The president of the United States is paid $400,000 a year.
FactCheck.org→ Flurry of Trump Falsehoods
Summary In two press appearances in the same day, President Donald Trump made several false claims and distorted the facts on issues ranging from Syria to trade: Trump claimed that former GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan “would never issue a subpoena
Snopes→ Did Trump Send Letter to Turkish Prez Erdogan Saying ‘Don’t Be a Fool’?
Some questioned whether the unconventional letter was authentic.
Truth or Fiction?→ Zinaida, Get Your Gun
On October 16 2019, a Tumblr screenshot was shared to Imgur and the Facebook page “Revolution Porn”; the post contained an illustration of a young girl reaching for a gun as a man in Nazi regalia looked the other way with text about the s
Snopes→ No, Elijah Cummings Did Not ‘Forgive’ Donald Trump On His Deathbed
A routine review of content labeled satire.
Snopes→ Police Arrest 2nd Suspect in Case of Isolated Dutch Family
Dutch police said that a group of people discovered on an isolated farm this week may have been kept there against their will for up to nine years.
Truth or Fiction?→ MIT Science Professor Accused of Spreading Disinformation Resigns From Science Journal
A professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has resigned from the board of a prestigious science journal after he was accused of spreading conspiracy theories about a chemical weapons attack in Syria in 2017 and a major scientific journ
Snopes→ US, Turkey Agree on Turkish Cease-Fire with Syrian Kurds
The U.S. and Turkey agreed to a five-day cease-fire in the Turks' attacks on Kurdish fighters in northern Syria to allow the Kurds to withdraw to roughly 20 miles away from the Turkish border.
Snopes→ White House: Ukraine Aid Held Up in Part Over Election Probe
The White House acknowledged that it held up military aid to Ukraine as President Donald Trump pushed the country's new leader to investigate the Democratic National Committee in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, a central question in the House impe
Snopes→ Did Donald Trump Call Italy’s President ‘Mozzarella’?
Critics of the president seized on two supposed gaffes in October 2019. But what did Trump actually say?
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Former Atheist Brad Pitt Does NOT Become A Christian As He Recovers From Alcoholism
Did "former atheist" Brad Pitt "become a Christian" while recovering from alcoholism? No, that's not true: Pitt, who grew up as a Christian, told a GQ magazine interviewer in 2019 that he "called myself an atheist for a while" during a "rebell
Snopes→ US Envoy Says Giuliani Was Given Role on Ukraine Policy
Gordon Sondland was the latest in a series of witnesses to be privately interviewed by three House committees conducting the impeachment investigation.
PolitiFact→ Rand Paul – Rand Paul’s claim about taxes went over poorly on The View, but it was pretty accurate
The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly True | Rand Paul’s claim about taxes went over poorly on The View, but it was pretty accurate Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., drew a backlash from the audience of ABC’s "The View" when he argued that lower-in
Snopes→ Will Michelle Obama Be the New Face of Victoria’s Secret?
A routine review of content labeled satire.
Snopes→ Iowa Man Finds 5 Inches of Animal Blood Flooding Basement (Video)
Blood may be thicker than water, but it’ll still flood your basement.
Snopes→ London Commuters Scuffle with Climate Activists
Londoners have largely tolerated a series of recent peaceful protests by the Extinction Rebellion group, but interfering with the morning commute appeared to be a step too far for some.
Snopes→ Space Station’s 2 Women Prep for 1st All-Female Spacewalk
U.S. astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir will step out Oct. 18 to replace a broken battery charger.
Snopes→ Pence Meets with Erdogan, Seeking Syria Border Cease-Fire
U.S. officials were expected to warn Turkish President Erdogan that he will face additional economic sanctions if he doesn't halt his assault on Kurdish forces.
Truth or Fiction?→ Italy’s President Mozzarella, Allies Back to Ancient Rome?
United States President Donald Trump hosted Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the White House on October 16 2019, leading to viral claims Trump misstated Mattarella’s name as “mozzarella” before embarrassingly describing a frie
Snopes→ Chicago Teachers Strike, Say Issue Simple: ‘It’s the Kids’
Chicago teachers went on strike, marching on picket lines after failing to reach a contract deal with the nation's third-largest school district in a dispute that canceled classes for more than 300,000 students.
PolitiFact→ No, Mark Zuckerberg did not endorse Donald Trump, as Elizabeth Warren said in phony ad
Did Mark Zuckerberg endorse Donald Trump for president? No. Zuckerberg has not endorsed Trump; the ads set the record straight two sentences below the attention-grabbing claim. Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren said she took out ads with th
Snopes→ ‘Tarzan’ Actor Ron Ely’s Wife Killed; Son Shot by Deputies
"Tarzan" actor Ron Ely's wife was stabbed to death in their California home by their 30-year-old son, who was then shot and killed by sheriff's deputies.
