On March 18 2019, just days after a right-wing extremist traveled from Australia to Christchurch, New Zealand to murder fifty people at two mosques during Friday prayers, British conservative commentator Theodora Dickinson posted a video of a burning
Publication: Politics
Hoax-Slayer→ Fact Check — Did Sharifa Alkhateeb Discuss Long Term Plans to Convert America to Islam?
A video entitled "Sharifa Alkhateeb Talks About Using Public Schools to Convert America to Islam" is currently being shared via social media. The post Fact Check — Did Sharifa Alkhateeb Discuss Long Term Plans to Convert America to Islam? appeare
Hoax-Slayer→ No, a Billboard in Zimbabwe Does NOT Claim ‘You Can Kill Whites in South Africa’ — HOAX
This disturbing message, which is currently circulating via WhatsApp, features a photograph depicting a roadside billboard claiming that "you can kill whites in South Africa". The post No, a Billboard in Zimbabwe Does NOT Claim ‘You Can Kill Whit
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Trump DID NOT Invoke 25th Amendment to Expel Nancy Pelosi for Mental Health Reasons
Did President Trump invoke the 25th amendment of the U.S. constitution to expel Speaker Nancy Pelosi from congress? No, that's not true: It is a fake story posted on a website published on the Blogspot hosting service. The U.S. constitution ha
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Judge Jeanine Pirro Did NOT Take a Job Consulting for the White House
Did Judge Jeanine Pirro takea job consulting for the White House? No, that's not true: the story was made up by a clearly labeled satire website but got copied by several websites anyway and sold as real news. The misspelling of Jeanine Pirro
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Young Beto O’Rourke NOT Photographed With "Feminist Athiest Vegan Naturist Ecologist Queer Slut" Written On Body
Did Beto O'Rourke pose for a photo showing the words "Feminist Athiest Vegan Naturist Ecologist Queer Slut" scrawled on his nearly-naked body? No, that's not true: A meme circulating on social platforms is a cropped version of a photograph of
Lead Stories→ Fake News: NO Whistleblower: Obama Was NOT Indonesian Citizen & NOT Given Financial Aid As Foreign Student At Occidental College
Did a whistleblower reveal that former U.S. President Barack Obama was an Indonesian citizen and was given financial support as a foreign student while attending Occidental College in Los Angeles? No, that's not true: It is one of a series of
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Chicago Does NOT Have City ID Cards Which Allow Illegal Immigrants To Vote
Does Chicago have city ID cards which allow illegal immigrants to vote in local, state and federal elections? No, Chicago's CityKey ID program does not give non-citizens a way to illegally cast ballots when they otherwise would not be able to
Truth or Fiction?→ 2005 Obama Immigration Quote
In January 2019, New Jersey politician Joseph Rudy Rullo shared the following meme (archived here), purportedly quoting then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama on immigration: It featured a photograph of Obama on the right, and on the left it read: “W
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Trump’s Budget Does NOT Contain Twenty Million Dollars for Bail
Did President Trump's latest federal budget proposal includet $20 million for bail money? No, it is a satirical report that purports Trump hid millions in the budget document to post bail for his children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. The sto
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Was NOT Fired From Hot Dog On A Stick In 2008 For Incompetence
Was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez fired from Hot Dog on a Stick in 2008 for incompetence? No, that's not true: a meme making that claim uses an actual 2008 photo of a Hot Dog on a Stick worker named "Stephanie" but at the time Ocasio-Cortez was in
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Kenya: Authorities Did NOT Release Barack Obama’s ‘Real’ Birth Certificate
Did Kenyan authorities release former U.S. President Barack Obama's "real" birth certificate? No, this is a fake report pubished initially by a Canadian entertainment website that makes a living by publishing fictional stories often involving
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Millennials Are NOT Getting The Bernie 2020 Logo Tattooed On Their Face
Are millenials getting their face tattooed with the Bernie 2020 logo as a show of support? No, that's not true: the story was made up by a righ-leaning satire website, it is not true. The story originated from an article published on March 8,
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Fordham University Transcript Showing Trump 1.28 GPA Is Obvious Forgery
Did President Donald J. Trump's report card or transcript from his days at Fordham University leak and does it show a paltry 1.28 GPA? No, that's not true: the image that went viral in early March 2019 is an obvious forgery. An example of the
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez Did NOT Tweet a Press Release Demanding Return of Heroic ISIS Mother from Alabama — Did NOT Say She Was Bigger Hero Than Our Veterans Either
Did Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez tweet out a press release demanding President Trump be blocked from stopping the return of a heroic Alabama mother from ISIS and did she claim this woman was "more of a hero than our veterans"? No, that's not true:
Lead Stories→ Fake News: AARP DID NOT Help Elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez By Supporting Democrats in the Midterms
Did the AARP -- the American Association of Retired People -- help elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats in the 2018 congressional mid-term elections? No, the AARP is a non-profit group banned by federal law from contributing to o
Truth or Fiction?→ Did an Arkansas Republican Propose Cutting Free Lunches to Punish Students?
