Former President Donald Trump made false and questionable claims in a brief press conference on Jan. 11 after the closing arguments in a New York civil fraud trial.
FactChecking Trump’s Iowa Town Hall
FactChecking the Haley-DeSantis GOP Debate
Trump Shares Bogus Claim About Haley’s Eligibility to Serve as President
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, and as a natural born citizen is eligible to serve as U.S. president. But social media posts — including one shared by former President Donald Trump — falsely claim she is ineligible because her parents weren’t American citizens when she was born.
Post Misrepresents NFL Response to Oct. 7 Attack on Israel
NFL teams paid tribute to the victims in Israel of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack by holding moments of silence before games during the following week. But a recent social media post falsely claimed the NFL encouraged players “to kneel for Israel before every game.” An NFL spokesperson called the claim “patently false.”
Kimmel Not Named in Unsealed Epstein Documents
Court documents that include names of people associated with accused sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein are being unsealed, but late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel has not been implicated. The suggestion that Kimmel would be among the names came from football player Aaron Rodgers, who had no evidence to support the claim.
Debunking Bogus Claim of ‘Bipartisan’ Support for Mayorkas Impeachment Hearings
Legislators often tout support for some piece of legislation as bipartisan, even if only a few members from the opposing party back it. But in an announcement about committee hearings to investigate the possible impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, one Republican is taking claims of bipartisanship to absurd new lengths.
Faulty Science Underpins Florida Surgeon General’s Call to Halt mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination
Posts Make Baseless Claim About Deadly Iowa School Shooting
A sixth-grade student was killed, five people were injured and the 17-year-old gunman took his own life during a school shooting in Perry, Iowa, on Jan. 4. Social media posts baselessly labeled the incident a “false flag” event timed to draw attention away from the release of documents related to sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s associates.