REVIEW Scientists and news outlets sounded the alarm on the rising number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the U.S in the beginning of November 2020 (see here, here, and here). A 12 November 2020 tweet by NBC News journalist Ali Ve
Search Results (6062) for: viral
FactCheck.org→ Pennsylvania Postal Worker Waffles on Election Fraud Claim
Quick Take A postal worker in Erie, Pennsylvania, claimed that his superiors were backdating postmarks on ballots, then told federal investigators that he didn’t actually know that — and then went back to his original position. Despite the
FactCheck.org→ Faulty Claim About ‘Biden-Only’ Ballots in Georgia
Quick Take Campaign officials for President Donald Trump and supporters have promoted the faulty claim that Joe Biden received nearly 100,000 votes in Georgia through ballots that only included selections for president, suggesting it’s “
The Dispatch→ Is That ‘Definitely Trump’ Posing as an Anonymous Poll Worker in a Laura Ingraham Interview?
A viral social media post showing Fox News host Laura Ingraham interviewing someone who is said to be an anonymous Nevada poll worker is overlaid with text that reads: “this is definitely Trump.”The video, which has been altered and meant t
Truth or Fiction?→ Joe Biden ‘Letter to Staff’ on Family Obligations
On November 7 2020, former Vice President Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election; and on that day, Twitter user Dan Barker (@danbarker) shared a purported memo to Biden’s staff from 2014 concerning their “famil
The Dispatch→ Fact Check: More False Claims About Dominion Voting Systems
A viral Facebook post shows two maps: one purporting to show states in which Dominion Voting Systems’ vote-tabulating software is in use and the other showing states in which President Donald Trump is contesting the results through lawsuits. The
The Dispatch→ Fact Check: Debunking the Hammer and Scorecard Conspiracy Theory
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Full Fact→ How accurate are the new rapid lateral flow tests?
We’ve been asked by readers about the accuracy of new Covid-19 “lateral-flow” tests being trialled in the UK. To date, tests to determine whether someone currently has the virus which causes Covid-19 have been PCR tests. These w
Health Feedback→ Claim that high PCR test sensitivity inflates COVID-19 cases wrongly conflates the issue of contagiousness with the presence of infection
REVIEW An article published by Just the News on 8 November 2020 claims that “many patients may have been receiving false-positive test results” and that “the numbers of COVID-19 cases reported by public health authorities and major COVID track
Health Feedback→ Wearing face masks helps reduce the spread of COVID-19, but it only confers partial protection and should be combined with additional public health measures
REVIEW An article published by The Federalist on 29 October 2020 claims that face masks are ineffective at reducing the spread of COVID-19. In support of its claim, the article cites several scientific studies and shows 12 graphs comparing COVID-19
The Dispatch→ Is Dick Cheney Advising President-Elect Biden?
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Lead Stories→ Fact Check: 10,000 Dead People Did NOT Vote In The Presidential Election In Michigan, Officials Say
Did 10,000 dead people vote in Michigan in the November 3, 2020, presidential election? No, that's not true: Election officials in Michigan call it a baseless claim and say it is impossible for dead people to vote in their state. The clai
Truth or Fiction?→ Questions Over ex-GOP Official’s Tweet Leads to Patti LaBelle’s ‘Anti-Feminist’ Relative
A former Republican official’s allegedly misplaced Twitter message on November 10 2020 led to allegations of online chicanery that culminated in the public outing of an “anti-feminist TV critic” purportedly related to legendary singe
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Stop What You’re Doing and Google Why Chainsaws Were Invented’
On November 9 2020, a Facebook post encouraging fellow users to “Google why chainsaws were invented” (archived) went quite viral very quickly; it alluded to the possibility that one might have difficulty guessing the original intended purp
FactCheck.org→ Misleading Claim of Dead Registered Voters in Pennsylvania
Quick Take A misleading claim that more than 21,000 registered voters in Pennsylvania are dead is circulating online. The figure comes from a conservative group that failed to convince a federal judge in October that its list was accurate. Full Story
FactCheck.org→ Falsehood Tells of Withdrawn Pennsylvania Projection
Quick Take Viral social media posts claim that the website RealClearPolitics rescinded a projection that Joe Biden had won Pennsylvania. But the website never called the state in the first place; many other media outlets have made that call. Full Stor
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Johnny Depp Did NOT Say Warner Bros. Would Bring Him ‘Back In’ After Studio Forced Him Out Of ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Movie
Did Johnny Depp say Warner Bros. would bring him "back in" if the fans asked for it after the studio forced him out of the "Fantastic Beasts" movie? No, that's not true. A viral meme shows a Tweet from Depp stating that the movie studio c
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Worker Tearing Up Ballot For Donald Trump
Does a video show a worker tearing up a ballot for President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: It was a prank. There's no evidence the man, who says in the video "we get your votes and we separate them," was a poll worker. Since it went
Truth or Fiction?→ Has RealClearPolitics ‘Rescinded’ Pennsylvania and ‘Uncalled’ the Race?
After the 2020 election was “called” with former United States Vice President Joe Biden as victor, a rumor circulated that a website called RealClearPolitics had “rescinded” Pennsylvania, effectively undoing Biden’s win:
The Dispatch→ Did CNN Downplay the COVID Risk of Pro-Biden Celebrations?