On February 26 2019, the Facebook page “Occupy Democrats” shared the following meme (archived here), alleging that state legislator from Arkansas Alan Clark proposed cuts to school lunch programs for disadvantaged children: Text around a
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Supreme Court Did NOT Rule National Emergency Order ‘Within the Powers of the POTUS’
Did the U.S. Supreme Court rule that President Donald Trump's national emergency order concerning the southern U.S. border is 'within the powers" of the president? No, it is a fake story intended by its original publisher as satire, but copied
Truth or Fiction?→ Are FDR and LBJ Era ‘Say No to Socialism’ Buttons Authentic?
On February 21 2019, economist and former United States Secretary of Labor Robert Reich published a tweet alongside what appeared to be an image of two political buttons from Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s and Lyndon B. Johnson’s campaigns: A
Truth or Fiction?→ Does the UK’s National Health Service Cost £10 a Month vs $2,500 For American Insurance?
On February 20 2019 the Facebook page “Medicare for All” shared a following meme contrasting the purported costs of health care coverage in the United States versus the United Kingdom (and alleging that Americans prefer their system): The
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Ronald Reagan Say Socialism ‘Only Works in Two Places,’ Heaven and Hell?
On February 10 2019, Senator Chris McDaniel shared a meme quoting Ronald Reagan on “socialism” only functioning properly in two places: Above a black-and-white photograph of President Reagan, the meme read: SOCIALISM ONLY WORKS IN TWO PLAC
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Democrats Did NOT Reveal Plan To Fire Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Did Democrats reveal a plan to fire Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after there was quite some criticism surrounding the launch of her "Green New Deal"? No, that's not true: a hyperpartisan site twisted a report from The Intercept into something that
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Democrat Senator Stuart Boll Did NOT Switch Sides or Pledge To Vote With Trump
Did a senator from Maine named Stuart Boll switch his affiliation from Democrat to Republican and did he pledge to vote with President Trump from now on? No, that's not true, the senator does not even exist. The story was published by a libera
Lead Stories→ Fake News: NOT A Real Photo of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Lighting Fart On Fire
Did a photo surface of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in which she can be seen being held in the air by a young man while lighting a fart on fire? No, that's not true: the photo was digitally manipulated and people who believe this is some sort of "
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Tara McClossoff Did NOT Introduce Bill to Ban Seniors From Voting
Did a democrat by the name of Tara McClossoff introduce a bill to ban seniors from voting? No, that's not true: an image making that claim was spread through a viral Facebook message put out by a satire page. Tara McClossoff does not exist. Th
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Australia Fire Its Entire Legislature After a 1975 Government Shutdown?
