Does an article listing 1,616 "athlete collapses and deaths" between January 2021 and December 2022 prove a connection between these mishaps and the COVID-19 vaccine? No, that's not true: While the article documents scores of "athletes" w
Publication: Fact Check
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Food-Grade Canola Oil Is NOT Toxic For Humans, Experts Say
Is food-grade canola oil toxic for humans since it "starts with the seeds of a rape plant"? No, that's not true: In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which sets food regulations, recognizes canola oil as safe for
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence ‘White Hats Disable Amphibious Cruiser That Attacked GITMO’
Did "white hats" in the U.S. military "disable an amphibious cruiser that attacked GITMO" as of January 4, 2023? No, that's not true: The aircraft carrier identified with a photo as the "aggressor" was never put into service and was sold
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Trump Did NOT Endorse Rep. Byron Donalds For House Speaker
Did former President Donald Trump endorse Florida Rep. Byron Donalds for House speaker? No, that's not true: Trump, himself, says the claim is false. He described the statement making the claim as a forgery and a fake. Trump has publicly
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence Croton Plant Helps Kidney Disease
Is there evidence that the croton plant "helps" kidney disease? No, that's not true: An expert told Lead Stories that there is no such proof. There are no medical or scientific studies that show the croton plant can help kidney disease. I
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Japan Is NOT Investigating ‘Millions Of COVID Vaccine Deaths’ — No Such Death Tolls Reported, No Investigation Launched
Did Japan launch an official investigation into "millions of COVID vaccine deaths" in December 2022 or early January 2023? No, that's not true: As of January 4, 2023, there is no available evidence to suggest that "millions" of people in
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Bill Gates Did NOT Announce Date, Location Of Next Pandemic
Did Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and philanthropist, "announce" when and where the next pandemic will take place? No, that's not true: A video circulating on social media reused audiovisual material labeled as fictitious. The clip
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Nancy Pelosi Did NOT Cry After Clashing With Sen. Chuck Grassley
Did former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi cry after Iowa's Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley presented information about business ties between Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, and the Chinese government? No, that
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: CDC Did NOT Launch ‘It’s Gay To Smoke’ Ad Campaign — It’s A Decade-Old Fake Ad From A Satire News Site
Did the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launch an anti-smoking effort with a video ad that uses the tagline "It's Gay to Smoke"? No, that's not true: The video is from a fake story created more than a decade ago by the sa
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Biden Is NOT Seriously Blaming Elton John For ‘Spending Taxpayer Money To Fight AIDS’ In This Clip — It’s A Joke
Did President Joe Biden blame Elton John for the U.S. spending taxpayer money to "fight AIDS"? No, that's not true: There is missing context to this video. A transcript of this event shows that Biden is praising John. Both the audience an
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: COVID Vaccine Data Do NOT Show Increased Risk Of Serious Adverse Events Of Special Interest In Randomized Trials
Does a reanalysis of Pfizer and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccine data show an increased risk of serious adverse events of special interest? No, that's not true: The authors of this study created their own subset of serious adverse events of
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Self-Massages Do NOT Cure Infertility
Are self-massages creating "acupressure" a scientifically proven cure for the inability to conceive a child that helps women "get a fertile cycle in just 3 months"? No, that's not true. Not a single authoritative source refers to it as an
The Dispatch→ Fact Check: Did the World Economic Forum Call for Pets to Be Euthanized to Fight Climate Change?
(Stock photo by Getty Images.) Claims are circulating online that the World Economic Forum has called for pet animals to be slaughtered to combat climate change. These claims are false. The claims appear to originate from two media sources: an
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ‘Deep State’ Conspiracy NOT Behind Arrest of Ex-Kickboxing Champ Andrew Tate — Satirical Site Made The Claim
Did a "deep state" conspiracy lead to Romania's arrest of former kickboxing champion and online celebrity Andrew Tate on December 29, 2022? No, that's not true: Romanian authorities have told Lead Stories that Tate was arrested following
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Archaeologists Did NOT Find Mummy In Utah — They Found Human Footprints
Was a Black Egyptian mummy found in Great Salt Lake, Utah? No, that's not true: Archaeologists found 88 human footprints that scientists estimate are 12,000 years old in the alkali flats on the Utah Test and Training Range, a Department o
The Dispatch→ Fact Check: Did Elon Musk Say ‘Everyone Knows Trump Won the Election’?
