A Dispatch symposium.
The Dispatch→ ‘I’m Just Seeing Appalachians Do What Appalachians Do’
As Hurricane Helene recovery continues, a region trusts the traits it has always relied on.
The Dispatch→ Sinwar’s Death May Not Hasten War’s End
U.S. officials hope Israel’s military successes can yield political change in Gaza.
PolitiFact→ Fact-checking Kamala Harris’ CNN town hall in Pennsylvania
Vice President Kamala Harris faced tough questions about her policy approach from Pennsylvania voters at a CNN town hall, while also offering her the opportunity to share several introspective moments. See our fact-checks.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Possible Voting Machine Glitch On One Ballot in Tarrant County, Texas, Did NOT Indicate Widespread Vote-Switching — Election Official Says Questioned Ballot Was Not Counted, Voter Was Issued A New Ballot
Did a possible voting machine glitch in Tarrant County, Texas, on one ballot indicate widespread vote-switching? No, that's not true: Tarrant County elections administrator Clint Ludwig said he believes the one person making the claim abo
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence Video Shows Kamala Harris Campaign Canvassers Stealing Mail In Erie, Pennsylvania, ‘Before Replacing It With Their Own’
Does an online video prove door-to-door canvassers for the Kamala Harris campaign stole mail in Erie, Pennsylvania? No, that's not true: There's nothing in the clip to establish the address, nor that the canvassers deprived the homeowner
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NOT Proof Of Cheating If Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania Do Not Have Final Results Election Night
Have key battleground states Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania officially announced that they will not have election results available on election night, pointing to election cheating already in the works? No, that's not true: The rules
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ‘Food For Everyone’ Headline Does NOT Show Trump Leaving Pennsylvania McDonald’s Without Paying After 2024 Campaign Stop
Did a "food for everyone" headline show Donald Trump had left a McDonald's location without paying the bill in 2024, as a post on X suggested? No, that's not true: The headline appeared in a 2023 article published by The Guardian after he
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Canceled Mail Ballot Applications In Pennsylvania Do NOT Prove Voter Fraud — It Proves Election Officials Verify Requests Before Sending Out Actual Ballots
Does the cancellation of 132,336 "absentee ballot" application duplicates and "418 absentee ballot applications" from dead people prove that "the steal in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is already well underway"? No, that's not true: Th
PolitiFact→ X posts – No, The Atlantic did not publish an article with the headline ‘Trump is Literally Hitler’
A photo shows The Atlantic published a story headlined “Trump is Literally Hitler.”
PolitiFact→ Facebook posts – Elon Musk still hasn’t given Caitlin Clark $10 million, but persistent online claims say otherwise
“Breaking news: Elon Musk endorses Caitlin Clark, will soon donate $10 million: ‘You are the pride of America, I support you.’”
PolitiFact→ 2 weeks, 450+ posts: How Elon Musk uses his X profile to push FEMA, immigration, voting falsehoods
Elon Musk posts and reposts misinformation narratives from conservative accounts, amplifying false claims to millions. We analyzed more than 450 of his posts and found numerous falsehoods about federal hurricane relief, immigration and voting.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Inflation ‘Since Biden And Kamala Took Over’ Did NOT Cause New York Barber’s High Electric Bill — Utility Confirms Billing Error
Did inflation "since Biden and Kamala took over" cause a New York City barbershop owner to experience unusually high electric bills, as a post on social media says? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for Con Edison, the utility company t
The Dispatch→ Pot-Committed
The uses of John Kelly.
The Dispatch→ Down From Libertarianism
It’s a shorter road from libertarianism to tyranny than you think.
FactCheck.org→ Crime Stats Still Show a Decline Since 2020
Quick Take Crime statistics compiled by the FBI and other sources show an increase in violent crime, notably murders, in 2020 and a decline since. A revision to the FBI data this year doesn’t change that overall trend, despite claims made on
PolitiFact→ Live fact-checking Kamala Harris' town hall on CNN
PolitiFact will fact-check Vice President Kamala Harris on CNN as she speaks with voters in a town hall outside of Philadelphia.
PolitiFact→ Instagram posts – Kin-spiracy theory debunked: Kamala Harris is not related to ‘Empire’ actor Jussie Smollett
Jussie Smollett is Kamala Harris’ nephew.
PolitiFact→ Marjorie Taylor Greene – Marjorie Taylor Greene says Dominion voting machines flipped votes in Georgia. That’s Pants on Fire!
"Reports from Whitfield County, GA that Dominion machines are flipping votes. This is exactly the kind of fraud we saw in 2020."
