Could U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi face up to three years in prison for tearing up a copy of President Donald Trump's State of the Union address? No, that's not true: The law in question applies only to documents that are considered officia
Search Results (2845) for: fall
Truth or Fiction?→ What is a ‘Recanvass’?
Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez’s demand on February 6 2020 not only prolonged ongoing controversy surrounding the Iowa Democratic Party Caucuses — it also ignited interest in the process of a recanvass. “Enough is enou
FactCheck.org→ FactChecking the State of the Union
Summary In his 2020 address to Congress, President Donald Trump stretched and distorted the facts: Trump claimed the economy is “the best it has ever been.” But GDP growth fell to 2.3% last year and economists predict further slowing this year. He
Truth or Fiction?→ Who Broke the Iowa Caucuses and Why Were Results Delayed?
One day after the February 3 2020 Iowa caucuses — the first primary voting of all fifty American states — the hashtag #IowaCaucusDisaster remained at the top of Twitter’s “trending” charts after a confusing night with no
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Pope Francis Did NOT Declare Lucifer As God
Did Pope Francis declare Lucifer as God? No, that's not true: The video being shared to make the claim relied on a poor translation of Latin and has been taken entirely out of context. "Lucifer" in Latin means "morning star," "Venus," or "ligh
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Farmers in Haiti Reject Donated Monsanto Seeds After the 2010 Earthquake?
On February 1 2020, the Facebook page “Inhumans of Late Capitalism” shared the following screenshot of a Tumblr post, which contained a description of how farmers in Haiti refused to accept seed donations from Monsanto after a devastatin
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→ 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
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Actress Sandra Bullock Did NOT Say, "Donald Trump Is Doing Everything To Improve Our Nation"
Did actress Sandra Bullock say that "Donald Trump is doing everything to improve our nation" and urge his critics, including former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, to leave the country? No, that's not true: Bullock never mad
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?→ ‘My Team and I Are Doing a $100 Cash Giveaway’ Facebook Multi-Level Marketing Meme
In January 2020, a number of Facebook posts promoting a “$100 cash giveaway” appeared on Facebook, almost all with nearly identical wording. The $100 cash giveaway posts seemed to have one thing in common — those promising $100 to pa
Truth or Fiction?→ Can You Adjust Facebook to Block Fact-Checkers?
A January 2020 Facebook post sought to convince one social media user’s friends not only that fact-checkers were employed by Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg to target conservative content in posts, but that those same fact-check
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→ 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
Truth or Fiction?→ ’30 Marines, 1 Sailor Die in Helicopter Crash on Same Day as Kobe Bryant’ Meme
Following the January 26 2020 death of athlete Kobe Bryant, posts circulated on Facebook alongside the headline “30 Marines, 1 Sailor Die in Helicopter Crash”: Sharers definitively connected the purported news to Bryant’s death,
Snopes→ NFL’s Saints Fight to Shield Emails in Catholic Abuse Crisis
The New Orleans Saints are going to court to keep the public from seeing hundreds of emails that allegedly show team executives doing public relations damage control for the area's Roman Catholic archdiocese to help it contain the fallout from a burgeo
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘We Have Noticed the Condition of Your Vehicle’ Viral Human Resources Letter
On January 21 2020, the Facebook page “Inhumans of late capitalism” posted the following screenshot of a purported letter from a human resources department at an unidentified company that appeared to be haranguing an employee for the condi
FactCheck.org→ False and Misleading Claims at Impeachment Trial
White House lawyers distorted the facts on the impeachment process and other issues during the Jan. 21 Senate trial: White House counsel Pat Cipollone falsely suggested Republicans were barred from the closed-door depositions conducted by the House in
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘How Canadians Are Dealing with an Unprecedented Blizzard’ Post
A January 20 2020 post on the Facebook page “Quick Turtle” (called “How Canadians Are Dealing With An Unprecedented Blizzard”) was shared almost 60,000 times in two days: In addition to the status update and title, nineteen
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Fox News Did NOT Terminate Judge Jeanine Pirro’s Contract
Did Fox News terminate Judge Jeanine Pirro's contract for her show, "Justice with Judge Jeanine?" No, that's not true: Pirro still hosts her show and is a legal analyst for Fox News Channel. This is a work of satire pushed by a liberal troll o
Truth or Fiction?→ Deadline to Change Party Affiliation in New York State is February 14 2020 (Not October 2019)
In January 2020, a number of Twitter users claimed that New York residents had until February 14 2020 to either change their party affiliation or register to vote, information at odds with a widely repeated claim that the deadline to do so had passed
Lead Stories→ Fake News: AOC’s Grandfather Was NOT An Illegal Immigrant From Val Verde
Is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez' grandfather an illegal immigrant from Val Verde? No, that's not true: This satirical story is based on a fictional South American country that is featured several times in the work of Hollywood writer Steven de Sou
