This report was run on 12-22-2023 at 16:50, and we have new fact checks from the following organizations:
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Fact checks from FactCheck.org – 4 new posts
A Video Celebrating Our 20th Anniversary
Published 12/22/2023 12:17
We celebrate our 20th anniversary with a video that looks back at some noteworthy televised mentions of FactCheck.org — including citations from politicians, such as Sens. John Kerry and John McCain, and comedians Bill Maher, John Oliver and Jon Stewart. We hope you enjoy it.
Read at FactCheck.org
Posts Use Transposed Mugshot of Epstein to Target Kamala Harris
Published 12/21/2023 20:36
A federal judge has ordered the release of documents that will identify scores of accused sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s associates. The order has led many social media users to share a digitally manipulated image that purports to show Vice President Kamala Harris posing with Epstein. The original photo showed Harris with her husband, Douglas Emhoff.
Read at FactCheck.org
The Whoppers of 2023
Published 12/21/2023 14:00
Claims from the president, a former president and other presidential hopefuls made the list.
Read at FactCheck.org
Post Spreads Misleading Information About Texas Abortion Case
Published 12/20/2023 21:54
Kate Cox petitioned to be allowed to have an abortion in Texas to “protect her life, health, and future fertility,” after receiving news that her baby was unlikely to survive, according to her court filing. A popular Instagram post misrepresented Cox’s specific case and also made misleading claims about trisomy 18, the condition affecting her pregnancy.
Read at FactCheck.org
Fact checks from Lead Stories – 11 new posts
Fact Check: Fulton County Did NOT Count 20,713 Votes That Did Not Exist In 2020 Election
Published 12/22/2023 21:47
Did Fulton County, Georgia, count 20,713 votes that did not exist in the 2020 election and that there are “no records” for, such as poll tapes? No, that’s not true: An election-watchdog expert said that claiming votes are missing because…
Read at Lead Stories
Fact Check: Zelenskyy’s ‘Certificate of Naturalization’ Is NOT Real
Published 12/22/2023 19:10
Is a photograph that purports to show a U.S. certificate of naturalization for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy real? No, that’s not true: The certificate is counterfeit. It’s missing key components, such as his signature and the signature of the director…
Read at Lead Stories
Fact Check: Marines Did NOT Arrest Colorado Supreme Court Judge Who Voted to Remove Donald Trump from State Ballot
Published 12/22/2023 18:03
Did Marines arrest on Wednesday, December 20, 2023, a Colorado Supreme Court justice, Monica Marquez, who voted in favor of removing Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 presidential primary ballot? No, that’s not true: This is a fake news article…
Read at Lead Stories
Fact Check: Stephen King, Kevin Spacey Did NOT Announce They Will Leave US If ‘Epstein Client List’ Is Released — No Such Public Comments Found
Published 12/22/2023 01:09
Did actor Kevin Spacey or writer Stephen King say that they would leave the United States if the “Epstein Client List” is made public? No, that’s not true: Lead Stories found no evidence that King or Spacey made such comments….
Read at Lead Stories
Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Ben Carson Endorsing Blood Vessel-Cleaning Gummies — Audio Is Fake
Published 12/22/2023 00:38
Did Dr. Ben Carson, retired neurosurgeon and former Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary, endorse blood vessel-cleaning gummies? No, that’s not true: A spokesperson for Carson said that the claim is “completely fake.” Additionally, a digital forensics and deepfakes…
Read at Lead Stories
Fact Check: John Travolta Did NOT Promote Hair Growth Product ‘RenewHair-X’ — Video Of Him Has Been Dubbed Over
Published 12/21/2023 21:35
Did actor John Travolta promote a hair growth product called RenewHair-X in a video on social media? No, that’s not true: An audio track of a voice sounding like Travolta’s is dubbed over a clip of the actor from a…
Read at Lead Stories
Fact Check: US Marines Did NOT Kick FEMA Out of Tennessee
Published 12/21/2023 21:21
Did U.S. Marines “kick … out” the Federal Emergency Management Agency from Tennessee following a disaster recent as of December 21, 2023? No, that’s not true: A FEMA representative told Lead Stories, “FEMA teams are on the ground in Tennessee…
Read at Lead Stories
Fact Check: Acting On ‘Bump This Post’ Will NOT Help Find Missing Man With Dementia — It’s Ruse To Trick People To Share It
Published 12/21/2023 19:57
Did “Mr. Luke Jones,” purportedly a man with dementia, drive away from his home and fail to return, triggering the activation of a silver alert? No, that’s not true: No elderly man named Luke Jones is missing at the time…
Read at Lead Stories
Fact Check: NO Evidence That Tapping, Squeezing Thumbnail Area Provides ‘Brain Reboot’
Published 12/21/2023 19:34
Can tapping and squeezing the thumbnail and the area surrounding the thumbnail cause a “brain reboot”? No, that’s not true: There is no credible information stating that this technique, attributed to reflexology, causes any significant change to the brain. A…
Read at Lead Stories
Fact Check: Woman With Down Syndrome Is NOT Missing — It’s A Scam Story
Published 12/21/2023 00:04
Is a woman with Down syndrome currently missing, as a viral Facebook post says? No, that’s not true: The woman in the photograph was reported missing on December 15, 2023, and found the same day, according to the police department…
Read at Lead Stories
Fact Check: California’s Recently Approved Plan Is NOT To Make Residents Drink Their Own Feces — And It’s NOT ‘Bill Gates Scheme’
Published 12/20/2023 22:46
Did California approve Bill Gates’ plan to make residents drink their own feces? No, that’s not true: A headline by The People’s Voice grossly misrepresents the regulations that were approved by California’s State Water Board on December 19, 2023. The…
Read at Lead Stories
Fact checks from PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories – 17 new posts
Robin Vos – Did Wisconsin's governor reject Iowa modeled redistricting plan he had earlier endorsed?
