Are Ghislaine Maxwell and Bill Gates first cousins through Gates' mom, Mary Maxwell Gates? No, that's not true. Public records show multi-billionaire Gates is not related to the woman arrested in October of 2020 for luring young women Jeffery Epstein then sexually abused. For Bill Gates and Ghislaine Maxwell to be first cousins sharing Bill's mother's maiden name, Maxwell would…

Is there something mysterious about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's net worth multiplying eight-fold from $2,962,015 in 2005 to $23,965,520 in 2015 on a salary of $193,400 a year? No, that's not true: The Republican from Kentucky did see a dramatic increase in his net worth, but context is missing from a post questioning the increase. Both Senate disclosure documents…

Did a laboratory analysis commissioned by a German children's charity find bacteria and mold on a mask? Yes, that is true, but it does not mean these microorganisms are harmful or abnormal. According to experts, it is likely that the bacteria found on the mask are just the regular bacteria found on the skin and in the mouth. Without further…

Did Nevada voter Christina Gupana "disappear"? Is the "Louder With Crowder" show correct in saying her vote in the 2020 general election was fraudulent? No, that's not true: Lead Stories located Gupana and spoke to her on several occasions. She is registered to vote in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her listed address, 353 East Bonneville Avenue, Unit 435, was her address…

Did a feminist conference use platform shoes of various heights to negate "height privilege" and lobby to make such shoes mandatory on college campuses? No, that's not true: This post is from a satire page that mocks various social justice causes. The photo used to illustrate this made-up outrage over 'height privilege' actually shows a 1997 conceptual art piece from…

Does the proliferation of "white van" warning videos show that vans in the most common truck and van color are to feared as the tools of kidnappers engaged in human trafficking or organ harvesting? No, that's not true: Governmental and private anti-trafficking organizations with expertise do not single out white vans on their websites. These videos show ordinary work vans…

Did a Fox affiliate broadcast a segment with a chyron that read, "90% of women have a back-up lover"? No, that's not true: This photo of an on-screen chyron has been photoshopped. Images that closely match this one date back to September 26, 2014, and show that the chyron originally said 50%, not 90%. Lead Stories discovered additional reporting citing…

Has the Dr. Seuss book, "The Cat In The Hat," been "canceled"? No, that's not true: "The Cat In The Hat" is not among the six titles Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced March 2, 2021, that it would no longer publish because some portrayals of people in the books were "hurtful and wrong." The company owns the rights to Dr. Seuss…

Will Donald Trump be inaugurated on March 4, 2021? No, that's not true: The "five pieces of evidence" held up to support such a claim have been debunked before or are speculative, assigning significance to otherwise neutral facts. Joe Biden is president of the United States, has been since January 20, 2021, and all publicly available evidence confirms that he…

Has President Joe Biden "killed" Dr. Seuss, as six Seuss books will no longer be published? No, that's not true: the publisher of the books, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, says it decided last year, in conjunction with a panel of experts, to stop publishing six Seuss titles that included "hurtful" portrayals of people. The claim appeared in a post (archived here),…

Is it true that the SARS-CoV-2 virus has not been positively identified, that the PCR test is not accurate after a certain point and that there are major ways to become ill other than through airborne transmission of the virus, such as by acute electromagnetic radiation poisoning? No, none of that is true: Virologists and other scientists have used genetic…

Does this video, made up of separate stories told by four women, demonstrate "What they do to babies in satanic rituals"? No, that's not true: This video does not provide any evidence that any of these stories as told by these women actually happened. Not only does the video fail to provide any concrete evidence, the video fails to provide…

Is Donald Trump in control of the military? No, that's not true: At the time of writing, March 2, 2021, Joe Biden is commander in chief, a position he assumed when he was sworn in as president of the United States on January 20, 2021 on the nation's tv system. This claim's argument that Trump is in control relies on…

Did Motorola develop an "edible password pill" that could unlock a person's devices, and has it received FDA approval? Yes, kind of. In 2013 Motorola presented a novel idea -- a "vitamin authentication" tablet. This grain-of-sand-sized chip in a pill was manufactured by Proteus Digital Health as a way to track a person's medicine intake, and won FDA approval. Owners…

Does "homework" spelled backwards translate to "child abuse" in Latin? No, that's not true. There is no such word as "krowemoh" in Latin; it is a nonsensical word. According to Google translate, the words "child abuse" in Latin are "puer abusus," not "krowemoh." The claim appeared as a meme (archived here) published on Instagram on February 27, 2021. It opened:…

Does this photo show people praying over, or even "worshipping" a golden, life-sized graven image of former President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: It is an altered photo. The actual photo, taken January 3, 2020, shows a group of Trump supporters, eyes closed with outstretched hands, praying over the actual president at an "Evangelicals for Trump" coalition event in…

Did Klaus Schwab tweet that there are coming food shortages and that his World Economic Forum is working with the Biden administration to ensure that most people survive? No, that's not true: This is a tweet from a fake Twitter account that is not Klaus Schwab's. The parody Twitter account has been suspended. A screenshot of this fake tweet from…

Did Jerry Nadler say "God has no authority in the House of Representatives"? No, that's not true: Video from the debate during which the New York representative supposedly said that shows he didn't utter the phrase. Lead Stories rates the claim false because, regardless of meaning, the claim is at odds with the publicly available transcript and recording, which clearly…

Did Ted Cruz lose all his Marriott points? No, that's not true: The story making the claim about the Texas senator is satirical. It wasn't meant to be real, although some social media users appeared to take it as such. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published in the "Laughing in Disbelief" section on patheos.com on February 21,…

Is a "Louder with Crowder" video that shows vacant lots at voter addresses in Nevada and Michigan proof of voter fraud? No, that's not true: Lead Stories dug into the Nevada data and found at least two types of mistakes. In some instances, host Steven Crowder reported names and addresses that do not match Nevada voter records. In other instances,…