On March 29 2019 a Facebook page shared the following meme (archived here), asserting that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez failed to vote for her own bill (the “Green New Deal“): Across a photograph of Ocasio-Cortez (with a pejorative ter
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Truth or Fiction?→ Frida Kahlo: ‘Leaving is Not Enough’
A popular and lengthy social media quote attributed to Frida Kahlo (containing the lines “leaving is not enough” and “take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are magic”) was shared once again in early April 2019 on Faceboo
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Great Lakes Whoppers
Falsely declaring that he has “always” been a supporter of the Great Lakes, President Donald Trump announced that he would fully fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative with $300 million, telling a Michigan crowd he would finally get done somet
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Russia Investigation Repeats
In his first extended interview since the completion of the special counsel probe, President Donald Trump repeated several false and misleading claims regarding the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The FBI investigation be
Truth or Fiction?→ John McCain vs. Donald Trump in 1973 Meme
In March 2019, United States President Donald Trump made several comments about Sen. John McCain, who died of brain cancer the previous August. Trump’s 2019 comments continued a feud that he had had with McCain before his death: President Donald
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Macron Did NOT Deploy Tanks to Tackle Yellow Vests in France
Did French President Macron deploy Army tanks to the streets of France to tackle the yellow vest protests? No, that's not true: he did order the deployment of army troops alongside regular security forces of the Gendarmerie but no tanks were d
FactCheck.org→ How Much Will the ‘Green New Deal’ Cost?
Since the ambitious and controversial Green New Deal debuted last month, Republicans and Democrats have sparred over the cost of the measure — a nonbinding resolution that broadly outlines how the U.S. should address climate change over the next
PolitiFact→ Jay Inslee – Did Washington state build $6 billion in wind farms over a dozen years?
The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly True | Did Washington state build $6 billion in wind farms over a dozen years? Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has made fighting climate change the top priority of his 2020 Democratic presidential bid. In a sit-down with C
FactCheck.org→ FactChecking Clinton’s Voter Suppression Claims
In remarks in Alabama, Hillary Clinton took aim at state laws that she said disenfranchise minority voters. But she went too far in a couple of instances when discussing the impact of Wisconsin and Georgia laws in the 2016 election, when she ran for pr
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Say ‘White Women’ Need to Have Fewer Children and ‘More Abortions’?
In early March 2019, a Facebook user shared the following indifferently-spelled meme (archived here), featuring Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a quote in which she purportedly insisted that “white women” ought to have ̶
Lead Stories→ Christopher Blair Launches New Snopes & DeadState Parody Sites
It appears the feud between Snopes and self-described internet troll Christopher Blair keeps on going: earlier this week he took to Facebook to announce a new parody website that explicitly takes aim at fact checking website Snopes by using a
FactCheck.org→ The Facts on the Born-Alive Debate
Republicans and Democrats traded accusations on the topic of abortion after a “born-alive” bill failed in the Senate. Democrats say the legislation was unnecessary and aimed at restricting access to legal abortion, while Republicans say it was ab
PolitiFact→ Did Michael Cohen want a White House gig?
During Michael Cohen’s testimony before Congress, Democrats zeroed in on his claims that Donald Trump engaged in crime before and even into his presidency. But Republicans seemed less interested in Cohen’s message than the messenger himself
FactCheck.org→ Cohen, Trump at Odds
Michael Cohen gave public testimony under oath that contradicted past statements by President Donald Trump on WikiLeaks, Stormy Daniels and a proposed Moscow real estate deal, as well as Trump’s Vietnam War deferrals and his net worth. Here we la
Climate Feedback→ Western Journal op-ed deceives readers with completely unsupported claims
SCIENTISTS’ FEEDBACK SUMMARY This op-ed published by The Western Journal, written by two members of think tanks opposed to the conclusions of climate science, makes several different types of claims about global temperatures and global tempera
Truth or Fiction?→ Is Family Separation Genocide?
In February 2019, a mid-2018 tweet about family separations and the permanent and widespread transfer of children from their families to other people qualifying as genocide began recirculating. The tweet was initially published in June 2018, and it sai
FactCheck.org→ Spinning Trump’s National Emergency Declaration
Both sides are spinning the facts in response to President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on the Southwest border: As justification for the border wall, White House adviser Stephen Miller cited an increase in border crosser
Truth or Fiction?→ Has Wu-Tang’s GZA Lectured on Quantum Physics at Harvard?
