Did a study find liking cats is a sign of very high intelligence? No, that's not true: the study the article (and several like it) was based on compared self-described "cat people" with "dog people" in a study of university students and compar
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Truth or Fiction?→ Lawmaker Brings World War II Discharge Letter to Light Online
A New Jersey congressman attracted some attention online with a historical post apropos of Veterans Day in November 2019 — and some skepticism. “I’d like to share a letter that a constituent of mine recently found in the papers of her fa
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Old Farmer’s Almanac Predict an Alarming Number of Snowstorms This Winter?
A November 1 2019 ReturnToNow.net post headlined “Old Farmer’s Almanac Predicts An Alarming Number of Snowstorms This Winter” was shared tens of thousands of times on Facebook. and was likely to continue spreading. ReturnToNow.net is cl
FactCheck.org→ Trump Muddies Impeachment Timeline
President Donald Trump continues to muddle the timeline of events to falsely suggest that the White House release of a memo summarizing his July phone call with the president of Ukraine silenced whistleblowers and contradicted Democratic leaders. Contr
FactCheck.org→ Blowing the Whistle on a Misinforming Meme
Quick Take Memes circulating widely on social media misidentify a former White House staffer as the whistleblower who touched off the impeachment inquiry into President Trump. Full Story Pictures of White House staffers from 2016 flooded social media
Snopes→ Donald Trump Jr. Talk Marked By Anger Over No Q&A
Members of the audience of about 450 people at UCLA were reportedly angry that Donald Trump Jr. declined to take questions because of time constraints.
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Bill Gates Did NOT Admit Vaccinations Are Intended To Reduce Population
Did Bill Gates admit in a CNN interview that vaccinations are intended to reduce the world's population? No, that's not true: The Microsoft founder was talking to CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta in 2013 about his investment in delivering child vaccinat
Lead Stories→ Fake News: First Round of Democrat Indictments From Barr Investigation NOT Coming Tomorrow
Are the first indictments from a Barr investigation into Democrats coming tomorrow? No, that's not true. The story was first published on June 7, 2019 and no indictments materialized on June 8 or any day since. The reason is that the story wa
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Nancy Pelosi’s Military Budget Committee Did NOT Put 5 Aircraft Carriers Up For Sale
Did Nancy Pelosi's military budget committee put five aircraft carriers up for sale? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to mislead Trump supporters and Republicans into sharing made up stories t
Snopes→ Was Trump Call with Ukraine ‘Perfect’? GOP Has Many Answers
Republicans have no unified argument in the impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump , in large part because they can’t agree on how best to defend the president — or for some, if they should.
Lead Stories→ Fake News: LeBron Did NOT Tell NBA To "Dump The Anthem Or I’ll Quit"
Did LeBron James tell the NBA in a letter from his lawyer that he will quit playing if the National Anthem continues to be played? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to mislead Trump supporters
FactCheck.org→ Trump Spins Court Ruling on Trump Foundation
President Donald Trump downplayed the findings in a case against his namesake charitable foundation, claiming the judge had found only “some small technical violations.” Actually, in a settlement announced this week, the judge ruled that Trump R
FactCheck.org→ Trump Again Misunderstands California’s Wildfires
For the second year in a row, President Donald Trump inaccurately attributed California’s rash of wildfires to poor forest management. He also falsely said other states don’t have “close to the level of burn” as California. Most of
Truth or Fiction?→ Facebook Claims We’re ‘Clickbait.’ And It Won’t Explain Why.
Even as Facebook hides behind “free speech” concerns to justify a lack of action against the spread of far-right content, it does reserve the right to determine what constitutes “clickbait” with no explanation as to how that de
Truth or Fiction?→ Canadian School Falsely Accused of Suspending Student Over ‘Rainbow Poppy’
A recent political candidate in Canada accused her teenage cousin’s school of suspending the girl over an item that may not even be available in their country. Cyara Bird said in a November 7 2019 Twitter post that the 17-year-old Stonewall Coll
FactCheck.org→ Bogus Warren Quote Ignites Immigration Anger
Quick Take Immigration comments by Sen. Elizabeth Warren have been selectively edited in a misleading way and are circulating widely online. Full Story A meme that misleadingly rephrased the words of Sen. Elizabeth Warren — one of 17 candidates
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Malia Obama Did NOT Have 24 Classmates Expelled For Praying On Campus
Did Malia Obama have 24 classmates expelled for praying on campus? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to mislead Trump supporters and Republicans into sharing made up stories that are clearly ma
Lead Stories→ Fake News: NO Ocasio-Cortez Bill Requires Seniors to Renew Driver’s Licenses Monthly
Did Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez come up with a new bill that would require seniors to renew their driver's license every month? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to mislead Trump su
Truth or Fiction?→ Attempted Voter Suppression in Edison, New Jersey?
On Election Day 2019, a Facebook user shared a photograph alongside a post (archived here) claiming the woman in the photo was an election worker who attempted to prevent someone from voting without identification. In a post, Kristen Vaught Cavuto imp
Lead Stories→ Fake News: President Trump Did NOT Reveal He Is In Fact Q
Did President Trump reveal that he is Q, the anonymous leaker of purported "deep state" secrets to followers? No, that's not true: The claim is based on a video clip of a Trump rally in Kentucky on November 4, 2019 in which the president says
Snopes→ ‘I Was Appalled’: Black Customers Say Restaurant Host Told Them to Move
An attorney representing a group of black customers who say they were asked to change tables at a Chicago-area Buffalo Wild Wings because of their skin color urged the restaurant chain to make wholesale changes.