Published 12/22/2023 14:51
Gov. Tony Evers and Democrats “rejected our (Iowa model redistricting) proposal to enact the very plan they originally endorsed.”
Read at PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories
Facebook posts – Elon Musk has not invented an energy-saving device that reduces power bills
Published 12/21/2023 22:08
Elon Musk invented an energy-saving device that could “cut electricity bills by 80%.”
Read at PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories
Facebook posts – Hunter Biden has been indicted twice, but he has not been sentenced to prison
Published 12/21/2023 21:44
Hunter Biden’s “prison term announced.”
Read at PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories
Donald Trump – Trump said the Biden administration wants to ‘make our army tanks all electric.’ That’s False
Published 12/21/2023 21:42
“They want to make our Army tanks all electric.”
Read at PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories
TikTok posts – Este video muestra a actores, y no a pasajero de avión con alzhéimer
Published 12/21/2023 21:40
“Los pasajeros de un avión cantan para ayudar a calmar a un hombre con Alzheimer que había tenido una recaída”.
Read at PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories
Instagram posts – This video does not prove that Hillary Clinton is a reptile
Published 12/21/2023 21:13
Video is evidence that Hillary Clinton is a reptile.
Read at PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories
Facebook posts – No se ha aprobado un permiso de portación oculta de armas para todos en Estados Unidos
Published 12/21/2023 21:01
“La administración acaba de aprobar este vacío legal, 100% legal, que permite a todos los residentes estadounidenses en buena posición obtener un permiso de portación oculta (de armas) válido en 2023”.
Read at PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories
X posts – No, migrants aren’t being given US passports when they enter the country
Published 12/21/2023 17:52
Migrants who enter the U.S. illegally get U.S. passports immediately after leaving a border processing center.
Read at PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories
Vivek Ramaswamy says Iowa can’t use eminent domain to build CO2 pipelines. That remains to be seen.
Published 12/21/2023 17:12
Campaigning in Iowa, Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy sided with landowners who have opposed using eminent domain to seize property and build carbon capture pipelines. Would doing so be unconstitutional, as he said? That remains to be seen.
Read at PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories
Facebook posts – No, this video doesn’t show Trump promoting $6,400 spending cards
Published 12/21/2023 14:51
Video shows Donald Trump advertising $6,400 spending cards.
Read at PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign of conspiracy theories: PolitiFact’s 2023 Lie of the Year
Published 12/21/2023 11:07
The 2023 Lie of the Year goes to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s conspiracy theories during his 2024 campaign.
Read at PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sued PolitiFact’s owner in 2020 over flu vaccine fact-check
Published 12/21/2023 11:05
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Children’s Health Defense in 2020 sued the Poynter Institute (PolitiFact’s owner), alleging PolitiFact wrongly ruled false a third party’s claim that the flu vaccine was “significantly associated” with an increased coronavirus risk.
Read at PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories
Here is PolitiFact readers’ pick for 2023 Lie of the Year
Published 12/21/2023 11:04
It’s time to announce the winner of our 2023 Lie of the Year Readers’ Choice poll — and this year, it’s a close one.
Read at PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories
Looking back at PolitiFact’s Lies of the Year, 2009-2022
Published 12/21/2023 11:02
PolitiFact’s Lie of the Year turned 15 this year. We review the mendacious moments that made the list.
Read at PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories
PolitiFact’s 15 most popular social media fact-checks from 2023
Published 12/21/2023 11:00
PolitiFact’s 15 most popular fact-checks of 2023 centered on former first lady Michelle Obama, President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates.
