Summary The false and exaggerated claims in the third Democratic debate included: Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro accused former Vice President Joe Biden of “forgetting what you said two minutes ago” on Biden’s hea
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Truth or Fiction?→ Palindrome Week, September 2019
On September 9 2019 and subsequently, a “palindrome week” meme circulated on Twitter: Above 10 dates ranging from September 10 to 19 2019, text read: PALINDROME WEEK Each date reads the same backwards and forwards for the next 10 days.
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Students Did NOT Invent Bacteria That Eat Plastic From The Oceans And Turn It Into Water
Did two high school students invent a bacteria that eats plastic from the ocean and turns it into water? No, that's not true: When Miranda Wang and Jeanny Yao were teen-aged high school students in 2012 they did identify a bacteria that breaks
Truth or Fiction?→ Are School Bus Stops Now More Dangerous Because of an All-Time High in Human Trafficking?
A back-to-school themed Facebook warning shared on September 5 2019 (archived here) declared that all school-age children must avoid all school bus stops because of an increased threat of human trafficking: Against a pastel background, black text d
FactCheck.org→ Amazon Doesn’t Produce 20% of Earth’s Oxygen
Q: Does the Amazon produce 20% of the world’s oxygen? A: No. Scientists estimate the percentage is closer to 6 to 9%, and the Amazon ultimately consumes nearly all of that oxygen itself. FULL QUESTION Does the Amazon Rainforest truly produce 20%
Climate Feedback→ Washington Examiner op-ed cherry-picks data to mislead readers about climate models
SCIENTISTS’ FEEDBACK SUMMARY This op-ed article published by The Washington Examiner (and republished by Zero Hedge) claims to provide evidence that climate models are not valid scientific tools able to inform decisions about climate change by
FactCheck.org→ Falsehoods About Family Separations Linger Online
Quick Take A viral social media post falsely claims that former President Barack Obama “separated” many more children at the border than President Donald Trump. Full Story The Trump administration announced a new rule on Aug. 21 that
Snopes→ Migrant Kids Separated at Border Faced Abuse in Foster Homes
Dozens of families — separated at the border as part of the Trump administration’s zero tolerance policy — are preparing to sue the federal government, including several who say their young children were sexually, physically or emotionally abused
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Last Year Guns Killed’ Protest Sign
A November 2018 Facebook post about purported gun deaths “last year” (in this case, 2017) circulated in the aftermath of two back-to-back deadly mass shootings in early August 2019 (post archived here): A sign held up at an unnamed eve
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Kamala Harris Did NOT Say ‘After We Impeach, We Round Up The Trump Supporters’
Did Kamala Harris threaten to round up Trump supporters and did she hint she would put them in prison camps after President Trump was impeached? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to fool Trump
FactCheck.org→ Video: FactChecking Round Two of July Debate
This video covers some of the claims the candidates made on July 31 during round two of the second Democratic debate in Detroit. Former Vice President Joe Biden claimed that Sen. Kamala Harris’ health insurance plan would raise “middle-class taxe
FactCheck.org→ FactChecking July’s Round Two Debate
Summary Another debate, and another crop of false and misleading claims. Sen. Kamala Harris of California and former Vice President Joe Biden disagreed on whether his health care plan would “cover everyone.” Biden’s website says it w
FactCheck.org→ FactChecking the Second Democratic Debate
Summary We flagged false and misleading claims from several candidates: Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke got it wrong in claiming “no other country comes even close to” the number of gun-violence deaths in the United States. Brazil ha
Truth or Fiction?→ Steve Jobs’ Last Words?
On July 30 2019, Facebook user Joseph Rudy Rullo shared what were purportedly Apple pioneer Steve Jobs’ last words (archived here), uttered on his deathbed: The post eventually segued into other musings, but it began with Jobs’ suppose
FactCheck.org→ Pinning Down Prescription Drug Prices
One aim the president and Democratic 2020 challengers share is the desire to bring down the price of prescription drugs. But is that already happening, or are prices still climbing? The two parties disagree, and it depends on how they’re measurin
FactCheck.org→ FactChecking the Mueller Hearings
While former special counsel Robert S. Mueller reiterated in congressional testimony what he said in his voluminous report on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, politicians reiterated some claims about the in
Snopes→ Iran Says It Arrested 17 Iranians Allegedly Recruited by CIA
Iran said some of them have been sentenced to death. President Donald Trump said there was "zero truth" to the claims.
Lead Stories→ Fake News: NO Bombshell Claim: Scientists Do NOT Find ‘Man-made Climate Change Doesn’t Exist In Practice’
Did a peer-reviewed and published scientific study in Finland conclude that "man-made climate change doesn't exist in practice"? No, that's not true: A draft of a short research paper that has not been reviewed by scientific peers or published
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Numbers July 2019 Update
Summary Since President Donald Trump took office: The jobless rate fell further, to the lowest in nearly 50 years. The number of job openings grew to the highest in at least 18 years. Economic growth picked up, but remained far short of what Trump pro
FactCheck.org→ Trump Twists Facts in Environmental Speech
In a July 8 speech dedicated to the environment, President Donald Trump made a series of misleading or false statements as he played up the U.S.’s environmental achievements, many of which predate his time as commander-in-chief. The president false
FactCheck.org→ FactChecking Round Two of the Democratic Debate
Summary The second group of 10 Democratic presidential candidates made false and misleading claims about immigration, gun control legislation and the environment, and repeated familiar talking points on taxes, health care and poverty. Former Vice Pres
FactCheck.org→ Facts on Warren’s Wealth Tax Plan
In her campaign speeches, Sen. Elizabeth Warren likes to say, “I’ve got a plan for that.” She has lots of plans, but there is one on which many of the others hinge: her plan for an “Ultra-Millionaire Tax,” an annual wealth
Truth or Fiction?→ Does an Photograph Show Rosaries Confiscated from Border Detainees?