Truth or Fiction?→ David Bowie Meeting an Child With Autism at ‘Labyrinth’ Premiere
On October 27 2019, Facebook user Micah Daigle shared what appeared on first glance to be a secondhand anecdote about a friend’s touching introduction to David Bowie at a premiere of the film Labyrinth in 1986. A photograph of David Bowie holdi
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Pelosi Did NOT Have Health Department Close Trump Plaza Hotel
Did Nancy Pelosi have the Health Department shut down the Trump Plaza hotel in Manhattan? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to mislead Trump supporters and Republicans into sharing made up stor
Truth or Fiction?→ Bill Murray’s Advice on Relationships, If You Think You Found ‘the One’
A long-circulating October 2015 Facebook post for the “92.1 CITI” page featured an image of actor Bill Murray alongside his purported advice on what to do when you think you find “the one”: Text under a photograph of a typi
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Campus Young Republican Club Did NOT Topple Obama Statue
Did the Campus Young Republican Club at Bartlett College in Oregon topple an Obama statue? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to mislead Trump supporters and Republicans into sharing made up sto
FactCheck.org→ Trump Twists Impeachment Polls
A number of national polls show more Americans want President Donald Trump impeached and removed from office than those who don’t. In swing states, however, a majority opposes removing Trump from office via impeachment, even as a majority support
Truth or Fiction?→ Bride Steals $30k in Wedding Donations Then Asks for More?
On November 4 2019, a Reddit user shared the following thread to r/ChoosingBeggars, asserting they were a Facebook friend to a bride (engaged woman) who had raised $30,000 for a wedding — only to cancel it at the last minute and disclose that she pl
Truth or Fiction?→ All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day in Poland
On November 1 2019, the Facebook page “Witches Night” shared an image set and with it a post claiming that people in Poland — a Catholic majority country — do not celebrate Halloween, instead broadly directing that seasonal attenti
Truth or Fiction?→ Bogus ‘Energy Saver’ Boxes Continue Targeting Online Shoppers
Even for the dodgy nature of online sales, a dubious “product” appears to have rebranded itself in a particularly brazen manner. A reader alerted us in November 2019 about Ökowatt, which claims on its website that to be “used for ec
Snopes→ Customers Claim Buffalo Wild Wings Staff Tried to Reseat Them Over Skin Color
A manager asked the group to move because a regular customer didn’t want to sit near black people, they said.
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Ivanka Trump Quote Thomas Jefferson’s Denial of ‘Something He Did, in Fact, Do’?
In early November 2019, a tweet by Ivanka Trump quoting Thomas Jefferson in defense of her father, United States President Donald Trump alongside a response in screenshot form on Facebook: On October 31 2019, Ivanka Trump tweeted a partial quote:
PolitiFact→ Nancy Pelosi – Nancy Pelosi overstates Republican gains in impeachment process
The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly False | Nancy Pelosi overstates Republican gains in impeachment process House Republicans voted unanimously against a resolution that laid out how the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump would proceed. In an
Truth or Fiction?→ The Economics of Turning Cotton Into Jeans
A long-running graphic illustrating some of the costs of the making a pair of blue jeans has been revived again on Facebook, but unlike many memes that appear and reappear time and again, it is largely accurate. The graphic originated in November 201
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Obama Did NOT Say "He’s Low Risk", Did NOT Free ISIS Leader Al Baghdadi
Did Barack Obama say Abu-Bakr Al Baghdadi was "Low Risk" before releasing him? No, that's not true: for starters Obama did not release him and secondly the story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to mislead Trump supporters
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Mitt Romney Did NOT Form Alliance With Top Dem To Go After Trump
Did Mitt Romney just form an "alliance" with a "top dem" to go after President Trump? No, that's not true: a Daily Beast interview with former Senate majority leader Harry Reid published early in August 2019 in which he praised Romney for stan
Lead Stories→ Fake News: UN Did NOT Award Obama "Leader of the Century Award"
Did the United Nations award Barack Obama the "Leader of the Century Award" for the 4th time straight? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to mislead Trump supporters and Republicans into sharing
Truth or Fiction?→ Could Trump’s Florida Move Qualify Him for a Tax Exemption?
While the motives behind it are unclear, United States President Donald Trump’s decision to claim Florida as his place of residence could put him in line for a tax exemption it shares with a few other states. The president announced at the end
FactCheck.org→ What Does Science Say About the Need for Nuclear?
While Sen. Bernie Sanders has said “scientists tell us” that it’s possible to go carbon neutral without relying on nuclear power, fellow Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker, who backs the use of some nuclear energy, has said the da
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Donald Trump Was NOT Golfing During Al-Baghdadi Raid And There’s No Evidence Situation Room Photo Was Staged
Was President Donald Trump playing on one of his golf courses while U.S. soldiers were carrying out the raid that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi? No, that's not true: The claim that the raid happened at 3:30 pm EST on October 26, 2019
Truth or Fiction?→ Does Adding Your Birth Year to Your Age Total The Year Number Once a Millennium?
In September 2019, a social media post shared the following math meme, claiming that a numerical rarity in 2019 made it so that “all the people are the same age,” and that no one could explain the anomaly: What appeared to be a literal s