On December 4 2020, a number of pundits and websites breathlessly reported on remarks made by President-Elect Joe Biden, in which he purportedly said that if he fundamentally disagreed with Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, he would “develop s
Publication: Fact Checks
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Never Forget: Nancy Pelosi Rejected Trump’s Offer for Direct Stimulus Checks Two Months Ago’
On December 3 2020, a tweet by @thebradfordfile was shared to TheDonald.win, accusing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of having “rejected Trump’s offer for direct stimulus checks two months ago,” which placed the purported action in Septe
Truth or Fiction?→ Do Squirrels Land Like Superheroes When They Jump?
The “science of cute” collided with animal behavioral science on social media in a major way after a post about squirrels went viral. “The best thing I’ve learned this week is that when squirrels fall/jump — they land like su
Truth or Fiction?→ Mellissa Carone, Dominion Subcontractor, Goes Viral After Bizarre Michigan ‘Hearing’ Appearance
On December 2 2020, video of “a drunk woman” acting as a witness for purported and nonexistent election fraud went viral, due in part to the following tweet: a drunk woman is trump team’s star witness in michigan pic.twitter.com/qGxEI3
Truth or Fiction?→ Neera Tanden Didn’t Tweet ‘Hitler Was Certainly Controversial But No One Gives Him Proper Credit for Fighting to the Death Against Communism’
On December 1 2020, a fabricated tweet attributed to Neera Tanden began circulating, which read, “Hitler was certainly controversial but nobody gives him proper credit for fighting to the death against Communism”: .@neeratanden, WHAT pic
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Here’s a Postage Stamp to Help You Out Financially’
A tenant advocacy group’s gesture toward members in Bellingham, Washington was distributed online in late November 2020 but misconstrued as a disingenuous bit of “kindness” by an unscrupulous landlord. Photographs of the envelope, wh
Truth or Fiction?→ Special Forces Did Not Raid a ‘CIA Server Farm’ in Frankfurt to Seize Dominion Servers
In November and December 2020, following Donald Trump’s resounding loss by millions of votes in the presidential election to Joe Biden, rumors spread by those trying to cope with their loss centered around persistent and increasingly ludicrous c
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Candace Owens Win a Huge Lawsuit Against Facebook Fact-Checkers?
A November 29 2020 TheScoop.us item bearing the headline “Candace Owens Wins Huge Lawsuit Against Biased Liberal Facebook Fact-Checkers” made a titular claim that Owens successfully sued Facebook’s third-party fact-checkers, although
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘My Wife Has Cancer’ Reddit Comment Spreads Virally, Prompts Discussion of American Healthcare System
A November 30 2020 post to Reddit’s r/awfuleverything spread virally across platforms, prompting discussions all over social media about u/binkybrain’s original comment and the cost of cancer care in the United States: Poor guy
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Twitter Suspend Bobby Piton, an ‘Election Whistleblower,’ to Prevent People ‘Understanding His Testimony’?
On November 30 2020, the name “Bobby Piton” became a trending topic on social media following a “hearing” at an Arizona Hyatt hotel about Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Piton was not mentioned by
Truth or Fiction?→ Did an Italian Singer Score a Hit Song Using ‘Nonsense’ English Lyrics?
A decades-old cross-cultural hit by Adriano Celentano and Celeste Mori was brought back to light both in the U.S. and the pair’s native Italy in November 2020, thanks to social media and a Scottish artist. Harriet Mould found herself becoming co
Truth or Fiction?→ Oregon Health Nurse on ‘Administrative Leave’ After Tiktok About Not Wearing Masks or Social Distancing
In late November 2020, stories appeared about a viral TikTok video by account @Loveiskind05 leading to a nurse at Oregon’s Salem Health being placed on administrative leave: Nurse put on leave in Oregon after TikTok video mocking coro
Truth or Fiction?→ Did James Woods Play Rudy Giuliani in a Movie?
Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani’s embarrassing November 2020 continued apace after social media users discovered a clip from what could charitably be called a flattering portrayal of him from nearly two decades earlier. The scene, taken
Truth or Fiction?→ Do Only 3 Percent of Trump Voters Believe Joe Biden is the ‘Legitimate Winner’ of the 2020 Election?
