U.S. presidents have little control over the price that consumers pay for gasoline. It depends mostly on the price of crude oil, which is set on the global market, based largely on worldwide supply and demand. Yet Republican campaign ads have falsely claimed or suggested that President Joe Biden and Democrats are solely to blame for the prices that motorists are paying at the pump.
Planned Parenthood has not closed any of its health centers after the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, the organization told us. But social media posts falsely claim that Planned Parenthood clinics have been closing “all over the country” since the ruling. Some clinics have ceased performing abortions but are still providing health services.
The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, allowing laws banning abortion in several states, including Kentucky, to take effect. But social media posts falsely claim Kentucky is considering a law requiring all women of childbearing age to undergo monthly pregnancy testing. The claim stemmed from a lawmaker’s satirical amendment.
After the 2016 presidential election, some progressive Democrats tried to convince electors for Donald Trump to switch their Electoral College votes to Hillary Clinton. But a conservative commentator misleadingly claimed in a social media post that the Democrats were “calling for alternate electors” — as Trump did after losing the 2020 election.
At least 2,000 cattle have died following a heat wave in southwestern Kansas. Although the cattle apparently died of heatstroke, social media posts have made baseless claims suggesting that the deaths might be part of a larger conspiracy theory about the food supply.
Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome, or SADS, has been studied for decades and is caused by genetic heart problems. But social media posts suggest, with no evidence, that SADS is related to COVID-19 vaccines.
In discussing a bipartisan Senate proposal to address gun violence, Rep. Jamie Raskin exaggerated when he said there have been “more massacres than days in 2022.” Using the source supplied by the congressman’s office, guns were used in 14 “mass murders” so far this year.
At the second hearing of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, former President Donald Trump’s top aides testified that they told him his claims of election fraud were baseless. What Trump characterized as “fraud” was just part of the “normal process,” as former Attorney General William Barr said in one instance.
A school district in Illinois is considering implementing “equitable grading,” which would focus more on evaluating student learning than class participation or homework. A conservative website misrepresented the idea as a “race-based grading system” in a story that went viral. The equitable grading system would apply to all students.
The overall increase in fentanyl seized at the southwest border under President Joe Biden is nowhere near as high as a Republican ad misleadingly claims. U.S. border officials seized 13,021 pounds of the drug in Biden’s first full 15 months in office, which is 70% more than the 7,677 pounds seized in Donald Trump’s last full 15 months as president.