Snopes→ Trump Rule May Mean 1 Million Kids Lose Automatic Free Lunch
Nearly a million children could lose their automatic eligibility for free school lunches under a Trump administration proposal that would reduce the number of people who get food stamps.
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Man’s Penis Did NOT Explode After Attempting to Inflate It With Helium
Did an unnamed 34-year old man try to inflate his penis with helium for a prank and did he end up blowing up his penis? No, that's not true: the events described in the story did not happen in Crystal Lake, Illinois (and also not in Clarkston,
Snopes→ Powerful Democratic Congressman Elijah Cummings Has Died
Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings died early Thursday of complications from longstanding health issues, his office said. He was 68.
Lead Stories→ Fake News: NEW Starbucks CEO Did NOT Admit She Doesn’t Like White Peope
Did "New Starbucks CEO" Rosalind Brewer admit she doesn't like white people? No, there are several things that are not true in that statement, the most obvious one being that Brewer isn't actually the CEO of Starbucks (who happens to be a whit
Washington Post→ Are jobs lost due to ‘bad trade policy’ or automation?
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) says the “principal reason” for jobs losses is trade policy, not automation. But economists aren’t so sure.
New York Times→ Fact-Checking Trump on Syria, Erdogan and the Kurds
The president wrongly claimed that a violent Kurdish separatist group was “more of a terrorist threat” than ISIS, among other inaccurate claims.
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Satanic Pentagram Was NOT On Democratic Debate Stage Ceiling
Was a satanic pentagram displayed on the ceiling above the stage of the Democratic presidential debate stage in Westerville, Ohio? No, that's not true: A purported photo showing the pentagram above the Democratic candidates was digitally alter
Snopes→ Parents of Killed Teen Reject Trump’s Attempted Introduction
The parents of a British teenager who was killed in a car crash involving an American diplomat’s wife felt ambushed when President Donald Trump tried to get them to meet with the woman in front of the press, attorneys for the couple said.
Snopes→ Did an Undocumented Immigrant Kill a Man Who Criticized Trump’s Immigration Policies?
Multiple websites saw an irony surrounding the death of Sean Buchanan in Colorado in August 2019.
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Trump Send a Letter Telling Erdogan, ‘Don’t Be a Fool’?
As criticism continued to swirl around President Donald Trump for his Middle East policy, a Fox Business Channel host produced a letter from him on to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey seeking “a good deal.” A photogr
PolitiFact→ Why Tulsi Gabbard calls the war in Syria a ‘regime change war’
Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard said during the recent Democratic debate that the United States is in Syria waging a "regime change war." President Donald Trump this month withdrew American troops from the Syrian border with Turkey, prom
Snopes→ Trump Dismisses Syria Concerns; Dems Walk Out of WH Meeting
After the House condemnation vote, the congressional leaders of both parties went to the White house for a briefing, which grew contentious, with Trump and Pelosi trading jabs.
PolitiFact→ Donald Trump – After attacks by Turkey, Trump falsely claims Kurds in Syria are much safer now
The Truth-o-Meter says: False | After attacks by Turkey, Trump falsely claims Kurds in Syria are much safer now On the day Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sought international support for his country’s battle against the Kurds and warn
Truth or Fiction?→ Is Taco Bell Meat Contaminated with Metal Shavings?
On October 15 2019, an Imgur user shared the following screenshot of a purported Newsweek article, which appeared to be reporting on a Taco Bell recall involving meat contaminated with metal shavings: Its submitter’s title joked that “the
Truth or Fiction?→ Do People Ingest Five Grams of Plastic Per Week?
On October 15 2019, the Facebook page “Using Less Plastic” shared a meme which claimed that “a new study” had found that humans ingested an average of five grams of plastic per week, about the same amount contained in an avera
Snopes→ Did Trump Say People with Down Syndrome Too Often Face ‘Terminations of Their Lives Before Birth’?
U.S. President Donald Trump issued a Down Syndrome Awareness Month proclamation in October 2019.
Snopes→ Did Japan Ban 5G Technology Over Health Concerns?
More to the point, does the “Ministry of High Technologies” even exist in Japan?
FactCheck.org→ Trump Wrong on U.S. Agriculture Exports to China
In announcing “phase one” of a tentative trade deal with China, President Donald Trump wrongly stated that the “all-time high” for U.S. agricultural exports to China was “$16 or $17 billion.” Actually, it was nearly