On November 24 2020, Breitbart.com published an article headlined, “Nolte: Only 3% of Trump Voters Believe Joe Biden Is Legitimate Winner,” which began: We all need to keep in mind that, except for a handful of pollsters, polling is irretr
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘More People Have Died of Suicide This Year Than Corona’
On November 24 2020, a post on Reddit-clone TheDonald.win asserted that in 2020, “more people died of suicide this year than corona,” embedding the following tweet: Part one. pic.twitter.com/q5sNVq21GE — Dr. Ben Tapper (@DrBenTapp
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Majority of Americans in a Poll Say Trump Should Concede?
On November 23 2020, social media posts indicated that a then-new poll revealed a majority of Americans believed that U.S. President Donald Trump should concede the election to President-Elect Joe Biden — that majority being 58 percent of all vo
Truth or Fiction?→ Giant Food ‘Super Spread’ Ad
On November 22 2020, a Reddit user shared the following image to r/facepalm, which purported to show a Giant Food “super spread” advertisement: No way this went unnoticed from facepalm The post, which was an image
Truth or Fiction?→ Gov. Andrew Cuomo to Win Emmy for Use of Television to ‘Inform and Calm People Around the World’
On November 20 2020, “Emmy” trended on Twitter due to tweets asserting that New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo was the unlikely recipient of an Emmy award: NOT A JOKE: Andrew Cuomo to Receive International Emmy for ‘Masterful Use’ of T
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Rudy Giuliani Announce That He Tested Positive for ‘Covid 9/11’?
Online mockery of former New York City mayor Rudolph “Rudy” Giuliani continued in late November 2020 with a tweet by a newly-formed parody account that had other users fooled, if only for a moment. The post from “@Rudy_Giuliani_̶
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Lawyer’s Affidavit Mistake Michigan for Minnesota?
As the Trump administration’s attempts to overturn the election continued on November 20 2020, attorney Andrew Fleischman highlighted a possible error in an affidavit filed by lawyer Lin Wood in which a sworn expert apparently confused Minnesota
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘So 54%’ of Americans Believe the 2020 Election Was Fraudulent?
On November 19 2020, “So 54%” was one of Twitter’s trending topics — due to a piece of of misleading math prompted by a tweet and article from TheHill.com: So 54% say he shouldn’t concede. Thanks for admitting more than half
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘This Is a Line For a Food Bank in Dallas, Congress Has Decided to Leave Millions of Americans to Suffer and Die’
On November 18 2020, the Gravel Institute (@GravelInstitute) tweeted a photograph purportedly showing cars waiting to get to a food bank in Dallas, Texas: This is a line for a food bank in Dallas. Congress has decided to leave millions of Americans t
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Monitors Discover a 9,626 Vote Error in the DeKalb County, Georgia Recount?
On November 18 2020, Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer tweeted that a “9,626 vote error” had been unearthed in DeKalb County, Georgia — a claim which, naturally, spread rapidly to other platforms: One of our monitors disc
Truth or Fiction?→ Twitter Amends Flag from ‘Official Sources Called This Election Differently’ to ‘Multiple Sources Called This Election Differently’
In mid-November 2020, Twitter updated one of its election information flags, changing the wording from the uncertain-sounding, “Official sources called this election differently” to the even less forceful, “Multiple sources called th
Truth or Fiction?→ Twitter Amends Flag from ‘Official Sources Called This Election Differently’ to ‘Multiple Sources Called This Election Differently’
In mid-November 2020, Twitter updated one of its election information flags, changing the wording from the uncertain-sounding, “Official sources called this election differently” to the even less forceful, “Multiple sources called th
Truth or Fiction?→ Were Electoral Votes (410 for Trump and 128 for Biden) Found on a Dominion Server Seized in Germany?
On November 16 2020, increasingly desperate claims that Donald Trump had actually defeated Joe Biden in the presidential election despite the reality of his decisive defeat continued to circulate; one such rumor included the assertion that Trump won 4
Truth or Fiction?→ Were Electoral Votes (410 for Trump and 128 for Biden) Found on a Dominion Server Seized in Germany?
