Fact Check

Did politician Matt Gaetz post on X about "momentary lapses of judgement from decades ago" in relation to "prepubescent girls" and the "Epstein files"? No, that's not true: A viral screenshot of such a post originated on a Reddit subforum ironically named "TOTALLYREALTWEETS". It was posted by a user whose bio read "fake tweet writer" and the text in the…

Does a viral video really show an American B-2 bomber "surprised at high altitude" by enemy Su-34 and Su-35 jets from Russia? No, that's not true: The video originated on a TikTok channel that publishes video game footage. Despite this several social media posts presented the footage as real. The video appeared in a post on TikTok (archived here) where…

Was a 10-year-old girl, Jasmine "Jassy" Whitherspoon, among the Camp Mystic victims of the Texas floods in July 2025? As of this writing, there were no credible media reports about it. Here is what we know, so far. The claim originated in a July 17, 2025, post (archived here) on Facebook. It read: Little 10-year-old Jasmine "Jassy" Whitherspoon has been…

Does a video circulating on social media show a real-life arrest of a woman "in her own garden for growing lettuce"? No, that's not true: The video originated from an account, Bodycam Declassified, that publishes video skits mimicking police bodycam footage. The timestamp in the clip doesn't match the format for this particular type of recording device seen on the…

Does this image show a letter with a drawing described in the Wall Street Journal as being made by President Donald Trump for Jeffrey Epstein's birthday? No, that's not true: The image was published by an account on X that described it as an "artist's recreation". The Journal's original article did not contain a depiction of the image and none…

Is a viral story about two missing hikers named "Sarah Bennett" and "Andrew Miller" found dead in a cave in 2019 consistent with reality? No, that's not true: Several details in the tale about the missing couple from Colorado don't add up, such as a non-existent newspaper quote of a sister named "Emily Bennett" in the Denver Post and an…

Did Astronomer CEO Andy Byron release a statement in which he lamented how "a private moment became public" without his consent? No, that's not true: A widely-shared screenshot showed a fake statement first published by a parody account on X. Byron, who is married, was the subject of news coverage in July 2025 after he appeared to have been shown…

Does a viral video labeled "Texas - 13.07.2025" show the 2025 Texas floods swallowing entire cities in a matter of seconds? No, that's not true: The video originated from a TikTok account whose contents were labeled as AI generated. A frame-by-frame examination confirmed that the clip contained inconsistencies pointing to AI. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published…

Was a viral picture of Donald Trump kissing a young female model authentic? No, that's not true: A comparison with the original photos from a Guardian article shows that the image was digitally manufactured. The details of the background and the outfit of another woman present in the frame didn't match authentic stills. The claim appeared in a post (archived…

Does a viral TikTok video of disaster scenes document the impacts of an earthquake in Alaska? No, that's not true: The opening shot was taken in Taiwan and the other eight clips that make up the video were either not captured in Alaska, taken before the July 2025 Alaskan quake referred to in the TikTok video, or untraceable to Alaska.…

Did Donald Trump post on Truth Social that he was never on Jeffrey Epstein's plane or his "stupid" Island? Yes, that's true: Trump's Truth Social timeline still displays the message shared on January 9, 2024. Some X users insisted Trump never made the statement, including the author of a proposed community note. The true claim that Trump posted the message…

Did a widely-shared video authentically show a real Uber driver attempting to extort $1,000 from an immigrant passenger and threatening to report him to ICE? No, that's not true: The people in the video were simply acting out a scene. The account that posted the sketch routinely publishes what it describes as "scripted content". The sketch appeared in an April…

Were Rep. Nancy Pelosi's granddaughters arrested trying to smuggle narcotics into the United States? 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 July 16, 2025, post on Facebook (archived here), which contained a photo…

Does a viral video of flood scenes include real clips of the 2025 Independence Day Weekend flooding in Kerr County, Texas? No, that's not true: The opening scene is an obvious product of generative AI. None of the clips in the montage can be traced to authentic filming of the Texas flood. The clips include news coverage of floods that…

Did former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton congratulate Irish martial arts fighter Conor McGregor on his birthday by addressing him as "this future president" in 2025? No, that's not true: Clinton's account didn't display such a post. The fake was built on a 2016 Clinton tweet in which she referred to herself, not McGregor,…

Did a video show U.S. President Donald Trump stealing the winner's medal of a player after the football Club World Cup Final in July 2025? No, that's not true: The medal in Trump's hands was earlier given to him by FIFA President Gianni Infantino. A widely-shared clip was edited to cut out the moment when the president received the medal…

Does a viral video really show a Chinese electric helicopter you can buy for $300 and that can stay in the air for ten hours? No, that's not true: The video does not show a single-seat helicopter capable of flying at 120 kilometres per hour made by Xiaomi or "the world's cheapest helicopter". It shows an American-made helicopter from Florida…

Did Atlanta Braves Manager Brian Snitker adopt an orphaned baby named "Pinky" who was rescued from the July Texas flood? No, that's not true: Photos of Snitker cradling an infant and the text of a story claiming he adopted the "poor, shivering newborn" were all generated by artificial intelligence tools and shared on a fake baseball fan page administered from…

Does a video show a man who tried to disguise himself as a little girl being detained by ICE and offered a cheeseburger? No, that's not true: The post making the claim offered no context about the origins of the video, but Lead Stories identified the person seen eating a cheeseburger. She is the daughter of an Instagram influencer in…

Does a viral video on social media show Gazans who are fleeing Palestine arriving in Sweden? No, that's not true: The Ruahel Charity Association soccer team shown in the video represents various cities in the West Bank, not Gaza. The video shows players and coaches on a plane as part of a multi-city tour of Europe in July and August…