Read at PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories
Donald Trump’s rally spotlighted the Biden, Trump economies. We fact-checked the graphics
Published 12/21/2023 11:00
Donald Trump’s campaign rally in New Hampshire projected a few statistics showing economic weakness for Joe Biden. We checked to see how accurate they were.
Read at PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories
Ve los reportes de PolitiFact en Español en estaciones de Telemundo en Florida
Published 12/20/2023 21:13
En Español: En 2023, los reportes de PolitiFact en Español salieron al aire en Telemundo en Florida, resaltando los hechos detrás de los temas más destacados. Ve los reportes:
Read at PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories
Fact checks from Reuters – 8 new posts
Fact Check: Tyson Foods deal with Protix will not result in insects in human food
Published 12/22/2023 16:56
An October 2023 press release announcing a partnership between meat processing company Tyson Foods and insect ingredients supplier Protix has been misrepresented online to falsely claim that it is evidence of insects being added to food for people. A Tyson Foods spokesperson said the deal would not impact any food products meant for human consumption.
Read at Reuters
Fact Check: Post asking Giuliani to pay for lectern, snacks is satirical
Published 12/22/2023 16:44
A post by a parody account impersonating the Philadelphia company Four Seasons Total Landscaping, asking Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani for payment, is being taken seriously by some users online.
Read at Reuters
Fact Check: Pakistan stage collapse video includes fabricated antisemitic subtitles
Published 12/22/2023 08:11
Fabricated Hebrew captions have been added to a video of a stage collapsing during a political rally in Pakistan five years ago to claim the incident happened after an imam delivered an antisemitic speech.
Read at Reuters
Fact Check: Aerial footage of burning Maersk ship is from 2018, not 2023 attack
Published 12/21/2023 14:42
March 2018 footage of a vessel owned by Danish shipping company Maersk on fire has been shared online with false claims that it shows a drone strike by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement on a Maersk vessel in December 2023.
Read at Reuters
Fact Check: University of Edinburgh’s apology letter to Palestinians is fictional
Published 12/21/2023 13:35
A fictional letter written by a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Edinburgh for a performance lecture this month exploring the university’s colonial legacy and potential reparations for Palestinians has been falsely claimed online to be an official letter from the institution.
Read at Reuters
Fact Check: Piers Morgan said he had COVID-19, not VAIDS
Published 12/21/2023 12:09
British broadcaster Piers Morgan said in early December that he caught COVID-19, not a fabricated illness called vaccine-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (VAIDS), despite contrary claims online.
Read at Reuters
Fact Check: Dua Lipa’s social media comments on Israel and Gaza edited online
Published 12/21/2023 11:54
An expression of grief by British-Albanian singer Dua Lipa addressed to both the people of Israel and Palestine has been cropped in some posts online to remove the inclusion of Israel.
Read at Reuters
Fact Check: Putin did not declare Klaus Schwab a ‘legitimate military target’
Published 12/21/2023 06:51
Russian President Vladimir Putin did not declare World Economic Forum (WEF) founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab a “legitimate military target” during a speech in Sochi in October 2023, as suggested by social media posts.
Read at Reuters
Fact checks from Snopes.com – 14 new posts
Was President Taft So Big He Got Stuck in His Bathtub?
Published 12/22/2023 21:38
Legend says that it took six people to pull him out.
Read at Snopes.com
NYC’s Rockefeller Christmas Tree Is Repurposed After the Holidays
Published 12/22/2023 21:16
Reduce, reuse, recycle.
Read at Snopes.com
Fact Check: The Internet Seems Convinced Jeremy Allen White and Gene Wilder Are Related
Published 12/22/2023 19:52
White has had to address the question in a number of interviews.
Read at Snopes.com
Fact Check: Keith Urban Is the Latest Celebrity Targeted By False Death Rumors
Published 12/22/2023 17:13
Rumors claiming the singer died in December 2023 were nothing but a hoax.
Read at Snopes.com
No One Knows Mrs. Claus’ First Name
Published 12/22/2023 14:00
She’s gone by “Jessica” and “Gertrude” over the decades.
Read at Snopes.com
Fact Check: Did Trump Once Say Jeffrey Epstein Was a ‘Terrific Guy’ Who ‘Likes Beautiful Women as Much as I Do’?
Published 12/21/2023 22:36
This old, genuine quote was reshared in December 2023 amid news about a list of Epstein’s associates and victims being made public.
Read at Snopes.com
Fact Check: Is This J.K Rowling Tweet About Dumbledore and Grindelwald’s Relationship Real?
Published 12/21/2023 22:00
J.K. Rowling has tweeted some pretty crazy things, but this isn’t one of them.
Read at Snopes.com
Fact Check: Is This Photo of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Real?
