Did singer and actress Lena Horne, who broke barriers for African-Americans in film and television, recently die? No, that's not true: The legendary entertainer died on May 9, 2010 at the age of 92, but many social media users apparently misto
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Nicole Kidman Did NOT Say Trump Is The Best President In U.S. History
Did actress Nicole Kidman say Trump is the best president in U.S. history and that "we must respect him"? No, that's not true: a 2017 BBC interview with the actress was coupled with a made up quote and got turned into a clickbait article with
Lead Stories→ Fake News: 243 Angry Passengers NOT Grounded In Iowa After Nancy Pelosi’s Drunken Rampage
Did Nancy Pelosi go on a "drunken rampage" that caused a plane with 243 other passengers to be grounded in Iowa? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to educate gullible Trump supporters and Repub
Snopes→ Chef Stopped at Los Angeles Airport with 40 Frozen Piranhas
A famous South American chef says he was stopped as he brought 40 piranhas in a duffel bag through Los Angeles International Airport.
Snopes→ House Democrat Issues Subpoenas for Trump Tax Returns
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin refused to comply with demands to turn over Trump’s returns.
FactCheck.org→ The ‘Raccoon’ Rant Not Written by Steve Harvey
Q: Did the comedian Steve Harvey author a post in support of President Donald Trump circulating on social media? A: No. It was written by an anonymous, 80-year-old American, according to the conservative website that first published it in 2016. FULL
FactCheck.org→ O’Rourke Wrong on Gun Control Stat
After the Colorado school shooting, Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke advocated universal background checks for gun purchases, claiming that state laws mandating universal checks “have been shown to reduce gun violence by 50 p
FactCheck.org→ Trump Distorts the Facts on Disaster Relief
In a May 8 rally in Florida, President Donald Trump falsely claimed that Democrats “are trying to stop” disaster relief aid from going to several states. This is an old political trick of claiming the other party doesn’t support somet
Snopes→ Ex-Fugees Rapper Charged in Campaign Finance Case
Prakazrel "Pras" Michel is accused of conspiring with fugitive Malaysian financer Jho Low to make and conceal foreign campaign contributions.
FactCheck.org→ Steve King’s Climate Change Rainfall Claims
In a recent town hall, Iowa Rep. Steve King focused on the positives of climate change, inaccurately stating that increased evaporation under higher temperatures will lead to rain in “more and more places” — a result that’s “surely gotta
Snopes→ Did Delta Air Lines Encourage Employees to Buy Video Game Consoles Instead of Joining a Union?
In May 2019, social media users shared evidence of the company's controversial campaign to discourage its workers from unionizing.
Snopes→ Does a Photograph Show a Species of Megabat?
The largest bats in the world have wingspans of more than 5 feet.
Snopes→ Did Thomas Jefferson Say ‘The Government Will One Day Be Corrupt and Filled With Liars’?
Finally, something on which the political left and right agree!
Snopes→ Did White Supremacists Chant ‘6 Million More’ at Holocaust Event?
A swastika-flag-carrying group was angry over efforts to take an accused Holocaust denier's name off an Arkansas Tech scholarship.
Snopes→ Trump Claims New China Tariffs Help, Not Hurt, United States
"Just sit back and watch!" Trump tweeted.
Snopes→ Why Does Facebook Fail to Fix Itself? It’s Partly Humans
The question comes up over and over, with extremist material, hate speech, election meddling and privacy invasions. Why can’t Facebook just fix it?
PolitiFact→ Cory Booker – Cory Booker’s claim about regulations on toy guns and not firearms misses the point
The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly False | Cory Booker’s claim about regulations on toy guns and not firearms misses the point Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker wants more regulations on guns, an industry he said is even less regulated t
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Nancy Pelosi Call ‘Late-Term Abortion’ Bans ‘Really Quite a Sad Thing?’
On April 14 2019, a Facebook user shared a text-based status update (archived here), claiming that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had described “late-term abortion” bans as “really quite a sad thing”: Against a purple gradient back
Snopes→ Snake Turns Up in Washing Machine Smelling ‘Like Downy’
The animal hospital says the corn snake, named Penelope, belonged to a 12-year-old boy who lives nearby.