PolitiFact→ Instagram posts – No, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs wasn’t hospitalized after a prison attack
“BREAKING: Diddy hospitalized after being jumped in prison.”
PolitiFact→ Instagram posts – No, this video doesn’t show a liberal who vowed to eat dog food until Kamala Harris is president
“Liberal woman films herself eating dog food” because she said, “I’m eating dog food until Kamala is president.”
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: The Atlantic Did NOT Publish Article Titled ‘TRUMP IS LITERALLY HITLER’
Did The Atlantic magazine publish an article titled, "TRUMP IS LITERALLY HITLER"? No, that's not true: The Atlantic put out a statement saying they did not publish this article. One of the accounts on social media that said the magazine h
The Dispatch→ Industrial Policy’s Inescapable Uncertainty Problem
A close election reveals an underdiscussed flaw in policies designed to beat the free market.
PolitiFact→ X posts – Social media posts mislead about Michigan voter rolls and election fraud
Michigan has “more registered voters than eligible citizens. This creates a huge risk of election fraud.”
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Post Does NOT Prove That Total Undocumented Populations In 7 States Increased Between 241% and 734% In 2021-24
Does a viral post on social media prove that the total size of undocumented populations in seven states has increased by triple-digit percentages between 2021 and 2024? No, that's not true: The chart shared online didn't reflect the corre
FactCheck.org→ Win It Back PAC
Political Leanings: Conservative 2022 Total Spending: N/A Win It Back PAC is a conservative super PAC “dedicated to making sure Republicans win back the Senate and the White House in 2024,” according to its website. Its stated
The Dispatch→ Harris Campaign Recruits Obama to Drum Up Support Among Men
The former president’s Detroit rally reflects Democrats’ vulnerabilities with the demographic.
PolitiFact→ Donald Trump – Donald Trump ad distorts Kamala Harris’ stance on Social Security taxes
Vice President Kamala Harris “wants struggling seniors to pay more Social Security taxes while she gives Medicare and Social Security to illegals.”
PolitiFact→ Threads posts – No, Gov. Ron DeSantis didn’t say Dominion Voting Systems won’t be used in Florida
“Breaking: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says Dominion voting systems will NOT operate in the state of Florida. ”
Full Fact→ Old image of bombing in Gaza reshared with claims it shows recent strikes in Beirut
The picture is actually more than a year old.
PolitiFact→ Kelly Ayotte – Fact-checking New Hampshire’s governor race: Did Joyce Craig oppose a bill banning sanctuary cities?
“There was a bill to basically create a ban to make sure we never become a sanctuary state, that no locality passes those regulations, and (former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig) opposed that bill.”
PolitiFact→ Joyce Craig – Fact-checking Joyce Craig’s claims on Kelly Ayotte, abortion in New Hampshire’s gubernatorial race
Gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte “has voted for national abortion bans, she has voted to defund Planned Parenthood, and she shepherded Neil Gorsuch through the Supreme Court process, and then celebrated when Roe v. Wade was overturned.”
PolitiFact→ Election officials want safe voting. Here’s how they boosted security since 2020’s threats.
After the 2020 election, officials took steps to improve security of election sites including vote counting centers. Agencies have performed security audits for local elections offices and they have increased their planning efforts with law enforcement.
PolitiFact→ Instagram posts – Script is safe: Your ballot won’t be disqualified if an election official writes on it
If an election worker writes anything on your ballot before you put it in the voting machine, “your ballot could be disqualified.”
PolitiFact→ Anti-abortion Amendment 4 ads are plentiful in Florida. What’s true, what’s not?
Amendment 4 would overturn Florida’s six-week abortion ban if approved by 60% of voters on Nov. 5. As Election Day nears, PolitiFact has noticed a slew of public warnings against the amendment. Here is what we found for each of the claims.
The Dispatch→ Georgia and Moldova Weigh Western Future Despite Russian Influence
Moscow and Kremlin-aligned groups make their presence known in former Soviet republics.
Full Fact→ Weight loss drug trial isn’t being funded with public money
The five-year tirzepatide trial is being funded in full by a pharmaceutical company called Lilly, not the taxpayer.
The Dispatch→ Partisan Chiropractors
You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.
The Dispatch→ Losing Georgia to Putin
The West sits idly by as the ruling party pushes the republic closer to Russia and Vladimir Putin.
The Dispatch→ The Dark Side of ‘Moon Party’ Politics
Both sides are functioning as minority parties, and we’re all worse off for it.