Fact Check

Is an image showing the Florida prison known as "Alligator Alcatraz" surrounded by a moat authentic? No, that's not true: The photo that has been shared on social platforms does not accurately depict the immigrant detention center erected at a Miami-Dade County, Florida, airport in June 2025. An AI detection tool concluded with 99.9% certainty that it was not real.…

Does an image show the White House just "turned all red" and is this cause for a "major alert" somehow? No, that's not true: the photo used in a viral social media post is a screencap from a 2022 video. That footage showed the White House lit in orange to "raise gun violence awareness" on National Gun Violence Awareness Day.…

Does a viral video show footage of the downing of an Israeli aircraft released by Iran? No, that's not true: The video originated on a TikTok channel posting gameplay footage from the online game DCS World. It was not released by Iranian authorities. The video appeared in a post on X (archived here) published on July 3, 2025 with a…

Did a TikTok video shared widely in July 2025 accurately claim that shackled bodies found in Europe were deportees from the U.S. that ICE had dropped into the ocean from planes? Here's what we know: Lead Stories has so far found no evidence to support that shocking claim. Initial reports in Spain were that police believed the corpses were North…

Did a federal judge in June 2025 give the green light to a $350 million class-action lawsuit against Rep. Nancy Pelosi by 500 January 6th defendants? No, that's not true: The story originated on a Facebook page with a satire disclaimer. A search of news archives showed that the rumor was not even inadvertently accurate. The claim appeared in a…

Did an image shared widely in July 2025 show an authentic screenshot of a German weather forecast? No, that's not true: The image was edited to make it more dramatic. No lava appeared in the original footage. The claim appeared in a June 30, 2025, post on X (archived here). It read: Jeeeeezus, if you think the climate propaganda is…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump write on Truth Social that he regretted taking "advise" from tech billionaire Elon Musk, and affirm that there was no "white genocide" in South Africa? No, that's not true: A screenshot shared widely in July 2025 was digitally edited. An archive of the president's account on Truth Social showed that such a post never existed.…

Is a video showing a fat lady jumping off the bow of a small boat, causing it to sink authentic? No, that's not true: An AI detection tool concluded with 93% certainty that it was not real. A careful examination of the video also reveals details inconsistent with reality. The video (archived here) was shared by the @llandoniffirg account on…

Was President Donald Trump's son Barron drafted into the military as of June 30, 2025? No, that's not true: According to the Selective Service website, the United States hasn't drafted anyone for more than half a century, as of this writing. Footage presented as a report by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, on the supposed drafting, was fake. The claim originated in…

Did White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt "end up exposing herself on live national TV" after NBC News correspondent Garrett Haake dramatically sought to "correct the record" during a briefing? No, that's not entirely true: In March 2025, Haake did briefly fact-check Leavitt's description of a federal judge as an Obama appointee. However, a widely-shared June 2025 blog post exaggerated…

Did crowds at Glastonbury boo and sing "God Save the King", drowning out a performance by Irish hip-hop group Kneecap, in June 2025? No, that's not true: A widely-shared video used audio from a different source to give the false impression that British festival-goers defied the band's Irish republican and pro-Palestinian messages. In fact, the original clip showed a soundbite…

Did a widely-shared video show a white man at a zoo, arguing with a Black woman over her anti-Donald Trump hat? No, that's not true: The people in the video were simply acting out a scripted scenario. The page that posted the sketch routinely publishes similar scripted scenarios, and is affiliated with Network Media, a company that rents out film…

Did the dissent in a June 2025 U.S. Supreme Court opinion mention a question about breakfast? No, that's not true: What appeared to be a screenshot of an excerpt from the dissent in one of the opinions issued on June 27 was, in fact, no more than a joke. The paragraph alluded to a long-standing internet meme called "The Breakfast…

Did a widely-shared video show a real nurse and police officers falsely accusing a Black man of being drunk, and calling him "Drunky McDrunk Pants? No, that's not true: The people in the video were simply acting out a scripted scenario. The page that posted the sketch routinely publishes similar scripted scenarios, and is affiliated with Network Media, a company…

Did the National Archives announce it would indefinitely restrict access of the general public to its facility in College Park, starting July 7, 2025? Yes, such a notice briefly appeared on the NARA website in connection with then-planned changes in the security protocol. Later, however, NARA's account on X said that the facility would remain open to the general public,…

Was a Dayton, Ohio teenager named Kameron Price fined and placed under house arrest in June 2025 after hacking the city's traffic control system and fixing several intersections? No, that's not true: The story was fabricated and appeared to be satirical in its origins. Photos posted with the story were fake and showed signs of having been AI-generated. The story…

Does a video authentically show a retired military K9 jumping into a casket to sit on a dead soldier? No, that's not true: A close inspection of the video reveals unreal details of the soldiers' uniforms indicating the video was generated by an artificial intelligence tool. A test using a tool to detect AI-generated content concluded with a 99.9% certainty…

Does a widely-circulated video on social media authentically show an ICE agent outsmarted by a man he accused of being an illegal immigrant in a supermarket? No, that's not true: The video is a scripted skit using actors on a studio set. The page that posted the sketch routinely publishes similar scripted scenarios and is affiliated with Network Media, a…

Did a widely-shared image provide an authentic record of Niagara Falls turning "blood red" in June 2025? No, that's not true: The image was first posted by a Facebook page that regularly posts fictional content and AI-generated images. A spokesperson for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation confirmed that the story and image were "not…

Did Senator Elissa Slotkin ask Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth where his Bible was when he "banged your Fox producer while married to another woman"? No, that's not true: The quote shared on social media is a made-up meme. The official transcript and a recording of the exchange between Slotkin and Hegseth do not include the purported quote about the Bible…