Facebook Twitter Tumblr Close Skip to main content
A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Flu Shots, MMR Vaccines Have Saved Millions of Lives, Contrary to Online Claim

Flu Shots, MMR Vaccines Have Saved Millions of Lives, Contrary to Online Claim

Flu shots and vaccines that protect children against measles, mumps and rubella have been effective in preventing illness, serious disease and death. But a meme has been circulating with the false suggestion that those vaccines are ineffective. Actually, they’ve saved millions of lives and have eliminated both measles and rubella in the U.S.

Launching Impeachment Inquiries: Reviewing What Happened in 2019 and 2023

Launching Impeachment Inquiries: Reviewing What Happened in 2019 and 2023

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reneged on his promise not to move forward with an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden without having a full vote by the House of Representatives. When defending his reversal, McCarthy blamed his predecessor, Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi. We sort out their conflicting statements.

Ramaswamy’s Climate Change Spin

Ramaswamy’s Climate Change Spin

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, a self-professed “unapologetic proponent of greater use of fossil fuels,” has repeatedly cited false or misleading statistics to downplay the risks of climate change.

Trump Walked Back Abortion Statement Misleadingly Used in Biden-Harris Ad

Trump Walked Back Abortion Statement Misleadingly Used in Biden-Harris Ad

As a presidential candidate seven years ago, Donald Trump said women needed to face “some form” of punishment for violating abortion bans — a position he quickly retracted after being criticized. But the former president’s original remark about punishing women is misleadingly featured in an ad from the campaign to reelect President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Video Clip Misrepresents Biden’s Meeting with Israeli President

Video Clip Misrepresents Biden’s Meeting with Israeli President

President Joe Biden met with the Israeli president in July at the White House. A clip from that meeting is circulating online with the false suggestion that Biden was “falling asleep” during the meeting. The full video shows Biden was consulting notecards and wasn’t asleep.

Video: Hearst on the First GOP Debate

Video: Hearst on the First GOP Debate

Our article about the first Republican debate of the 2024 election was the basis for this fact-checking video segment produced by Hearst Television — one of our media partners.

Number of Counties Won in Presidential Election Doesn’t Determine Outcome

Number of Counties Won in Presidential Election Doesn’t Determine Outcome

Democrats tend to win in densely populated counties, while Republicans win more sparse, rural counties. In 2020, the counties won by President Joe Biden had 67 million more residents than counties won by former President Donald Trump. Yet a social media post falsely asserts that because Biden won with fewer counties than Trump, “something isn’t adding up.”

Trump Makes Unsubstantiated Claim About Fani Willis

Trump Makes Unsubstantiated Claim About Fani Willis

There is no evidence that Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, had “an affair” with a “gang member” she was investigating, as former President Donald Trump claimed in a campaign speech.

False Claim About Cause of Autism Highlighted on Pennsylvania Senate Panel

False Claim About Cause of Autism Highlighted on Pennsylvania Senate Panel

Studies have found the rate of autism is the same in vaccinated and unvaccinated children. But the false claim that vaccines are associated with the disorder persists. A prominent spreader of COVID-19 misinformation wrongly told legislators in Pennsylvania that autism is virtually nonexistent among the unvaccinated, citing the Amish population.