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Numbers January 2020 Update
Summary Now that Donald Trump has been president for three years, what has changed? Here are some things that can be measured: The economy added 6.7 million jobs, and unemployment fell to the lowest rate in half a century. The economy grew more slowly
FactCheck.org→ Setting the Record Straight on Climate Change and Arson in Australia’s Bushfires
Quick Take Various claims online suggest that climate change hasn’t contributed to the bushfires ravaging the East Coast of Australia, pinning the blame instead on arson. Those claims distort the facts. Full Story Several recent reports have fou
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Downy in Toilet’ Housekeeping Hack
On January 14 2020, a Facebook post appeared advising readers to pour a cup of laundry detergent of fabric softener like Downy into their toilet tank, a supposed housecleaning “hack”: Alongside a photograph of a person in yellow glove
Lead Stories→ Fake News: AOC Does NOT Suggest the Earth May Be Flat
Did freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggest the Earth may be flat? No, that's not true: The New York representative did not make such a statement. It is a claim from an article published by a well-known satirical site that trol
FactCheck.org→ Trump Yanks Steyer Quote Out of Context
President Donald Trump used a truncated quote from Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer to falsely suggest that Steyer thinks “Democrats are going to destroy the economy in 15 minutes if they get in control.” That was Steyer paraphr
Lead Stories→ Fake News: UCLA Student Did NOT Donate College Fund to Bernie Sanders’ Campaign
Did a UCLA student donate their entire college fund to Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign? No, that's not true: the story is a piece of satirie from a spoof site, and no such student by the name of Bryan Holmes made that kind of contri
Truth or Fiction?→ 2016 ‘Bern the Witch’ Sanders Campaign Event
On January 14 2020, Twitter user @TrinityMustache claimed that the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign hosted a “Bern the Witch” event attacking then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton: Bernie Sanders had a “Bern the Witch”
FactCheck.org→ Bloomberg, Trump Spar on Preexisting Conditions
Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg charged in a TV ad that President Donald Trump had “broken” a “promise” to protect those with preexisting health conditions. Trump fired back on Twitter, “I was the person w
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Omar Did NOT Defend Iran, Did NOT Pledge To Help Them Stop Trump
Did Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar side with Iran and pledge she would help the country stop President Trump? No, that's not true: a video took a tweet by Omar out of context. Omar, from Minnesota, did question whether the killing of top
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Blue Buffalo Dental Bones Hemorrhagic Gastritis’ Facebook Warning
On January 5 2020, Facebook user Nikki McDonald shared the following post about the brand Blue Buffalo’s Dental Bones product, reporting that her dog Dallas was gravely injured and nearly killed after she gave him the product: In under a week
FactCheck.org→ Trump Takes Undue Credit for Cancer Progress
In a tweet, President Donald Trump boasted of the lowest cancer death rate on record, and implied that his administration was responsible for the achievement. While he’s right about the statistic, the improved death rate is the result of decades-long
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Hundreds Of Birds That Fell Out Of The Sky Were NOT Near A 5G Installation
Were hundreds of birds that fell out of the sky found dead near a 5G installation? No, that's not true: Even though hundreds of starlings were found dead in Bodedern, a village in Wales, on December 10, 2019, Vodafone has confirmed that there
FactCheck.org→ FactChecking Trump’s Iran Address
In an address to the nation a day after an Iranian attack on military bases housing U.S. soldiers in Iraq, President Donald Trump made some dubious, misleading and inaccurate claims: Trump distorted the facts when he claimed the Iran nuclear deal that
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Missing’ Hiker Emoji Mandela Effect
Among memories considered part of the “Mandela effect” — a term for a shared false memory that stems from a collective, completely false understanding that Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980s — is a mass recollection of a sinc
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Barr Did NOT File Charges, Did NOT Indict Obama
Did U.S. Attorney General William Barr file charges and indict Obama? No, that's not true: This false story is designed to make a mockery of people who share outrageous headlines without having read the article. The claim originated from an ar
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Nancy Pelosi Did NOT Say ‘We Have Been Working On Impeachment For The Past 2 1/2 Years’
Did Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi say that she and Democrats had been working on President Trump's impeachment for the past two-and-a-half years? No, that's not true: the claim has been taken out of context from a real quote about other in
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘I Did Not Take This Photo and I Don’t Know Who Did’ Australian Community Firefighters Image
In the midst of late December 2019 and early January 2020 fires raging across the Australian continent, the following screenshot showing exhausted, soot-blackened firefighters circulated on Facebook: The photograph, which was apparently captured fr
Snopes→ Don Larsen, Who Threw Only Perfect World Series Game, Dies at 90
Larsen was the unlikeliest of characters to attain what so many Hall of Famers couldn’t pull off in the fall classic.