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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Invented Malia Obama Stories

Invented Malia Obama Stories

Q: Was Malia Obama fired from an internship for smoking marijuana? Was she arrested for buying marijuana in Chicago?

A: No. Those spoof stories were made up to troll conservative readers.

Trump Didn’t Ignore Disabled Child

Trump Didn’t Ignore Disabled Child

Q: Did President Donald Trump ignore a disabled child who tried to shake his hand?

A: No. A viral video clip omitted Trump’s earlier interaction with the boy.

25 Million Clinton Votes Weren’t Fake

25 Million Clinton Votes Weren’t Fake

Q: Did NPR report that a study found “over 25 million Hillary Clinton votes were completely fraudulent,” and that she “actually lost the popular vote”?

A: No. That claim was made in a story that conflates a 2012 article about inaccuracies in voter registration rolls with actual fraudulent votes.

Obama Didn’t Attend G-20 in 2017

Obama Didn’t Attend G-20 in 2017

Q: Did former President Barack Obama follow President Donald Trump to the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany?

A: No. That claim was made on websites that don’t “make any warranties” about the reliability of their information.

A Fake Supreme Court Ruling

A Fake Supreme Court Ruling

Q: Did the Supreme Court rule that immigrants living in the U.S. illegally can’t sue anyone if they feel they’ve been mistreated?

A: No. That claim was made in a bogus story published on satirical and fake news websites.

Trump’s Private Lawyer Won’t Cost Taxpayers

Trump’s Private Lawyer Won’t Cost Taxpayers

Q: Is President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Marc Kasowitz, “costing taxpayers $10,000 per hour” for his services during the Russia investigation?
A: No. That claim comes from a baseless story on an “entertainment” website that posts satirical stories.

Can Trump Fire Mueller?

Can Trump Fire Mueller?

Q: Can President Donald Trump fire special counsel Robert Mueller?

A: Not directly. Only the deputy attorney general who appointed Mueller can fire him and only for cause. But Trump could fire the DAG, or order the special-counsel regulations repealed and fire Mueller himself.

John McCain Still a Republican

John McCain Still a Republican

Q: Has Sen. John McCain “renounced any affiliation with the Republican Party”?

A: No. That claim was made in a fake news story published by a “satirical publication.”

No Obama Statue in the White House

No Obama Statue in the White House

Q: Did President Barack Obama commission a life-size bronze statue of himself to leave in the White House?

A: No. That fake news story was “intended for entertainment purposes only.”

NASA Won’t Pay You to Smoke Weed

NASA Won’t Pay You to Smoke Weed

Q: Does NASA pay $18,000 for people to stay in bed and smoke weed for 70 straight days?

A: No. NASA conducts bed-rest studies, but it does not allow participants to smoke marijuana or even drink alcohol.