gaetz. The claim originated in a Facebook post (deleted as of April 13, 2021) where it was published by The National Strategic Stockpile of Memes and Satire on April 5 2021. It read:…

Did President Joe Biden beg for the forgiveness of George Floyd's son by kneeling in front of him? No, that's not true: Biden, while campaigning in Michigan, knelt in front of a boy who is not Floyd's son. The claim, which has previously appeared as a tweet suggesting that the child in the picture was Floyd's daughter, reappeared as a…

Did a woman named Titania McGrath post a tweet demanding that dog owners stop using gendered terms like "good boy" and "good girl"? No, that's not true: The @TitaniaMcGrath account is a satirical jab at "wokeness." McGrath is a fictional character made up by comedian and columnist Andrew Doyle. All kinds of people have been fooled by the account: They…

Is Brie cheese made with unpasteurized milk illegal in the U.S., while a machine gun with six rotating barrels is legal? No, that's an exaggeration that leaves out important context and relies on semantics. Both Brie and machine guns are regulated. Since 1986 federal law has forbidden importation of French Brie, a soft unaged cheese made with unpasteurized milk. But,…

Did Ted Cruz say "the Alien Invasion Is orchestrated" in a quote about "illegals" who arrive at the southern border of the United States? No, Cruz did not make the comments. A viral message about the appearances of the people trying to cross into the U.S. at the southern border was not made by Cruz, a Republican senator from Texas.…

Did Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife charter buses for January 6, 2021, protesters in Washington, D.C.? No, there is no proof of that. Justice Thomas's wife, Ginni Thomas, did promote the rally that evolved into protesters storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, but there have been no documents or witnesses to support a claim that…

Does Georgia's new voting law make it a "jail-time crime to drop off grandma's absentee ballot"? No, that's not true: Although it is a felony to take an absentee ballot from a voter and deliver or return it, the law carves out various exceptions. Those exceptions include family members, such as parents, siblings and grandchildren. The claim appeared in a…

Did former President Donald Trump start a new social media platform called "DJTUP Uncensored Platform Uniting People"? No, there is no publicly available evidence it is Trump's. Former President Donald Trump did announce the launch of his website called 45office.com on Monday March 29, 2021, and a spokesman talked about Trump's plans to start his own social media platform in…

Did President Donald Trump indict Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on his last day in office? No, that's not true. The claim was made without proof and the U.S. Constitution reserves indictment power to grand juries, not presidents. Barrett was, in fact, Trump's pick for the Supreme Court after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. Barrett took the oath of…

Does Georgia's new voting law allow people to hand out drinks to voters waiting in line, so long as the drink isn't water? No, that's not true: The text of the law says "food and drink," which would include beverages like iced tea, chocolate milk and Georgia-born Coca Cola. The new law makes it a misdemeanor to hand out drinks…

Did the Atlanta spa shootings happen hours after a Donald Trump interview on Fox News? No, that's not true: Although they took place on the same day, March 16, 2021, Trump's interview, in which he referred to COVID-19 as "the China virus", aired after the Atlanta-area shootings that left eight people dead, including six women of Asian descent. The claim…

Did the CEO of Coca-Cola say boycotters are "a few right winged nuts"? No, that's not true: There's no publicly available evidence James Quincey ever said that. A spokesman for the company told Lead Stories the quote is fabricated. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published on March 7, 2021. It included a brief introductory message, "Roger…

Is there something mysterious about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's net worth multiplying eight-fold from $2,962,015 in 2005 to $23,965,520 in 2015 on a salary of $193,400 a year? No, that's not true: The Republican from Kentucky did see a dramatic increase in his net worth, but context is missing from a post questioning the increase. Both Senate disclosure documents…

Does this photo show people praying over, or even "worshipping" a golden, life-sized graven image of former President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: It is an altered photo. The actual photo, taken January 3, 2020, shows a group of Trump supporters, eyes closed with outstretched hands, praying over the actual president at an "Evangelicals for Trump" coalition event in…

Did Ted Cruz lose all his Marriott points? No, that's not true: The story making the claim about the Texas senator is satirical. It wasn't meant to be real, although some social media users appeared to take it as such. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published in the "Laughing in Disbelief" section on patheos.com on February 21,…

Did Ted Cruz say "I'll believe in climate change when Texas freezes over"? No, that's not true: There's no evidence the Texas senator ever said that. The source for the claim is a fake tweet, made to look like it's from Cruz. The tweet is not on Cruz's verified accounts, nor could it be found on a website that tracks…

In defending Ted Cruz' ill-timed vacation in Cancun, did Donald Trump Jr. flub it and say Texas' Republican governor is a Democrat? No, that's not true. Trump Jr.'s tweet about Texas Sen. Cruz leaving Texas for Cancun amid a winter storm disaster is the teaser to a video in which Trump Jr. lambastes Cruz critics who aren't equally critical of…

Did megachurch pastor and televangelist Joel Osteen not open his "18,000-seat" Lakewood Church during freezing, icy weather in Houston, declining to help people left without shelter or heat and power? No, that's not true: Lakewood Church opened its facilities to help people left without heat and power. The rare harsh weather has overwhelmed Texas' electrical power system. Houston news media…

Is a hand recount of 2020 election results in Windham, New Hampshire, proof of election fraud by "Dominion Voting Machines"? No, that's not true: The results changed markedly in the recount, but it's unclear why. The original report, the recount or both may have been made in error. The mere fact of a discrepancy is not evidence of fraud, which…

Did Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tell President Joe Biden to "go f--k yourself"? No, that's not true: No tape, transcript nor witness corroborates the claim. The source for the quote is a website with a history of publishing false claims. Lead Stories searched for publicly available corroboration and found none and a spokesperson for the governor's office told Lead Stories…