Facebook Twitter Tumblr Close Skip to main content
A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

There Are No “M.A.G.A. Checks”

There Are No “M.A.G.A. Checks”

Q: Can U.S. residents collect “M.A.G.A. Checks”?

A: No. A “M.A.G.A. Check” is the invention of a publisher selling an investment guide that makes promises of easy money.

Bogus Story on Cohen Raid

Bogus Story on Cohen Raid

Q: Did a federal judge rule that evidence collected from Michael Cohen’s office is inadmissible?
A: No. That claim was invented by a website that labels its content as satire.

Another Bogus Parkland Conspiracy Theory

Another Bogus Parkland Conspiracy Theory

Q: Does searching an obituary website prove that there were no shooting deaths at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14?

A: No. A website falsely suggests that there were no deaths because the victims’ obituaries couldn’t be found on one particular site.

Hyped Headline Turns Paint Into Terror

Hyped Headline Turns Paint Into Terror

Q: Was the first family attacked by a terrorist during the Easter holiday weekend?

A: No. That’s a misrepresentation of an act of vandalism at Trump International Golf Club.

Politics Roiled by Royal Wedding Rumors?

Politics Roiled by Royal Wedding Rumors?

Q: Is the White House enraged because Barack Obama, and not President Trump, was invited to the upcoming wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle?

A: The guest list has not been made public, and there’s no evidence that Obama was invited and Trump wasn’t.

No Shootings at ‘March for Our Lives’

No Shootings at ‘March for Our Lives’

Q: Were 19 people shot at a “March for Our Lives” rally?

A: No. A misleading headline, posted on dubious websites, referred to shooting victims elsewhere in Chicago over that weekend.

No Raid on Obama Home

No Raid on Obama Home

Q: Did the FBI raid Barack Obama’s Washington D.C. home?

A: No. That claim originated in a story on a self-described satirical website.

Oh, SNAP! Misleading Claims on Benefit Enrollment

Oh, SNAP! Misleading Claims on Benefit Enrollment

Q: Did “two million people leave the food stamp rolls in Trump’s first year”?

A: No. That’s the decline in average monthly enrollment in fiscal year 2017, including almost four months when Trump wasn’t president.