In early February 2019, a Facebook user shared the meme below, which claims that after Australia went through a government shutdown in 1975 its citizens kicked out the entire legislature and started over: Text overlaid on a photograph of what looked l
Lead Stories→ Fake News: NO Body In Ohio River Confirmed As Major Clinton Aide
Was a body found in the Ohio river in Saint Clairsville, Ohio confirmed to be Clinton aide Jaeger Holpern? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to educate gullible Trump supporters and Republicans
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Green New Deal Does NOT Call For Drinking Urine
Does the "Green New Deal" proposed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez contain a provision that calls for the drinking of recycled urine? No, that's not true: several conservative figures have been spreading a satirical hoax that seems to have origina
Lead Stories→ Fake News: McCarran Warner Act of 1952 Did NOT Forbid Muslims From Holding Office
Did the 101st Congress on November 18, 1990 quietly repeal the "McCarran Warner Act of 1952" forbidding muslims from holding office? No, that's not true for the simple reason that there never was such an act. Also, forbidding muslims from hol
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Liberal Vandals Did NOT Spray Joshua Trump’s House With Racist Graffiti
Was the house of Joshua Trump vandalized with racist graffiti by liberal vandals while he was attending President Trump's State of the Union speech (during which he fell asleep)? No, that's not true, at least the vandalism part. The story was
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Rock Icon Mick Jagger NOT Dead, Did NOT Leave Billions For Border Wall
Did Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger die and did he leave billions of dollars for building a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico? No, that's not true: the story was made up by a satirical website that publishes ironic death hoaxes about v
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Pence Did NOT Beg Trump Not to Make Him Sit Next to Woman at State of the Union
Did Vice President Mike Pence beg President Trump not to make him sit next to a woman during the State of the Union? No, that's not true: Pence will just sit next to Speaker Pelosi, the entire story was made up by the satire section of a popu
Lead Stories→ Fake News: NOT A Picture of Nancy Pelosi, Beto O’Rourke and El Chapo
Is this a picture of Nancy Pelosi, Beto O'Rourke and drug kingpin El Chapo? No, that's not true. A miscaptioned picture of a 2016 meeting of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto with U.S House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Henry Cuella
Lead Stories→ Fake News: George Soros NOT Arrested; Obama NOT Charged with Treason
Was billionaire and philantropist George Soros arrested in Saint Margrethenberg, Switzerland at 13:23 GMT on Feb. 3 2019 because of evidence supplied by Barack Obama who has been incarcerated at Gitmo because he was charged with treason? No, a
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Al Sharpton Did NOT File FOIA Request to Release Trump’s Tax Returns
Did Al Sharpton file a FOIA request to release the tax returns of president Donald Trump? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to educate gullible Trump supporters and Republicans about the need t
Truth or Fiction?→ Chuck Schumer Border Wall 2013 vs. 2018
In January 2019, the Facebook page “McGroarty for Freedom” shared the following meme, which contrasted purported positions held by Sen. Chuck Schumer in 2013 and 2018 on the topic of a border wall to separate the United States from Mexico:
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Donald Trump Say He Would ‘Gladly Take… Slings and Arrows’ of Criticism for His Supporters?
On January 21 2019, the Facebook page “We Love President Donald J. Trump” shared the following quotation meme: Beneath an image of Donald Trump, the text said: They knew they would throw every lie they could at me and my family and my love
Truth or Fiction?→ Did House Democrats Vote Against Shutdown Back Pay in January 2019?
On January 22 2019, Rep. Dan Crenshaw tweeted: The depicted tweet said: Big deal that never got reported: Last week, House GOP voted to pay federal employees their 1st paycheck of 2019, despite shutdown. Only 6 Dems voted with us. It failed. Dem prior
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Kevin Spacey Did NOT Admit Affair With Mike Pence
Did actor Kevin Spacey admit to having an affair with Vice President Mike Pence? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to educate gullible Trump supporters and Republicans about the need to actuall
Truth or Fiction?→ Did the United States Authorize $50 Billion for the Secure Fence Act of 2006?
On January 10, 2019, a text-based status update about United States President George W. Bush’s Secure Fence Act of 2006 went viral: President George W. Bush signed the Secure Fence Act of 2006 into law “approved $50 Billion for the wall