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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

No ‘Crisis Actors’ in Parkland, Florida

No ‘Crisis Actors’ in Parkland, Florida

Q: Are the students who survived the Florida school shooting really “crisis actors”?

A: No. Conspiracy theories have been spreading online to undercut students advocating stricter gun control.

Out With the ‘Old Dixie’

Out With the ‘Old Dixie’

Q: Did President Donald Trump order the removal of Barack Obama’s name from a Florida highway?

A: No. That rumor comes from a false headline attached to a 2015 opinion piece critical of the name change.

No Shutdown Shakedown

No Shutdown Shakedown

Q: Did Sen. Chuck Schumer take $500,000 in donations from immigrant advocacy groups before the government shutdown?

A: No. That rumor originated on a satirical website. 

Fake Denzel Washington Story

Fake Denzel Washington Story

Q: Did Denzel Washington call Barack Obama the “criminal-in-chief”?

A: No. The actor has been a steady supporter of Obama and of other Democrats.  

Bogus Claim on Mosque Raid

Bogus Claim on Mosque Raid

Q: Were 11 would-be terrorists arrested in a late-night raid at a mosque?

A: No. The FBI confirmed that there has been no such raid.

More Claims of Alabama Voter Fraud

More Claims of Alabama Voter Fraud

Q: Were illegal voters bused in to Alabama to swing the election to Doug Jones? Were thousands of fraudulent votes recorded for him?

A: Those claims were made by self-described “satirical” websites. The Alabama Secretary of State says there’s no evidence that fraudulent voting affected the outcome. 

Medicare, Cancer and the Tax Bill

Medicare, Cancer and the Tax Bill

Q: Is it true that under the GOP tax bill, Medicare will stop covering cancer treatment?
A: No. Nothing about the tax bill would end cancer treatment benefits. Increased deficits could lead to Medicare spending cuts, however.

Elizabeth Warren’s ‘Pocahontas’ Controversy

Elizabeth Warren’s ‘Pocahontas’ Controversy

Q: Is Sen. Elizabeth Warren part Native American? Is that how she got jobs as a professor at Ivy League law schools?

A: Warren has released a report of a DNA test that claims to “strongly support” her statement that she has Native American ancestry, and no one has proved that she was ever hired because of her racial background.