Elon Musk (Photo by Carina Johansen/NTB/AFP/Getty Images.) A clip of Elon Musk appearing to claim that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election is circulating on social media. The clip has been digitally altered and no record exists of Musk maki
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Andrew Tate Was NOT Freed From A Romanian Jail As Of January 3, 2023, After Detention In Human-Trafficking Probe
Did Romanian authorities free social-media influencer Andrew Tate from jail two days after arresting him in connection with human-trafficking charges? No, that's not true: A spokeswoman for Romanian law enforcement told Lead Stories that,
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Photo Does NOT Show Pope Benedict XVI Doing The Nazi Salute
Does a photograph on social media show a young Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, doing the Nazi salute? No, that's not true: The photo is cropped. The original photograph shows Ratzinger with both arms raised; not j
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: America Was NOT Named After Morocco
Was America named after Morocco? No, that's not true: Neither the governments of Morocco nor of the United States of America recognize this North African country as America's namesake. There is no evidence from an authoritative source to
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Anthony Fauci NOT Arrested After Elon Musk Document Dump — It’s From Satire Site
Did police in Washington, D.C., arrest top virologist Dr. Anthony Fauci after Twitter CEO Elon Musk released information that Fauci lied about COVID-19 research and imposed unnecessary restrictions on Americans? No, that's not true: The c
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: World Economic Forum Did NOT Issue Weekly Bathing Order As Response to Climate Change
Did the World Economic Forum (WEF) issue an order directing the public to bathe once weekly or less as part of an effort to combat climate change and save the planet? No, that's not true: There is no credible evidence that WEF has issued
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence That Ex-FDA ‘Commisioner’ Stephen Hahn Was Arrested By Military
Did the military arrest former FDA "Commisioner" Stephen Hahn? No, there's no evidence to substantiate that: The claim was reported on a website that is well-known for making up stories about public figures. The site posts a disclaimer wa
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Experts In Study Do NOT Claim Artificial Sweeteners Behind Spike In ‘Sudden Deaths, Heart Attacks’
Does a new study claim that artificial sweeteners are to blame for "soaring rates of heart attacks and sudden deaths the past two years"? No, that's not true: The study does not suggest any such link but instead says "The findings ... sug
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: COVID-19 Vaccines Do NOT Contain ‘HIV Protein’ Causing ‘Vaccine AIDS’
Do COVID-19 vaccines contain an "HIV protein" that is causing "vaccine AIDS," resulting in an increase in people "showing up HIV-positive"? No, that's not true: There is no evidence to suggest COVID mRNA vaccines currently available in th
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO New Health Care Stimulus Giving $5,200 To People Who Make Under $50,000
Is there a new health care stimulus program giving $5,200 to people who make under $50,000? No, that's not true: There are no government programs offering money to people as a health care stimulus as of this writing. The claim appeared on
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Hoxsey Method Is NOT Cure For Cancer — It’s Folk Remedy
Did Harry Hoxsey, an ex-convict who had no medical licensing, create an effective method for curing cancer using a family concoction made up of herbs plus diet? No, that's not true: This old claim has been debunked as ineffective and dang
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: This Is NOT A Quote From Jacques Attali’s 1981 Book ‘Verbatim’
Does Jacques Attali's book "Verbatim," published in 1981, contain a prediction of a man-made pandemic that would eliminate the elderly and other vulnerable parts of the population? No, that's not true: There is no such quote in his book.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Ronaldo Did NOT Donate His Golden Shoes ‘To The Children Of Palestine’ In 2011
Did Cristiano Ronaldo, an award-winning soccer player and the captain of the Portugal national team, sell some of his trophies -- European Golden Shoes -- and donate the money "to the children of Palestine" in 2011? No, that's not true: S
