Did Democratic U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff of California reveal that his daughter is dating the alleged whistleblower whose complaint against President Trump launched the impeachment inquiry? No, that's not true: The story is a hoax, and the website
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Lead Stories→ Fake News: Bill Gates Did NOT Help Fund Patent For Coronavirus
Did billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates help fund a patent for the Wuhan coronavirus? No, that's not true: The Pirbright Institute addressed the conspiracy theories and said the patents involve infectious bronchitis
Truth or Fiction?→ Did John Kerry Tweet and Delete a ‘F***ing’ Denial That He Intended to Run for President?
On February 3 2020, Twitter briefly lit up with delight over apparent swears from the normally sanguine John Kerry, who had purportedly taken to Twitter to state that any rumors that he planned a 2020 presidential run were “fucking (or categor
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Scientists Did NOT Claim Wuhan Coronavirus is HIV-1 Engineered "Superweapon"
Did scientists claim the Wuhan coronavirus is an HIV-1 engineered hybrid "superweapon"? No, that's not true: The scientific research cited in a video making the claim has not been peer-reviewed, and the authors have withdrawn the paper, saying
Lead Stories→ Fake News: LeBron James Is NOT Selling Kobe Bryant Tribute Shirts
Did NBA star LeBron James endorse or sell Kobe Bryant tribute shirts? No, that's not true: A sponsored post on Facebook that includes a photo of James appearing to hold up a Bryant tribute shirt is digitally-altered, placing James' head on the
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Police Did NOT Say When They Found Kobe’s Body That Kobe Was Hugging His Daughter Gianna
Did police say that, when they found Kobe Bryant's body in the wreckage of his crashed helicopter, Bryantwas hugging his daughter Gianna? No, that's not true: The helicopter in which Bryant was flying with his daughter broke up and exploded in
FactCheck.org→ Club for Growth Action
Political leanings: Conservative 2018 total spending: $19.6 million Club for Growth Action, the super PAC of the conservative Club for Growth, was launched in August 2010. On its website, the organization declares its mission is to “take on any
Truth or Fiction?→ Where Does the Phrase ‘Eat the Rich’ Come From?
In late January 2020, a meme about the popular phrase “eat the rich” began circulating on Imgur and Facebook in a long screenshot apparently taken from Tumblr: In the screenshot were two Tumblr posts, the first of which was shared by u/as
FactCheck.org→ No, Clorox and Lysol Didn’t Already ‘Know’ About New Coronavirus
Quick Take Numerous social media posts falsely suggest that because Clorox and Lysol products list “Human Coronavirus” on their bottles, the new coronavirus driving the outbreak in China was already known. It wasn’t. There are many human coronavi
FactCheck.org→ Trump Exaggerates China Trade Impact on Farmers
At his rally in Iowa, President Donald Trump falsely claimed that the new trade agreement with China “will boost American agriculture by $50 billion every year.” China agreed to increase agricultural purchases by $12.5 billion this year and
FactCheck.org→ Super Bowl Ads from Trump and Bloomberg
The campaigns of President Donald Trump and Democrat Mike Bloomberg have purchased airtime during the preeminent TV ad event of the year: the Super Bowl. Both scheduled spots make claims that require context or further explanation. Trump’s ad sa
Truth or Fiction?→ Did the Trump Administration’s 2020 Budget Propose $25 Billion in Cuts to Social Security?
On January 31 2020, the page “Labor 311” shared the following screenshot of tweets from anchor Soledad O’Brien and United States President Donald Trump, in which he vows to “protect Social Security,” while she claims that
Truth or Fiction?→ Do Only Three Companies Make All the World’s Insulin (Charging $20 Outside the United States and $300+ in the United States)?
