Politics

Was Gadi Eisenkot declared the new prime minister of Israel, as of Oct. 30, 2026, replacing Benjamin Netanyahu in this role as a result of the 2026 legislative election? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no credible reports confirming such a change in established Hebrew- or English-language news outlets. As of this writing, the PM's Office government page didn't…

Did the German digital news outlet FOCUS Online report about an "Eco Sanitation Act" that will limit Germans to three flushes a day and five minute showers by 2027? No, that's not true: Online searches show FOCUS Online has not reported about this topic. The video posted on X with a FOCUS Online logo in the corner appears to be…

Did James Talarico, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas in the 2026 midterm campaign, say that the U.S. should have a "welcome mat" on the southern border? Yes, he did, but that was not a full quote of his words: Talarico said the border should have a "giant welcome mat," and then he added that it should have "a…

Did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threaten Spain in 2026 by saying, "There could be sudden power outages and train accidents"? No, that's not true: The video is a copy of an April 10, 2026, statement in which Netanyahu said he would not "allow any country to wage a diplomatic war against us without paying an immediate price," but he…

Does a video show a Trump supporter who was stabbed outside a rally in Chillicothe, Ohio, on Oct. 28, 2026? No, that's not true: A Chillicothe Police spokesperson said "there was no stabbing". During a fight an officer broke up, the clip on the officer's pocketknife caught in a person's shirt, but the knife never opened. Lead Stories found no…

Does a real video show philanthropist Susan Dell wearing a red dress and dancing at an outdoor patio gathering? No, that's not true: The video is AI-generated and was posted with AI disclaimers on Instagram on Oct. 16, 2026. Content detection tools also flagged the video: Hive Moderation rated it 87.5% likely AI-generated, and Sightengine's reading reached as high as…

Did 8 million people in Brazil vote without ID after polls were scheduled to close in the Oct. 25, 2026, runoff election? No, that's not true: Brazil's Superior Electoral Court told Lead Stories the claim that 8 million people voted after polling stations closed is false. Its data shows only 34,393 votes were cast after 5 p.m., while Luiz Inácio…

Does a real WABI-TV 5 news report show Maine's Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, Troy Jackson, threatening to cut staff in half with an axe? No, that's not true: Station General Manager Kim Petry confirmed that the video is fabricated and "was not produced, aired, or authorized by WABI." Hive Moderation determined the audio was 99.1% likely to be AI-generated. Lead…

Does a viral video show a life-threatening attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu one day after the Oct. 27, 2026, election? No, that's not true: The low quality of the video obscured that it showed a different politician giving a speech in a different country in 2013. It was Ahmed Dogan attacked in Bulgaria. The claim appeared in a…

Do real photos show former first daughter Sasha Obama with a baby bump? No, that's not true: The photos were modified using OpenAI, and there is no evidence that they depict a real pregnancy. Lead Stories found no matching reports from established news outlets confirming the claim or indicating that she is pregnant. The claim also misspelled her name as…

Were four U.S. Secret Service agents placed on leave after tampering with the air defense systems at Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's Florida home? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the U.S. Secret Service told Lead Stories, "there is zero truth to that post." The X account that posted the claim is from a website with a disclaimer stating it…

Does a viral video show defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro receiving an ovation upon his arrival in the United States in October 2026? No, that's not true: The footage predated the runoff election by roughly one month. The video showed Bolsonaro still campaigning in Brazil. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X where it was published…

Did dozens of Pennsylvania election workers say that then-Gov. Tom Wolf and then-Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar ordered them to destroy Trump ballots in the 2020 presidential election? No, that's not true: This false news story originated from a Facebook page that lists its category as "comedian" but has spread to other social media platforms without the comedy disclaimer. Lead…

Is a photo that shows Beyoncé with a shirtless Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein and another photo of just the two men on an airplane real photos from the Department of Justice Epstein files? No, that's not true: Hive Moderation's AI detection tool rated one image 99.9% likely to be AI-generated and the other 99.6% likely. A search of the…

Does a real "Maui Sunset" photo show Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Jeffrey Epstein together? No, that's not true: An online tool concluded that the image was "made or edited" using Google AI. Lead Stories found no matching reports from established news outlets and no evidence that an authentic version of the photo was publicly available. The claim appeared in…

Did President Donald Trump post to Truth Social, already declaring victory in the 2026 midterms and saying counting ballots is "wasting time"? No, that's not true: A review of Trump's Truth Social account found no record of the post. No established news outlets had reported that his account shared the message at the time of publication. The claim appeared in…

Is a punch hole in a California ballot envelope proof of election rigging in the 2026 election? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that elections in California can be rigged based on just the existence of a punch hole on a ballot envelope. The punch holes serve a dual purpose. The Ventura County Clerk-Recorder & Registrar of Voters…

Does a viral video actually show Flávio Bolsonaro crying after his defeat in Brazil's Oct. 25, 2026, presidential election? No, that's not true: Lead Stories established that the events in the video had been recorded days before the official election results were announced and that it was posted well before the results were announced. The initial caption said that the…

Does a video show Flávio Bolsonaro with fewer votes in the second round of the Brazilian presidential election in October 2026 than in the first, proving fraud? No, that's not true: The vote count was incomplete, with about 93% of the ballots counted, and the video does not show the final results. Once all ballots were counted, Bolsonaro had 3.7…

Does a photo prove that climate activist Greta Thunberg was arrested in Rome for throwing confetti in a fountain at St. Peter's Square in October 2026? No, that's not true: That image of her had been online since 2023, and it showed her arrest in Sweden, not Italy. The rumor originated from a self-described satire network of pages known to…