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Clint Eastwood NOT On Life Support After ‘Deadly Ligma Virus’ Spreads Through Body
Is Academy Award-winning actor/director Clint Eastwood on life support in a California hospital after the "deadly ligma virus" spread through his body? No, that's not true: Ligma is not a real disease, and the purported hospital source in
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: World Economic Forum Did NOT Tweet That ‘Christmas Must Be Abolished’
Did the World Economic Forum (WEF) tweet that "Christmas must be abolished" to fight climate change? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that this is a real tweet and it does not appear on the official WEF Twitter account. The claim
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: This Painting Of George Washington Was NOT Removed From White House Display By Obama, And It Is NOT For Sale By Biden
Did then-President Barack Obama put this painting into storage in the White House in 2014 and has President Joe Biden put it up for auction? No, that's not true: This painting, "Washington Crossing the Delaware," was on loan from a privat
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: This Picture Does NOT Show Biden ‘Fondling’ A Child — It’s Been Edited
Does a photo circulating on social media show President Joe Biden "fondling" a child? No, that's not true: The image was digitally altered. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) published by the @realstewpeters account on December
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Andrew Tate’s Arrest NOT Because Of Pizza Boxes In Video With Name, Phone Number — It Followed Long Probe
Did the appearance of a name and number on pizza boxes delivered to former professional kickboxer Andrew Tate in a video he posted lead to his arrest by Romanian authorities on December 29, 2022? No, that's not true: Ramona Bolla, a spoke
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Chuck Norris Did NOT Announce ‘Devastating News’ As Of December 26, 2022
Did Chuck Norris announce "devastating news" on or before December 26, 2022? No, that's not true: A Facebook post that claimed the martial artist announced "devastating news" and implied he suffered a health crisis appears to be nothing m
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Man Was NOT Attacking People In Multiple Cities — The Post Is Spam, Meant To Trick People To Share
Was a 25-year-old man attacking people in multiple cities across the United States? No, that's not true: The alarming claim is spam, meant to trick people into sharing the post. The post is an example of a common -- and deceptive -- metho
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NASA ‘Photograph’ Does NOT Show Pyramid On Mars — It’s Doctored Image With Egyptian Pyramid Added
Does a NASA photograph show a "perfectly built" pyramid located on the surface of Mars? No, that's not true: A photo shared on Facebook in December 2022 said to show a pyramid on Mars is a digitally altered image using actual NASA photos,
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: This Video Does NOT Show ‘Russia’s Most Advanced Nuclear Submarine’ Spotted In Hawaii On December 26, 2022
Was "Russia's most advanced nuclear submarine' seen floating in Hawaii on December 26, 2022? No, that's not true: A social media post making the claim uses footage from a fictional TV show. The story appeared in a post published on Facebo
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Ukrainian Flag Delivered To Washington By Zelenskyy Did NOT Have The ‘Nazi SS’ Symbol
Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy bring a national flag with the "Nazi SS" symbol to Washington, D.C.? No, that's not true: The image circulating on social media was flipped to distort the original inscription. The claim appeare
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Did NOT Tweet About Celebrating Christmas By ‘Putting Migrants On A Bus’
Did Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweet about celebrating Christmas by "putting migrants on a bus and kicking them out into the freezing cold"? No, that's not true: The tweet is fake. It combines a genuine photo of the governor's family with a m
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Image Does NOT Show Olena Zelenska After ‘Shopping Trip In Paris’ — Image Is Photoshopped
Does the image in this tweet document Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska on what appears to be a private jet after she spent "€40000 on a shopping trip in Paris"? No, that's not true: The image is a digital manipulation that puts her f