Lead Stories→ Fake News: NO Man Arrested After Going On Murder Spree and Killing Over 30 Registered Sex Offenders
Was a 42-year old man man named Joel Miller in Omaha, Nebraska arrested after killing thirty pedophiles (or "just" registered sex offenders)? No, that's not true: the story originated from a site that has a disclaimer which says it only publis
Snopes→ After Trump Invite, Iran Commander Says: No Talks with US
The semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Gen. Yadollah Javani as saying that "there will be no negotiations with America."
PolitiFact→ Kamala Harris says voter suppression kept Stacey Abrams, Andrew Gillum out of office. Really?
In a speech to the NAACP, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris called for changing election laws to "fight back against those Republicans who suppress our constitutional right to vote." Harris, a U.S. senator from California, point
Snopes→ Butina Saw US Political Analysis as ‘Valuable’ to Russia
Maria Butina admitted to covertly gathering intelligence on the NRA and other groups at the direction of a former Russian lawmaker.
Washington Post→ Meet the Fact Checker team — and learn our process
Here are answers to some common questions about The Fact Checker from readers.
Washington Post→ Fact-checking the Trump administration’s immigration fact sheet
A new fact sheet on immigration from the Justice Department tells only half the story.
Snopes→ Orchestra Finds Child Who Charmed Crowd with ‘Wow!’
A performing arts group has found the child who was literally wowed by a recent classical music concert.
Snopes→ Was U.S. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez ‘Scared’ by Her Garbage Disposal?
A New York City environmental office once estimated "less than 1 percent of households" in the city had such disposals.
FactCheck.org→ Trump: 17 Repeats in 17 Hours
Over the course of 17 hours, President Donald Trump repeated 17 false and misleading claims that we have written about since he became president. Trump began with an evening rally in Panama City Beach, Florida, on May 8, that lasted more than an hour,
Truth or Fiction?→ Delta Union-Busting ‘Video Games’ Poster
On May 9 2019, a poster attributed to Delta Airlines apparently urging workers to forgo union dues in favor of purchasing video gaming consoles circulated on Facebook and Twitter: lol fuck off @Delta pic.twitter.com/fMNOeW9uFG — Eoin Higgins (@
Snopes→ Sen. Burr Takes GOP Fire Over Trump Jr Subpoena
The move suggested the Russia investigation is not "case closed" as some in the party insist.
Snopes→ Did U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar Say ‘If Israel Is So Innocent, Then Why Do They Insist on Being Jews?’
A quote needn't make sense for some people to believe it's genuine.
Truth or Fiction?→ New Georgia Abortion Law Conspiracy to Commit Murder Clause
On May 7 2019, a Facebook user shared the following screenshot of an apparent article (archived here), along with a lengthy comment about extremely restrictive new abortion laws in the state of Georgia: A lengthy comment from the original poster (par
Snopes→ Sticker Shock: Trump Taking Aim at ‘Surprise Medical Bills’
Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been trying to make progress on the topic for months.
Snopes→ High-Tech Sex Toy for Women Wins Back a Rescinded Award
The association says it recognizes the "innovative technology" and "reiterates its sincere apology" to the developer.
Snopes→ Matters of Politics, Race Accompany Red Sox to White House
Team manager Alex Cora and nearly a dozen players, including American League MVP Mookie Betts, have said they will skip the White House visit.
Snopes→ Notre Dame’s Melted Roof Leaves Astronomical Lead Levels
Hundreds of tons of lead were used in Notre Dame's frame, as well as the church spire that burned and collapsed.
Snopes→ McConnell Capitalizes on Attack with ‘Cocaine Mitch’ Shirts
"He managed to turn a slanderous attack on his family into an online movement of his supporters."
Snopes→ Facebook Auto-Generates Videos Celebrating Extremist Images
A confidential whistleblower’s complaint shows that the company is inadvertently making use of propaganda by militant groups to auto-generate videos and pages that could be used for networking by extremists.
Washington Post→ President Trump’s shifting claim that ‘we got rid’ of the Johnson Amendment
This is a campaign promise Trump has not fulfilled. It’s also a false claim worth Four Pinocchios.
Snopes→ Baby Penguins Hatched at San Diego Zoo
African penguins are an endangered species.