Published 12/21/2023 20:54
“I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy,” Trump said in 2002.
Read at Snopes.com
Fact Check: Pic Shows Electric Vehicles That Failed In German Winter Storm?
Published 12/21/2023 16:42
Social media posts claimed it showed electric vehicles that ran out of power during a German snow storm. That’s not true.
Read at Snopes.com
‘I Don’t Like Mondays’: What We Know About 1979 School Shooter Brenda Ann Spencer
Published 12/21/2023 16:32
Spencer was sentenced to 25-years-to-life in prison for the San Diego school shooting.
Read at Snopes.com
Ever Wondered What Happens to the Rockefeller Christmas Tree After the Holidays?
Published 12/21/2023 00:23
Every year, the iconic New York Christmas tradition takes on new life.
Read at Snopes.com
Fact Check: Does Viral Vid Show ‘Muslim Immigrant’ Urinating on Pork in a Grocery Store?
Published 12/19/2023 01:02
According to a caption shared alongside the video, it was recorded in an Albert Heijn supermarket in the Netherlands.
Read at Snopes.com
Fact Check: Are the Obamas ‘Panicking’ Over Melissa Rivers’ ‘Confession’?
Published 09/27/2023 20:09
We’ve fact-checked plenty of other celebrity gossip rumors about the Obamas.
Read at Snopes.com
Fact Check: Michelle Obama Once Called Harvey Weinstein a ‘Wonderful Human Being’ and ‘Good Friend’?
Published 09/25/2023 17:57
“He is a wonderful human being, a good friend and just a powerhouse,” the first lady once said during prepared remarks delivered in the White House.
Read at Snopes.com
Fact checks from USA Today – 13 new posts
Brace position protects, not kills, airplane passengers | Fact check
Published 12/22/2023 16:16
Comedian Matt Rife shared a baseless conspiracy theory that airlines tell passengers to get into brace position during a crash to kill them on purpose.
Read at USA Today
Video of falling Palestinian man is from 2015, isn’t staged | Fact check
Published 12/22/2023 15:58
Video of falling Palestinian man is from 2015, isn’t staged | Fact check
Read at USA Today
Photo shows 2011 Chicago snowstorm, not stranded German EVs | Fact check
Published 12/22/2023 15:15
The photo shows stranded vehicles in Chicago, not Germany, during a 2011 snowstorm. There is no evidence the vehicles are electric.
Read at USA Today
No, Hunter Biden hasn’t been sentenced to prison | Fact check
Published 12/22/2023 15:11
Biden faces federal gun and tax charges in two indictments, but he has not been convicted of any crimes and has not been sentenced to prison time.
Read at USA Today
Images show NASA testing large rocket engines | Fact check
Published 12/22/2023 13:19
The images show engine tests at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, a NASA spokesperson said. The RS-25 is a rocket engine, not a device used to control the weather.
Read at USA Today
‘VAIDS’ isn’t real. So Piers Morgan couldn’t have caught it | Fact check
Published 12/21/2023 19:12
Morgan made no such admission. Medical experts say “VAIDS” is not a real condition. The website that made the claim routinely spreads misinformation.
Read at USA Today
False claim of invalid Fulton County ballots counted in 2020 | Fact check
Published 12/21/2023 18:18
The governor’s office referred a resident’s concerns about the 2020 election to the secretary of state’s office, but it did not back the ballot claim.
Read at USA Today
Did lions really escape from a US zoo?
Published 12/21/2023 18:11
A spokesperson says the Jackson Zoo does not have lions. The photo in the post was taken in 2015 by a tracking camera in South Africa.
Read at USA Today
False claim NFL encourages players to kneel for Israel | Fact check
Published 12/21/2023 13:46
An NFL spokesperson says the claim is false. The league held pregame moments of silence during one week in October but did not encourage kneeling.
Read at USA Today
Image of class in Palestinian headscarves not from Harvard | Fact check
Published 12/21/2023 12:13
The image was taken at a college in Jordan, not at Harvard University.
Read at USA Today
Image of migrant caravan is from 2018, not current | Fact check
Published 12/21/2023 09:28
The photo in a viral Facebook post is from 2018, and the location is a small town in southern Mexico, not the US-Mexico border.
Read at USA Today
False claim Trump blamed Biden for alleged lemonade deaths | Fact check
Published 12/20/2023 17:39
No such remarks are included in various speech transcripts from Trump’s Coralville, Iowa, rally in December.
Read at USA Today
No, activists didn’t remove US flag at Golden Gate Bridge | Fact check
Published 12/20/2023 17:18
A spokesperson for the bridge said the U.S. flag was not removed during a Dec. 6 protest. Demonstrators hoisted a Palestinian flag under an U.S. one.
Read at USA Today
