Does a real photo show a crisis actor laughing while a makeup artist puts fake blood on his face before he pretended to be a victim of the Bondi Beach terror attack? No, that's not true: This is an AI-generated image made to support a false flag narrative about the Bondi Beach terror attack. The picture is based on the…
Did the late Rob Reiner publicly say he was developing a television series about Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump called "The Spy and the Asset"? Yes, that is true: Reiner announced the project in 2020 on the Mehdi Hasan Show on MSNBC and again talked about it on the Dean Obeidallah Show on Sirius XMradio in 2021. The Reiner announcement…
Did President Trump really post a message on his Truth Social account saying that Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were murdered " reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS?" Yes, he did: The post appeared on…
Did an actual news site report a 43-year-old IT professional named "Edward Crabtree" disarmed a terrorist during a terrorist attack on Bondi beach in Australia on December 14, 2025? No, that's not true: That name and description came from a website named "The Daily" that only appeared on the internet the same day the attack took place. Actual news websites…
Did President Trump post on his Truth Social account that Jesus told him that "my father is happy that you're making America Great Again"? No, that's not true: There is no post on Donald Trump's Truth Social timeline in which the phrase "my father is happy that you're making America Great Again" appears. Lead Stories could find no evidence the…
Did Patti Labelle, Novak Djokovic, Cardi B, James Hetfield, Morgan Wallen or a long list of other celebrities just open "America's first 100% free homeless hospital" because they wanted to leave a legacy behind? No, that's not true: Viral posts on Facebook were the latest variations of the same made-up story being spread by foreign clickbait accounts mostly run from…
Has Tina Peters been "fully pardoned" by Donald Trump, wiping out her prison sentence for giving unauthorized access to Mesa County, Colorado, voting machines in 2021, when she was county clerk? No, that's not true: Trump's "pardon" of Peters is only symbolic, not official. The U.S. Constitution grants the President power to pardon only those criminals facing federal charges. Peters,…
Did Phil Collins "send the internet into orbit" when he announced the 32 dates of his 2026 World Tour? No, that's not true: Phil Collins has not announced a 2026 world tour. His name, and those of many other artists such as Trace Adkins, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Pink, and Lenny Kravitz, are being used in a clickbait formula gaming…
Did Donald Trump raise the monthly pension of Medal of Honor recipients to almost $70,000? No, that's not true: The Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed to Lead Stories that those figures show the annual change, not monthly. According to the federal agency, there are 63 veterans and 34 surviving spouses who receive this pension, as of December 3, 2025. The…
Is a "shocking" video of Charlie Kirk murder defendant Tyler Robinson and his lawyer talking in court before a hearing in the case real? No, that's not true: The news media feed from the same moment and the same camera captured an inaudible whispered conversation. The video is a satirical attack on podcaster Candace Owens and the theories about the…
Did Barack Obama, Donald Trump or Marco Rubio "just cut the ribbon on a $150 million free education and health campus, entirely funded "by his own pocket", without a single tax dollar."? No, none of them did: The made-up stories are among dozens cranked out by Vietnam-based publishers building traffic on Facebook with stories attractive to fans of Obama, Trump…
Is a photo showing President Donald Trump using a walker to assist him real? No, that's not true: The image has the SynthID watermark that indicates it was created by Google's AI tool, according to an analysis by Google's Gemini chatbot. The image may have been created for satirical reasons since it was posted soon after President Trump signed an…
Are videos of women being kicked out of court for outfits described as "inappropriate" real? No, that's not true: Multiple low-quality viral videos following the same script and posted by the same creators show signs of AI. Evidence of AI origin includes abnormal hand anatomy and a judge's podium at the back of the courtroom instead of the front. The…
Does an image show an actual Minneapolis warehouse with tiny indoor cottages for homeless people? No, that's not true: The image used is AI generated. There is, however, a warehouse in Minneapolis that holds boxy private dwellings for homeless people. They resemble the containerized housing U.S. troops live in on some overseas military bases. The Avivo Village is a legitimate…
Did House Democrats release photos showing Jeffrey Epstein with a girl in a green skirt who also appears bound and gagged in another image? No, that's not true: These images have both been digitally edited. The original image of Epstein from 2005 showed him posing with Ghislaine Maxwell. It has been in the Getty Images library since 2016. The image…
Did Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem say on Fox News that calling ICE agents Nazis is rude and inaccurate because they don't wear uniforms? No, that's not true: A fabricated Fox News screenshot with that quote had the watermark of an Instagram account carrying the tagline, "Dope Dad. Comedian. Satirist. Amateur Professional." The image was taken from a June 2025…
Did Donald Trump announce that people who had cosmetic surgeries would no longer be eligible for any form of government assistance starting in March 2026? No, that's not true:There were no news stories about any such announcement from Trump, despite claims in a viral video. Neither the White House nor Trump's social media accounts showed anything looking like such an…
Did Barack Obama say that he wants to return to the White House in 2028 as president through "legal avenues" or as a "proxy candidate"? No, that's not true: Contrary to the posts citing his "exclusive interview on a major news network" on December 7, 2025, the former president did not talk to any TV stations on that day. He…
Have scientists discovered a camel tear contains enough antibodies to neutralize the venom from 26 snakebites? No, that highly specific claim is not true: While poison experts have found snakebite damage to mouse tissues might be reduced using antibodies derived from camel-like species, those studies stop short of saying it is a cure for snakebit humans.The post includes no evidence,…
Did the White House call Martin Luther King Jr's birthday and Juneteenth "made up holidays?" No, that's not true: A parody account posted the meme that mimicked the format and design of White House message. The administration did remove MLK Jr. Day and Juneteenth from the list of days visitors can access National Parks for free in November 2025, but…
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