On January 28 2020, the Facebook page “Drug Prices are Too High” shared the following Twitter screenshot, about the purported price of insulin outside the United States (USD$20) versus its cost in the U.S. (USD$300+) per vial: Th
Lead Stories→ Fake News: NO Evidence Coronavirus Is A Man-made Depopulation Weapon
Is the coronavirus a "man-made" depopulation weapon? No, that's not true: There is no evidence to support this theory, which is being spread by conspiracy-minded outlets like InfoWars. While scientists are still investigating the source of the
FactCheck.org→ Virginia Bill Wouldn’t Criminalize Criticism
Quick Take Online headlines falsely claim that Virginia lawmakers want to make criticizing state officials a “criminal offense.” The bill doesn’t create new offenses. It would merely allow cases of threats or harassment against some state off
Lead Stories→ Fake News: U.S. Supreme Court Did NOT Rule No License Necessary To Drive Automobile on Public Roads
Did the U.S. Supreme Court rule that Americans do not need a licence to drive automobiles on public roads? No, that's not true: This is a made-up story that gets re-posted and shared every couple years. The buzz started again in January of 202
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Malcolm Gladwell Say Penn State Should Restore a Statue of Joe Paterno?
Author Malcolm Gladwell’s latest defense of deceased Penn State University football coach Joe Paterno drew attention on January 29 2020. During a speech at the campus in State College, Pennsylvania, Gladwell once again said that a statue of Pate
FactCheck.org→ Q&A on the Wuhan Coronavirus
An outbreak of viral pneumonia that began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019 has now sickened thousands, and led to more than 100 deaths. Although much is still unknown, scientists have made rapid progress in understanding the cu
FactCheck.org→ Buttigieg Gives Trump Too Much Blame for Debt
Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg blamed tax cuts backed by President Donald Trump for creating the nation’s debt problem. But while the Congressional Budget Office says those tax cuts are worsening the nation’s debt, spirali
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: W.H.O. Chief Scientist NOT Caught Lying To The Public
Was the W.H.O. chief scientist caught lying to the public about the robustness of the organization's vaccine safety systems? No, that's a misleading claim being shared via anti-vaccine groups. The groups, however, do raise pertinent questions
Truth or Fiction?→ How Old Do You Have to Be to Be Vice President?
A prominent element of the 2020 United States presidential race involved prominent surrogates for candidates, whose presence on campaign trails prompted questions about the minimum age requirement for an individual to become a candidate’s runnin
Snopes→ Saints Helped Shape Accused Clergy List, Victim Lawyers Say
Attorneys suing the church allege hundreds of confidential Saints emails show the team actively helping to shape a list of credibly accused clergy that appears to be an undercount.
Truth or Fiction?→ If You Earn Nearly a Quarter Million Dollars a Year, Would it Take 4,167 Years to Earn One Billion Dollars?
Ahead of the 2020 Democratic primary (and attendant discussions around billionaires and/or taxation), memes about the math of billionaires circulated; among them was one claiming that if a person earned the reasonably strong salary of $240,000 a year
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Sen. Elizabeth Warren Propose Making ‘Spreading Disinformation Online’ Illegal?
On January 29 2020, news network CNBC received some criticism for its portrayal of a policy proposal set forth by Democratic Party Sen. Elizabeth Warren the same day. The network said in a tweet that Warren, who is currently running for the party̵
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Actor Sean Penn Did NOT Suggest He Wants To Assassinate President Trump
Did Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn suggest that he wanted to assassinate President Trump? No, that's not true: Penn wrote and narrated a fictional book, published in March of 2018, about a troubled Southern Californian who wants to kill a chara
Snopes→ Accusers: Weinstein Excused Lewd Acts as Film Industry Norm
Their allegations are not part of the underlying criminal charges, because of the statute of limitations and other legal reasons, but they could be a big factor in whether he goes to prison at the end of the landmark #MeToo-era trial.