On November 16 2020, increasingly desperate claims that Donald Trump had actually defeated Joe Biden in the presidential election despite the reality of his decisive defeat continued to circulate; one such rumor included the assertion that Trump won 4
Truth or Fiction?→ This Is Not the ‘Million MAGA March’ on Washington in November 2020
On November 14 and 15 2020, purported aerial photographs of the misleadingly named “Million MAGA March” appeared on Twitter: به زودي هم چنين صØنه هايي را در كشورم پرشيا Ùˆ در مقابل “كورش اÙ
Truth or Fiction?→ Was Dallas Jones, a ‘Biden Campaign Director,’ Arrested For ‘Electoral Fraud’?
On November 15 2020, a blog post titled “Biden Campaign Director Arrested For Electoral Fraud” began circulating on social media platforms like Twitter and Reddit: Apparently Former FBI agent and Joe Biden staffer has been arrested: Dall
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Facebook Remove the Title of ‘President’ from Donald Trump and Designate Him as a ‘Political Candidate’?
On November 13 2020, pundit Dinesh D’Souza asserted on Twitter that Facebook had “removed” the designation of “President” from Donald Trump’s verified Facebook page, downgrading him instead to a mere “politica
Truth or Fiction?→ Did ICE’s Twitter Account Disappear?
Eagle-eyed Twitter users noted on November 12 2020 that the Twitter account for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (also known as ICE) had abruptly disappeared. While a cached version of the @ICEGov account is still available online, going to th
Truth or Fiction?→ Joe Biden ‘Letter to Staff’ on Family Obligations
On November 7 2020, former Vice President Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election; and on that day, Twitter user Dan Barker (@danbarker) shared a purported memo to Biden’s staff from 2014 concerning their “famil
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Mexico Planning Joint Military Intervention with Canada If Trump Refuses to Leave Office’
On November 11 2020, a screenshot of a purported article featured the headline “Mexico Planning Joint Military Intervention with Canada If Trump Refuses to Leave Office”: The screenshot showed a story dated November 9 2020, with NPR repor
Truth or Fiction?→ Joe Biden, Arrogation, and ‘The Office of the President-Elect’
On November 10 2020, disinformation purveyors began pushing memes containing claims that the transition team for Joe Biden — the winner of the 2020 U.S. presidential elections — invented the “Office of the President-Elect,” and
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Stop What You’re Doing and Google Why Chainsaws Were Invented’
On November 9 2020, a Facebook post encouraging fellow users to “Google why chainsaws were invented” (archived) went quite viral very quickly; it alluded to the possibility that one might have difficulty guessing the original intended purp
Truth or Fiction?→ Has RealClearPolitics ‘Rescinded’ Pennsylvania and ‘Uncalled’ the Race?
After the 2020 election was “called” with former United States Vice President Joe Biden as victor, a rumor circulated that a website called RealClearPolitics had “rescinded” Pennsylvania, effectively undoing Biden’s win:
Truth or Fiction?→ Are Brazilian Troops Considering ‘Military Intervention’ on Trump’s Behalf?
A right-wing group based out of San Diego State University in California stoked more conspiracy theories around the 2020 U.S. presidential elections on Twitter, claiming that troops and operatives from other governments may get involved on behalf of i
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Mitt Romney Asked To Lead Health And Human Services In Biden Administration: Report’
On November 9 2020, Daily Wire appeared to publish (and then delete) an article headlined, “Mitt Romney Asked To Lead Health And Human Services In Biden Administration: Report”: Mitt Romney Asked To Lead Health And Human Services In Bide
Truth or Fiction?→ Does Benford’s Law Prove Election Fraud in Biden Votes?
After the 2020 election was called for former Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden, “Benford’s Law” — a mathematical principle applied occasionally to the count of votes in any given election — became a hot topic on soci
Truth or Fiction?→ Did an Antrim County, Michigan ‘Software Glitch’ Send ‘6,000 Trump Votes to Biden’?
On November 6 2020, several high-engagement tweets claimed that in Antrim County, Michigan, “6,000 Trump votes” were incorrectly recorded as votes for Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden due to a “software glitch”