In February 2019, a #BlackHistoryMonth post on Facebook asserted that the Wu-Tang Clan’s GZA (also known as The Genius) is a scientist, has lectured at Harvard, and is educated in quantum physics: Above two photographs of GZA, text stated: Peopl
FactCheck.org→ The Facts on the ‘Green New Deal’
On Feb. 7, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced her Green New Deal in the House and Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts introduced a companion resolution in the Senate. The text of the legislation, which is a nonbinding resolution, lays out
FactCheck.org→ ‘Green New Deal’ Doesn’t Call for ‘End’ to Air Travel
Quick Take A resolution before Congress outlining actions to address climate change prompted the misleading claim that the deal aims to “end” air travel and “build trains over the oceans.” Full Story The rollout of Rep. Alexan
PolitiFact→ Donald Trump – Yes, President Trump, Congress also investigated Barack Obama
The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly False | Yes, President Trump, Congress also investigated Barack Obama President Donald Trump, facing a newly installed Democratic House majority with the power to hold oversight hearings on the executive branch, vente
FactCheck.org→ Sanders’ Tweet on Retirement Savings
Sen. Bernie Sanders tweeted that “more than half of older workers have no retirement savings.” But that figure includes retirees, not just “older workers,” and does not include workers with pension plans. In all, 73 percent of o
Climate Feedback→ Story on congressman’s incorrect claims about sea level rise could have corrected them more explicitly
SCIENTISTS’ FEEDBACK SUMMARY This article in the news section of Science—syndicated from E&E News—covers a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Science, Space, and Technology Committee. During the hearing, some committee memb
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Numbers January 2019 Update
Summary In the time Donald Trump has been in the White House: The economy added 4.6 million jobs, including nearly half a million in manufacturing. Economic growth quickened, but not as much as Trump promised. The number of regulatory restrictions sto
FactCheck.org→ Bogus Claim on Interest Rate Increases
Quick Take The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates nine times since 2015, so a claim circulating on social media that there were no increases during the Obama administration is wrong. Full Story The central bank raised interest rates on Dec. 19,
Lead Stories→ Fake News: MSNBC NOT To Air Obama’s 2004 Convention Speech During Trump’s Address to Nation
Is MSNBC planning to air an old Obama speech during President Trump's immigration speech scheduled for tonight? No, that's not true: the story was just a bit of satire from the Borowitz report mocking the recent controversy over if the major
Climate Feedback→ We are not heading towards a “mini ice age”, contrary to claims in some media
Recently, alarming claims that we are heading towards a “mini ice age” have been popping up across the web. This was the subject of a widely discussed Metro article titled “A mini ice age could be on the way which means it will get very,
PolitiFact→ Explaining Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's 70 percent marginal tax rate idea
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., had barely been sworn in before she attracted widespread attention for floating significantly higher maximum tax rates on CBS’s 60 Minutes. Let’s take a closer look at what she said, and what it could
FactCheck.org→ Mailbag: 2018 Whoppers, Vaccine Additives
This week, readers sent us comments about our story on the whoppers of 2018, and on vaccine safety and additives. In the FactCheck Mailbag, we feature some of the email we receive. Readers can send comments to editor@factcheck.org. Letters may be edite
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Angela Merkel Did NOT Say Nation States Must Give Up Sovereignty To New World Order
Did Angela Merkel say states must give up sovereignty to the "New World Order"? No, that's not true: while Merkel did call on states to surrender some sovereignty she did not mention a "New World Order" and she stressed the importance of parli
FactCheck.org→ Trump Administration Distorts the Facts On Climate Report
Since the National Climate Assessment dropped on Black Friday, members of the Trump administration have inaccurately attacked the report for lacking transparency and factual basis, and for focusing on an “extreme” climate scenario. The EPA has als
Truth or Fiction?→ Is a Meme About Taxes Europeans Pay for Their ‘Free Stuff’ Accurate?
On December 18, 2018, a Facebook user shared this meme about tax and purported socialism in several European countries: In addition to a chart listing purported figures for Germany, England, Italy, and Greece, its text read: JUST WANTED TO SHOW ALL O
FactCheck.org→ Video: Trump’s Whoppers of the Year
In this last installment of the year in our collaboration with CNN’s “State of the Union,” CNN’s Jake Tapper reviews four of the biggest whoppers told by President Donald Trump in 2018. Topping the list is the president’s false claim th
Climate Feedback→ Popular “Friends of Science” video promoted by Youtube presents long list of climate myths
SCIENTISTS’ FEEDBACK SUMMARY This video of a talk by author and speaker Steve Goreham, posted by the YouTube channel “Friends of Science” has been viewed over 250,000 times and has been widely promoted by Youtube recently. In it, G
FactCheck.org→ The Whoppers of 2018
Summary For the fourth year in a row, Donald Trump dominates our list of the whoppers of the year. Before he entered politics as a presidential candidate in 2015, we had never singled out one person as the most egregious teller-of-falsehoods in these y
FactCheck.org→ Is Mexico Paying for the Wall Through USMCA?
President Donald Trump declared via Twitter that he is keeping perhaps his most famous campaign promise, claiming that “MEXICO IS PAYING FOR THE WALL!” through a recent trade agreement negotiated with Mexico. Economic and trade experts we i
Climate Feedback→ False claims of a coming ice age spread through ecosystem of unreliable news sites, blogs, and social media accounts
Solar Minimum expected to cool the upper-atmosphere Recently, a claim that we are heading towards a mini ice age has been popping up across the web. This was the subject of a widely discussed Metro article titled “A mini ice age could be on the way w
FactCheck.org→ Republican Closing Ads: Immigration
In the final days of the 2018 election, Republicans across the country are running TV ads about immigration that falsely accuse some Democrats of wanting “open borders,” plotting to “abolish ICE,” supporting “sanctuary cit
FactCheck.org→ Trump Stump Speeches: Immigration
Editor’s Note: For weeks, President Donald Trump has been campaigning in states that are key to the Republican Party’s chances of maintaining control of the House and Senate. We have reviewed seven speeches he gave from Oct. 10 to Oct. 22.
Washington Post→ A caravan of phony claims from the Trump administration
Zero evidence shows that Middle Easterners or terrorists are traveling with the caravan of Central American migrants.