PolitiFact→ The Stump Speech Analyzer: Donald Trump
Editor’s note: PolitiFact is analyzing the presidential candidates’ stump speeches. Following our summary of the speech’s main themes, we present fact-checks of specific talking points. Read other stump speech analyzers for Joe Biden,
FactCheck.org→ Giuliani Was Not a ‘Minor Player’ in Ukraine
One of President Donald Trump’s defense lawyers described Rudy Giuliani as “just a minor player” in Ukraine matters that resulted in the president being impeached. But the evidence suggests otherwise. White House defense lawyer Jane R
Lead Stories→ Fake News: 13-Year-Old Girl NOT Kidnapped At Woodland Hills Mall In Oklahoma As Part Of Child Sex Trafficking Ring
Did a mother save her 13-year-old daughter from being kidnapped by sex traffickers after she was drugged in a Woodland Hills Mall bathroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma? No, that's not true: the Tulsa Police Department confirmed there was no such inciden
Truth or Fiction?→ Lysol + Coronavirus = Conspiracy
As fears of a coronavirus outbreak spread virally on social media in late January 2020, so too did posts about the packaging of Lysol and what some people saw as a suspicious mention of a viral strain that was new to them: LYSOL WAS INVENTED IN 1
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Students In Ghana Have NOT Successfully Created Vaccine For Coronavirus; Côte d’Ivoire Patient NOT Cured
Did students in Ghana successfully create a vaccine that cured a patient who had the deadly coronavirus? No, that's not true: The story is a hoax, and the site making the claim is related to a global network of fake news sites that has since b
Truth or Fiction?→ Did the Washington Post Tweet ‘Anti-Semites See Socialism as a Jewish Plot, What Will They Say About Bernie Sanders?’
On January 28 2020, a screenshot of an apparent Washington Post headline musing what anti-Semites who believed that anti-Semitism itself is a “Jewish plot” might think of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign circulated on Facebook in scree
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Ravi Shankar, Indian Sitar Maestro, Died IN 2012
Did Indian sitar maestro Ravi Shankar recently die? No, that's not true: Shankar died in December of 2012, in a San Diego hospital - not in January of 2020 as many Facebook posts would lead you to believe. A BBC obituary reporting Shankar's pa
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Scripps Urgent Care NOT On Lockdown; Two People In Clinics Do NOT Have Coronavirus
Was a Scripps Urgent Care in Southern California put under lockdown because it was treating two patients with the coronavirus? No, that's not true: Scripps Health has taken to social media to deny these claims, which have been made repeatedly
Truth or Fiction?→ Did JK Rowling Respond to ‘No One Should Live in a Closet’ Tattoo with ‘Yes They Should’?
On January 25 2020, Twitter user @iknownaama tweeted the following image, a purported screenshot of JK Rowling reacting to a pro-LGBT tattoo (“no one should live in a closet”) by saying “yes they should”: so did the simulatio
FactCheck.org→ Security Assistance and the July 25 Phone Call
Democrats and the White House legal team have made competing arguments about whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned U.S. security aid to his country in his July 25 phone call with President Donald Trump. The fact is, it’s unclea
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Coronavirus Case NOT Confirmed in Des Moines
Was a case of the "CoronaVirus" confirmed in Des Moines, Iowa? No, that's not true: the "news" was published on a prank website where anybody can upload any headline, image and description to create a prank link to share online. There is no ac
FactCheck.org→ Coronavirus Wasn’t Sent by ‘Spy’ From Canada
Quick Take Social media posts falsely claim that a “Chinese spy team” working in a Canadian government lab sent “pathogens to the Wuhan facility” prior to the coronavirus outbreak in China. Two Canadian agencies have told us tho
Snopes→ Trump Middle East Peace Plan Calls for Palestinian State, Settlement Freeze
Officials say the plan more than doubles the territory currently under Palestinian control, although it also recognizes Israeli sovereignty over major settlement blocs in the West Bank.
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s False Tweet on Bolton
President Donald Trump falsely claimed in a tweet that the House Democrats “never even asked John Bolton to testify” in their impeachment inquiry. The Democrats asked, but Bolton refused to voluntarily appear. Trump tweeted about Bolton, hi