FAN Moderator

Quick Take Two Missouri state senators participated in a fundraising event that included a demonstration of flamethrowers that were up for auction. Videos shared on Instagram falsely claimed to show the senators engaged in a “book burning.” But only empty boxes, not books, were being torched. Full Story Efforts to […]

SciCheck Digest Serious side effects after COVID-19 vaccination are rare, and there isn’t evidence people need to undergo a “spike protein detoxification” regimen after getting vaccinated, contrary to claims made online. Nor has such a regimen been shown to help people recover from long COVID, or long-term health problems after having […]

Kristen Welker’s first week as the new moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press” featured an interview with former President Donald Trump, and she was busy trying to push back on his numerous false and misleading statements. Here are some that we identified: Trump denied that he asked a staffer at […]

SciCheck Digest 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 […]

Quick Take The wildfires in Maui caused widespread destruction on the island and claimed the lives of 97 people. The Maui Police Department and the FBI have released the list of 31 individuals still unaccounted for following the fire. Yet an Instagram post falsely claims “over 1,000 children are missing.” […]

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. “Nancy Pelosi changed the rules and the precedent,” […]

In its latest TV ad attacking Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, the conservative super PAC School Freedom Fund falsely claims that Beshear’s decision to release some prisoners early during the COVID-19 pandemic allowed a man convicted of sodomizing a child to “roam free.” Although the TV ad, which began airing […]

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. A former biotech entrepreneur, Ramaswamy made headlines for his performance in the first Republican primary debate, including a moment when he said that because he was “the only […]

SciCheck Digest Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, is an advocate for equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines in countries around the globe. But a social media post misleadingly claims, “Tedros says he isnt vaccinated.” Tedros shared a tweet on May 12, 2021, showing himself receiving a […]

Updated COVID-19 vaccines are being rolled out in the U.S., aimed at targeting the latest, prevalent variants of the disease. The updated vaccines, from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, are available for those ages 6 months and older. The Food and Drug Administration approved the mRNA vaccines on Sept. 11 for those […]