Facts Check

SciCheck Digest Documents show that Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Francis Collins received 58 royalty payments from 2010 to 2021 for their research. Only three of the payments came in 2020 or 2021; the rest were made prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. But social media posts falsely claimed all the […]

Quick Take The Federal Emergency Management Agency operates a Disaster Recovery Center on Maui and has approved $7 million in assistance to thousands of wildfire survivors. Online videos, however, are sharing a fabricated tale about FEMA’s operations, including a “shootout” with U.S. Marines. The bogus story originated on a satirical […]

In lieu of joining his fellow Republican presidential candidates in the Aug. 23 debate, former President Donald Trump granted an interview to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson — who posted it to X minutes before the debate began. Trump made several familiar false and misleading claims. Trump continued to […]

Summary We found false and misleading claims on abortion, crime, climate change and more. Several candidates claimed that Democrats support allowing abortions “up to the moment of birth,” but what Democrats support is an exception for bans on abortion after fetal viability if the mother’s health is at risk. Former […]

SciCheck Digest A video repeating the claim that COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for the sudden onset of various visible ailments — such as fainting and facial paralysis — is making the rounds, again. But, just like the other, similar posts we’ve addressed, there’s no support for this one, either. Full […]

SciCheck Digest It’s not known what sparked the wildfires in Maui, although some evidence points to downed power lines. The conditions were ripe for fire, as large amounts of invasive grasses were dry due to drought and high winds helped to rapidly spread flames. Bogus posts on social media, however, […]

SciCheck Digest Each year, respiratory syncytial virus hospitalizes 58,000 to 80,000 children under age 5 in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved an antibody injection for babies to protect them during the RSV season. There isn’t evidence the shots have killed any babies, contrary to social media […]

Quick Take The White House declared the site of the Maui wildfires a disaster area, and the Department of Defense has provided more than 400 troops, air support and other resources in firefighting and recovery efforts. Yet posts on Instagram misrepresent the federal response and one falsely claimed “the military […]

In recent speeches touting so-called Bidenomics, President Joe Biden has repeatedly cited the statistic that “unemployment has been below 4% for the longest stretch in over 50 years.” It’s true, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that the unemployment rate has been below that threshold for the last 18 […]

For the fourth time in a little more than four months, former President Donald Trump was indicted. This time, it’s by a special state grand jury in Georgia that alleges Trump and 18 co-defendants “refused to accept that Trump lost” the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden and conspired “to […]