Is COVID-19 the most highly survivable virus? No, that's not true: Chickenpox and Epstein-Barr (mononucleosis) are widespread and rarely lethal. Effective vaccines make those and lethal viruses like rabies and smallpox almost 100% survivable in the U.S. Meanwhile, the novel coronavirus killed 200,000 Americans and 972,000 worldwide by Sept. 23, 2020. The claim originated in a Facebook post (archived here)…

Has President Trump signed nine executive orders to combat child trafficking, with those orders not getting public coverage? No, that's not true: Trump has signed two executive orders that specifically mention human trafficking. Both were reported in the media. The claim appeared on a post on Facebook on August 29, 2020, (archived here) with following text: Our President has signed…

Was Ruth Bader Ginsburg "nominated and confirmed 43 days before an election"? No, that's not true: Ginsburg was nominated and confirmed in 42 days (not 43) in 1993 -- which was not an election year. The previous year, 1992, was an election year, in which Bill Clinton won for the first time. Approximately eight months into his first term, he…

Did a "coroner" say George Floyd died from a drug overdose and not because a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes? No, that is not true. While the autopsy report said Floyd had drugs in his system and other health problems at the time of his death, the report said the cause of death was…

Did Joe Biden use a teleprompter to answer questions during an interview with Telemundo? No, that's not true: The Spanish-language TV network said the accusation was "absolutely false." It published a video showing what happened: Biden was looking at a monitor, off to the side, which displayed the image of a viewer who had asked the Democratic presidential candidate a…

Does the appearance of the number 33 in a collection of news reports about COVID-19 cases represent anything that needs explaining? No. COVID-19 cases have been counted and reported around the world for hundreds of days. There is nothing remarkable about a search engine finding instances of any specific number of cases reported in the news, including the number 33.…

Are "pedophilia code words" contained within a conversation about Joe Biden that took place between Kamala Harris and Barack Obama? No, that's not true: The alleged coded language is based on a fake FBI document. Lead Stories tracked down the real bulletin, which makes no mention of code words. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on Instagram…

Did Fisher-Price release 'My First Peaceful Protest' playset with a house that children can set ablaze? No, that's not true: This is a satirical claim published by a well-known satire website. This satire piece stems from the recent protests that have been happening across the United States following the death of George Floyd. The claim originated in an article published…

Did LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Los Angeles Lakers' leading scorers this season, wear lace collars to honor the life of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg after her death? No, that's not true: This is a satirical claim published by a known satire website. Neither James, Davis, nor any other NBA players have worn lace collars in the…

Are there images hidden in redesigns of US currency that depict a progressive scene of the attack on the World Trade Center and the collapse of the twin towers on September 11, 2001? No, that's not true: A video purporting to demonstrate that claim uses bills that -- except for the $1 and $100 bill -- were all redesigned and…

Does President Trump have 26 active lawsuits against him alleging sexual assault, including seven that accuse Trump of sexually abusing children? No, that's not true. While some reports have indeed put the number of allegations against Trump at 26 since the 1970s, not all have been filed in court. Also, there is only one claim that Trump abused a child…

Does George Soros own Two Sigma Investments? No, that's not true: The company's federal filings with the Security and Exchange Commission state that Soros has never been part of any ownership of the investment firm. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on Facebook on Sept. 19, 2020. It opened: Melissa Francis is married to Wray Thorn who…

Does a photo show high gas prices that were from "the last time Biden was in office"? No, that's not true. A photo has gone viral showing regular, plus and premium gas prices all above $5.00 with the claim that it was taken the "last time" Joe Biden was in office. But the photograph was taken in March 2008 when…

Did Joe Biden completely botch the Pledge of Allegiance during a campaign speech? No, that's not true and the comments were taken out of context. GOP rapid response director Steve Guest claimed that Biden "completely botches" the pledge during a campaign speech in a tweet that went viral. The Democratic nominee for president was criticizing Donald Trump and saying he…

Did Joe Biden post on Twitter that he was taking time off from his campaign to watch the controversial French film "Cuties" on Netflix? No, that's not true: The tweet is fake and did not come from Biden's verified account. The claim appeared as a meme in a post (archived here) published on Instagram on Sept. 10, 2020. It read:…

Is Joe Biden seen biting a young girl's cheek in a photo? No, that's not true: The man in the photo used in a meme claiming Biden is a "senile old pervert" is actually Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the president of Mexico. The image is a screenshot from a video of López Obrador campaigning and it was shared on his…

Is "Pizza Gate" real? No, that's not true: So-called proof for Pizzagate is unsubstantiated and speculative. It relies on tricks of the trade common to people pushing unproven allegations. Authorities have described Pizzagate as a "fictitious online conspiracy theory." The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on Facebook on August 21, 2020. The post contains a nearly hour-long…

Did Donald Trump tweet "Obama should wait until he leaves office to pick another Justice! If he doesn't, he should be fired!" in April 2016 about an election year Supreme Court vacancy? No, that's not true. This is a fake tweet that Trump never sent, according to the archive of his tweets. The fake tweet is gaining traction amid the…

Was accused Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse required to show up for his first hearing after allegedly killing two people and wounding a third during a racial justice protest in August 2020? No, that is not true. Rittenhouse did not have to be at the extradition hearing; he was represented by a lawyer -- a public defender -- making his presence…

Did Facebook delete a photo of first lady Melania Trump, her sister and her mother? No, that's not true: The photo that was purportedly deleted (it wasn't) showed the first lady, her sister, and a philanthropist named Audrey Gruss -- not Melania Trump's mother. Facebook said it found no evidence of deletion. Some versions of the image were labeled as…