Politics

Were there any official reports about former National Security Advisor John Bolton dying in the wake of airstrikes on Iran late February 2026? No, that's not true: The claim was only made in a likely satirical social media post. There were no news reports about his passing and no mention of it on the site of his PAC or on…

Does a viral image prove that Ghislaine Maxwell, a socialite convicted of sex trafficking for Jeffrey Epstein, touched Melania Trump's breast while posing next to Donald Trump at a party in the early 2000s? No, that's not true: A real photo of them was digitally altered to change the position of Maxwell's hand. In the original shot, Maxwell's arm rests…

Was a "secret report" numbered 77/5000 released with the Epstein files, showing security camera footage of the now-dead pedophile financier walking with and kissing a girl? No, that's not true: This video is fake. There are two nearly identical versions of this AI-generated video. Both feature the same non-functioning timestamp, identical down to the second. In one version the girl…

Did the White House post on TikTok a real video showing USA men's hockey player Brady Tkachuk insulting Canada, calling them "maple syrup eating f***s"? No, that's not true: The clip of Tkachuk bad-mouthing Canada after the USA men's team won the gold medal in the Olympics is AI-generated audio. Tkachuk plays for the Ottawa Senators NHL team and said…

Does a photo show Hillary Clinton posing with her husband, Bill Clinton, along with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell? No, that's not true: The woman in the picture is Jane Slagsvol, wife of the late musician Jimmy Buffett, not Hillary Clinton. The photo has been cropped; the original version shows Buffett standing next to Slagsvol. The claim appeared in a…

Does an authentic video show Hilary Knight, captain of the 2026 gold medal-winning U.S. women's hockey team, saying she was "mortified" for the U.S. men's team? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Knight ever said that, but she did call President Donald Trump's invitation to the White House a "distasteful joke." Also, the creator of the original…

Does a viral image document Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney dining with Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite convicted of sex trafficking girls for Jeffrey Epstein? No, that's not true: The image displayed a watermark pointing to a generative AI tool. Several details in the picture, such as missing temples of a person's glasses or an earring incorrectly attached to an…

Is there a federal "Born In America" act that would prevent naturalized citizens from elected office being promoted by numerous luminaries including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Sen. John Kennedy, Rep. Jim Jordan, FBI Director Kash Patel, and movie star Denzel Washington? No, that's not true: Nearly identical versions of a dramatic story about the purported bill, changed only to…

Did Devarjaye "DJ" Daniel, the brain cancer survivor whom President Trump made an honorary Secret Service agent, die on February 23, 2026? No, that's not true: As of Feb. 25, 2026, there was no evidence that DJ had died. Following similar rumors in January 2026, DJ's dad, Theodis Daniel, said, "If any update [does] not come from me, his Dad,…

Does a viral image of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi wearing "Don't ban insider trading" lapel sticker show what she wore to the 2026 State of the Union speech by President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: A picture of her was digitally edited to change the words on her sticker. The real badge worn by the former speaker of the House…

Is a photo that shows the US and Canadian women's Olympic hockey teams visiting Canadian Prime Minister Carney real? No, that's not true: An online detection tool rated the image 99.9% likely to be AI generated, and there are telltale signs in the photo that it is not real. The word "Canada" is misspelled on the jersey of the woman…

Did Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger publish a campaign video where she promised, with a sinister smile, to never encroach on the Constitution and never take your guns? No, that's not true: This AI-generated video was published on X by the Loudoun County Republican Committee and did not originate from Spanberger. An AI tool animated two still portrait photographs of Spanberger…

Was Decarlos Brown Jr., accused of killing Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, a foreign national who "came in through open borders," as Donald Trump said during the State of the Union address? No, that is not true: Brown was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and graduated from West Mecklenburg High School. Because he was born in the United States, he is…

Did Sam Bankman-Fried write a post on X, offering Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez money in bitcoins to fund a 2028 presidential run? No, that's not true: As of this writing, there was no such post on his account. No credible media organizations published reports about the purported entry. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on February 24, 2026.…

Did Bruce Springsteen, Jason Kelce, and Snoop Dogg, along with other entertainment and sports celebrities, call Trump adviser Stephen Miller a "Nazi" and "the Goebbels of the cabinet"? No, that's not true: The claim that a celebrity "called Trump's homeland security official Stephen Miller a 'Nazi'" is made about at least 20 celebrities but the quote actually came just from…

Do photos and social media accounts of Austin Tucker Martin reveal him to be transgender? No, that's not true: The photos purporting to show Martin, who was killed while allegedly armed and breaking into President Trump's private Mar-a-Lago club, are mislabeled. They show an unidentified person who does not resemble verified family photos of Martin. No credible reporting about Austin…

Did California pay the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) more than $100 million mainly to fund protests as a viral social media post said? No, that's not true: California's payments to CHIRLA were overwhelmingly tied to immigration legal services and social welfare programs. There is no evidence in state budget records that any funds were used to pay or…

Did Kash Patel, Sen. John Kennedy, Pete Buttigieg, Vince Gill and others demand that former President Barack Obama return millions he earned through ownership related to "Obamacare"? No, that's not true: Nearly identical stories that swap-in those and other names are part of an international network of websites and Facebook pages that publish fake news stories about famous people to…

Does a viral clip show the real Erika Kirk dancing next to a highway sign renaming a road after her late husband, conservative activist Charlie Kirk? No, that's not true: The video is a product of generative AI. It featured shape-shifting hands, pants that blended in and separated from a boot within seconds and a fictitious name for the agency…

Did a meme about the "National Intelligence Agency" discovering Bernie Sanders owns several companies and bank accounts in China originate from actual news reports? No, that's not true: It originated on a satirical Facebook page run by a liberal man with a long history of tricking conservatives into sharing made-up content. The meme had an explicit disclaimer from the Facebook…