The Estimated IQ’s of American Presidents–Fiction! Summary of eRumor: This email claims that a think tank in Pennsylvania determined the IQ’s of American presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush, rating bush as the lowest and Bill Clinton as the highest. The Truth: This was written from the fantasies of someone who …
A chain email used the story of “Kevin Archer” to drum up lazy fearmongering.
Al Gore’s Horse-Thief Ancestor–Fiction! Summary of eRumor: This email claims that Tipper Gore, the wife of former Senator and presidential candidate Al Gore, is into genealogy and discovered a great-great uncle in the Gore family who was hanged as a horse thief and train robber. When the president’s image-makers were finished with the story, …
A long-standing urban legend found new life thanks to chat show host Graham Norton.
A xenophobic message that circulated within days of the attacks lingers as online swill.
Summary of eRumor: This email claims that Laura Bush, the wife of President George W. Bush, is into genealogy and discovered a great-great uncle in the Bush family who was hanged for stealing horses. When the president’s image-makers were finished with the story, however, they had made the history of the great-great uncle sound like …
The campaign against Excelsior Middle School was an example of how “indoctrination” claims get weaponized.
Suckered into the “Flashing Headlights” Gang Initiation eRumor One of the enduring false eRumors on the Internet warns motorists not to flash their headlights at any oncoming cars driving with their lights off because it may be a member of a gang who, as part of a gang initiation ritual, may follow you and assault …
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A chain email makes a number of claims about Bill and Hillary Clintons’ government pensions and that the Clintons charge the Secret Service $10,000 a month in rent.
Ted Kennedy asked leaders of the Soviet Union to help the Democrats defeat President Reagan in the 1984 presidential election in a secret letter that he sent in 1983.