In June 2018, a Facebook user shared a post (archived here) featuring a screenshot of a tweet about rosary beads purportedly confiscated from migrants taken into custody by border agents. That post was shared more than 89,000 times in a year. The twe
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s New Twist on False Voter Fraud Claim
President Donald Trump falsely suggested that California admitted that “a million votes” were cast as part of “much illegal voting” in that state during the 2016 presidential election. The president made those remarks — an
Truth or Fiction?→ Did U.S. President Barack Obama Have a Separation Policy at the Border?
In late June 2019, United States President Donald Trump repeatedly claimed that his administration did not have a family separation policy at the border — going further to attribute the controversial actions to his predecessor, Barack Obama. Trump
PolitiFact→ Donald Trump – Donald Trump, again, falsely says Obama had family separation policy
The Truth-o-Meter says: False | Donald Trump, again, falsely says Obama had family separation policy President Donald Trump, in an interview with the Spanish-language TV network Telemundo, adamantly claimed that the separation of immigrant families
Truth or Fiction?→ Does an X-Ray Show Hundreds of Undigested Boba Pearls in a Young Chinese Patient?
In June 2019, a number of websites and news outlets reported that a young girl in China was treated for symptoms related to the discovery of “hundreds” of undigested boba pearls in her digestive tract via x-ray. Notably, headlines for the
Lead Stories→ That Fake ‘Drunk Pelosi’ Video Was A Dud: How Lead Stories And Facebook Defused A Viral Bomb
A viral video that was digitally altered to make it appear that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was slurring her words and drunk has raised questions about what social platforms can do to limit fake content's spread. Since Lead Stories was the
Truth or Fiction?→ Was a Milkshake Thrown at an Elderly Brexit Party Volunteer?
During a May 23 2019 vote in the UK, early-morning rumors circulated that the latest in a line of milkshake-throwing incidents involved elderly British Army veteran Don McNaughton in the south England town of Aldershot: Yet more disgusting behavio
FactCheck.org→ FactChecking Trump’s Fox News Interview
President Donald Trump, in a lengthy interview on Fox News, made several statements that were false, misleading or not supported by the evidence: Trump claimed Joe Biden, as vice president, pressured Ukraine to fire a prosecutor who “was after h
Lead Stories→ Fake News: James Comey Did NOT Vote Communist While Cold War Was Raging
Did former FBI Director James Comey vote communist during the cold war? No, that's not true: Comey told an interviewer in 2003 that he voted for Democrat Jimmy Carter for president in 1980 -- the first election he was old enough to cast a ball
Climate Feedback→ Commentary in The Australian by Ian Plimer relies on false claims to make its case
SCIENTISTS’ FEEDBACK SUMMARY This commentary by Ian Plimer, published by The Australian, criticizes a political leader’s stance on climate change, but makes a number of verifiably false claims about climate science and energy systems as
FactCheck.org→ ‘Ban’ on Hot Dogs in NYC? Not Quite.
Quick Take Headlines shared widely on social media misleadingly tell readers New York City will “ban” hot dogs. A city spokesman told us a plan to phase out government purchases of processed meats and reduce purchases of beef “would not impact ho
PolitiFact→ Elizabeth Warren: Does her wealth tax pay for her child care and higher education plans?
Elizabeth Warren is unmatched among the Democratic presidential candidates for the depth and breadth of her policy proposals. She has tackled building affordable housing, boosting family farms, breaking up Big Tech, and the list goes on. Many of
FactCheck.org→ The Facts on Medicare for All
Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced the latest version of his Medicare for All legislation on April 10, with 13 Democratic co-sponsors. Four of them, plus Sanders himself, are running for the Democratic presidential nomination. Sander says the bill, S. 1129
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Photo Showing Two Men "Smiling" In Front Of Burning Notre Dame Is NOT Doctored (But We Still Don’t Know If They Are "Laughing Muslims")
By Alan Duke and Maarten Schenk - Did the Russian news agency Sputnik digitally insert two smiling men into a photograph taken near the burning Notre Dame cathedral and then publish it as part of their breaking news coverage of the fire? No, t
FactCheck.org→ Notre Dame Fire Fuels Anti-Muslim Conspiracy Theory
Quick Take A website cites an erroneous tweet, innuendo and unrelated events to falsely suggest there were “Muslim ties” to the Notre Dame fire. Full Story The devastating fire that ravaged the famed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on April
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Democrats DID NOT Say Americans Must Pay Reparations to Illegal Aliens
Did Democrats say that American taxpayers must pay reparations to illegal aliens? No, that's not true: The claim is a distortion of a statement made by a member of congress in reference to children separated from parents after arriving at the
FactCheck.org→ Video: False Illegal Immigration Claims
This fact-checking video by CNN’s Jake Tapper explains two false claims President Donald Trump made about illegal immigration. When asked about his administration’s zero-tolerance border policy that resulted in thousands of migrant childr
FactCheck.org→ More Family Separation Spin
Last year, the Trump administration announced a “zero tolerance” border policy that resulted in children being separated from their parents who were detained for entering the U.S. illegally. Yet President Donald Trump recently claimed that “P