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Full Fact→ Group swab Covid-19 tests do not return positives to people without the virus
“Well in 30yrs of being a nurse, never seen anything quite like this. Pooling of tests. 5 different people's swabs sent off in one vial. So one positive will contaminate the other 4, giving 5 positives. What the hell is going on? Total madness #
The Dispatch→ Fact Check: Explaining the False Allegations About Dominion Voting Systems
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Health Feedback→ A rise in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths starting in September 2020 contradicts the claim by Michael Yeadon that “the pandemic is fundamentally over in the U.K.”
REVIEW This video by talkRADIO, a national talk radio station in the U.K., was uploaded to YouTube on 5 November 2020 and went viral on Facebook, receiving more than 93,000 views. The video features a conversation between talk show host Julia Hartle
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: This Heroic Firefighter Is NOT ‘Sebastian Gates’ And He Did NOT Die After Saving This Child
Did "firefighter Sebastian Gates" die of carbon monoxide poisoning after rescuing a young girl from a fire? No, that's not true: This meme has been circulating since 2013 and contains a mixture of several different stories. The story is s
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Mitt Romney Asked To Lead Health And Human Services In Biden Administration: Report’
On November 9 2020, Daily Wire appeared to publish (and then delete) an article headlined, “Mitt Romney Asked To Lead Health And Human Services In Biden Administration: Report”: Mitt Romney Asked To Lead Health And Human Services In Bide
FactCheck.org→ Image of Newspaper Doctored to Show ‘President Gore’ Headline
Quick Take President Donald Trump’s campaign pushed an altered image of a Washington Times front page to cast doubt on the 2020 election calls made by news outlets. The newspaper never ran the purported front page, declaring Al Gore the winner of
Truth or Fiction?→ Does Benford’s Law Prove Election Fraud in Biden Votes?
After the 2020 election was called for former Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden, “Benford’s Law” — a mathematical principle applied occasionally to the count of votes in any given election — became a hot topic on soci
FactCheck.org→ Claim of Michigan Postal Fraud Is Moot
Quick Take A video from a right-wing activist suggests that U.S. Postal Service employees backdated ballots in Michigan. The claim is unproven, but, even if true, no ballots in the state are accepted after Nov. 3, regardless of the postmark. Full Stor
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Bogus Claim of ‘Election Interference’ and More
In addition to baseless allegations of “illegal votes” in swing states, President Donald Trump used his relatively brief remarks — just 16 minutes long — during a Nov. 5 public appearance at the White House press room to make fa
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Michigan Did NOT Add 138,000 Biden Votes With None For Trump; Wisconsin Did NOT Have A 4 AM Ballot Dump
Did Michigan add 138,000 votes and none of them were for Trump and was there a 4 a.m. ballot dump in Wisconsin? No, that's not true. Lead Stories and other news outlets have debunked similar claims by showing records of a Michigan clerica
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: US Postal Service Did NOT Fail To Deliver 27 Percent Of Mail-In Ballots From Urban Florida Districts
Did the USPS fail to deliver 27% of mail-in ballots from Florida's urban areas? No, that's not true: The 27% figure originates from a misinterpretation of USPS data that cropped up the day after Election Day. U.S. Postal Service officials
The Dispatch→ Did Michigan’s Election Website Show Donald Trump Winning the State?
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FactCheck.org→ Biden Did, Indeed, Get More Votes Than Obama
Quick Take The votes are still being counted and the results are unofficial, but former Vice President Joe Biden already has surpassed former President Barack Obama’s record of 69.4 million votes in 2008. But conservative personalities on social
Health Feedback→ There is no evidence supporting the claim that preexisting T cell immunity reduces COVID-19 mortality and infection rate; such cross-reactive T cells predate the pandemic
REVIEW Claims questioning the mortality or death toll from COVID-19 have recurrently appeared since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020. A video published in October 2020 by chiropractor Eric Berg, who is not a medical doctor and has no backgrou
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: A 118-Year-Old Michigan Man Did NOT Vote by Absentee Ballot
Did the Detroit clerk of courts count an absentee ballot from a 118-year-old voter ? No, that's not true: A Detroit elections official said a clerical error led to a ballot from a man with a similar name being incorrectly logged. The clai
FactCheck.org→ Trump Tweets Flagged by Twitter for Misinformation
In the two days after Election Day, Twitter has added warning labels to nine of President Donald Trump’s election-related tweets, cautioning the messages “might be misleading.” They are misleading, and in some cases, false. They conti
FactCheck.org→ Pennsylvania TV Newscast Graphic Wasn’t Evidence of Voter Fraud
Quick Take An inaccurate graphic on a local TV station briefly showed one Pennsylvania county with more mail-in votes than the number of ballots it had received. The graphic was quickly corrected, but Facebook users are now sharing screenshots of it t
FactCheck.org→ Bogus QAnon Claim that Mail-In Ballots Are Illegitimate
Quick Take A bogus QAnon-related claim that many of the mail-in ballots for the Nov. 3 election were illegitimate has spread widely on social media. But the claim is based on the faulty assumption that ballots are produced by the federal government. F
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Purported Stalin Quote About Counting Votes Was NOT About General Elections
Did former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin say that in a general election it does not matter who votes, but what matters is who is counting the votes? No, that's not true: While there are some indications Stalin may have made the quote abou
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Special Paper,’ ‘Watermarked Ballots’ Conspiracy Theory Spreads on Social Media
As Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden began pulling ahead in the 2020 election, Twitter user @jdburney1 generated engagement and accrued followers by advancing a “watermarked ballots” conspiracy theory (which we archived h