Did Public Assistance Programs Exist in the United States Before Social Security?
Claims that “our ancestors” who emigrated to the U.S. had no access to pensions or other types of aid when they arrived are ahistorical.
trump administration
Is Donald Trump Deleting Anti-Immigrant Tweets?
In the hours after a mass shooter at a mall in El Paso, Texas left at least 22 people dead, rumors flew that the President of the United States was deleting relevant tweets.
Did Lindsey Graham Call Donald Trump a ‘Kook’ and ‘Not Fit to Lead’ in 2016?
On May 1 2019, the Facebook page “The Other 98%” shared the following meme (archived here), contrasting 2016 with 2019 quotes from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and characterizations of President Trump as a “kook” who is “not fit to lead”: Photographs of Graham at the top right and bottom left were captioned with two separate …
Did Lindsey Graham Call Donald Trump a ‘Kook’ and ‘Not Fit to Lead’ in 2016? Read More »
Does a ‘Leaked’ British Intelligence Document Prove Trump Wiretapping Claims?
In April 2019, in the days and weeks following the release of a heavily anticipated (and heavily redacted) Special Counsel’s report on interference into the 2016 United States presidential elections, rumors and speculation reinvigorated a March 2017 conspiracy theory that British intelligence spied on the Trump campaign for the Obama administration: President Trump provoked a rare public dispute with …
Does a ‘Leaked’ British Intelligence Document Prove Trump Wiretapping Claims? Read More »
Asylum-Seekers Held Under a Bridge in El Paso
On March 28 2019, a Twitter user shared the following tweet, purportedly showing a large number of people being detained under an overpass in El Paso, Texas: The images appeared to be authentic and undoctored, but they were not accompanied by a source for their description. We were able to track the photographs to Washington Post reporter …
Did Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Say ‘All the Technology in the World Won’t Let Us Build a Wall in the Mountains’?
On February 22 2019, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) shared the following meme (archived here), purporting to quote Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the feasibility of building walls across mountains in an apparent reference to the United States border: King captioned the post “Wrong again, AOC,” with a red “X.” It featured a photograph of Ocasio-Cortez and …
Did Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s State of the Union Outfit Cost Thousands of Dollars?
In February 2019, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez was among a number of Democratic women wearing all white ensembles for the president’s State of the Union address, and the New York congresswoman’s outfit in particular inspired a number of memes. On Facebook, one iteration (and variations) asserted that Ocasio-Cortez’s look was expensive, heavily implying (or even saying …
Did Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s State of the Union Outfit Cost Thousands of Dollars? Read More »
Is This the League of Nazi Women, Who ‘Always Wore White’?
On February 5 2019, Facebook user Anna Love shared the following image in a status update, claiming that the photograph shows Nazi Socialist women wearing their customary white attire: In the status update field, Love wrote: The League of Nazi Socialist women who supported Hitler’s dream of a socialist paradise. They always went to public …
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Chuck Schumer Border Wall 2013 vs. 2018
In January 2019, the Facebook page “McGroarty for Freedom” shared the following meme, which contrasted purported positions held by Sen. Chuck Schumer in 2013 and 2018 on the topic of a border wall to separate the United States from Mexico: It was composed of two photographs of Schumer, and the meme’s text stated: VOTES FOR …
Is This a Photo of Nancy Pelosi and George Soros’s Son?
In January 2019, a Facebook user shared the following image, purportedly showing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi alongside George Soros’s son: The title and text surrounding the image, which is apparently a screenshot of an October 2018 blog post, claimed in usual agitprop style that the photograph is evidence that the Democratic Party is secretly conspiring …
Is This a Photo of Nancy Pelosi and George Soros’s Son? Read More »