AP Fact Check

Verify the latest news with AP Fact Check. AP fact checkers combat misinformation by debunking false and misleading claims.

Musk helped kill a congressional spending bill. But much of what he spread was misinformation

FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup

FACT FOCUS: Vermont ruling does not say schools can vaccinate children without parental consent

FACT FOCUS: Posts misrepresent Biden administration spending on EV charging stations

As President Joe Biden’s term comes to an end, social media users — including sitting members of Congress — are falsely claiming that his administration spent $7.5 billion to build just eight electric vehicle charging stations.

FACT FOCUS: Election officials knock down Starlink vote rigging conspiracy theories

False posts circulating on social media claim that billionaire Elon Musk facilitated alleged election fraud through his internet service provider Starlink, manipulating the vote count, particularly in swing states, through election equipment such as ballot tabulators.

FACT FOCUS: A multimillion vote gap between 2020 and 2024 fuels false election narratives

Less than 24 hours after Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States, social media users began pushing two conflicting narratives of election fraud.

FACT FOCUS: A look at false and misleading claims surrounding the 2024 election

With early voting underway, false and misleading reports have emerged online. A Kentucky voting machine that registered a vote for Vice President Kamala Harris when the voter meant to select former President Donald Trump was found to be user error, not fraud.

FACT FOCUS: Trump repeated election lies in his interview with Joe Rogan. Here are the facts

Donald Trump used a lengthy interview with podcaster Joe Rogan to dig in on his false claims about voting, election fraud and his loss in the 2020 presidential election.

Election officials are fighting a tsunami of voting conspiracy theories

With less than two weeks before Election Day, a resurgence of misinformation and conspiracy theories about voting is forcing state and local election officials to spend their time debunking rumors and explaining how elections are run.

FACT FOCUS: Inactive voters on Michigan’s rolls are misrepresented in suggestions of fraud

Posts circulating on social media claim that Michigan has 500,000 more registered voters than it has people eligible to vote, an indication of possible fraud.

FACT FOCUS: A look at the false information around Hurricanes Helene and Milton

The devastation around Hurricanes Helene and Milton has been complicated further by false and misleading information, much of it politically motivated.

FACT FOCUS: Online posts make unfounded claims about a helicopter delivering aid in North Carolina

The North Carolina National Guard said in a statement issued on Tuesday that the video shows one of its helicopters attempting to make a generator delivery requested by a local civilian organization to power their supply distribution site.

US disaster relief chief blasts false claims about Helene response as a ‘truly dangerous narrative’

The U.S. government’s top disaster relief official says false claims and conspiracy theories about the federal response to Hurricane Helene, which are being spread most prominently by Donald Trump, are “demoralizing” aid workers and creating fear in people who need recovery assistance.

After the deluge, the lies: Misinformation and hoaxes about Helene cloud the recovery

False and misleading claims about Hurricane Helene are spreading about the storm and recovery efforts.

FACT FOCUS: Claims that more than 300,000 migrant children are missing lack context

Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, have recently claimed that hundreds of thousands of migrant children who crossed the U.S.

A look at false and misleading claims from the vice presidential debate

The vice presidential candidates, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, on Tuesday engaged in a fast-moving, largely civil debate on a wide range of issues.

Walz misleadingly claims to have been in Hong Kong during period tied to Tiananmen Square massacre

Multiple news reports indicate that Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz misleadingly claimed he was in Hong Kong during the turbulence surrounding the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, part of a broader pattern of inaccuracies that Republicans hope to exploit.

Trump makes false claims about federal response as he campaigns in area ravaged by Hurricane Helene

Trump levied attacks against the federal government for being “non-responsive” to the disaster, claiming Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has been struggling to get President Joe Biden on the phone.

Overseas voters are the latest target in Trump’s false narrative on election fraud

False reports of explosives found in a car near a Trump rally spread online

Nassau County officials say social media reports that explosives were found in a car near former President Donald Trump’s New York rally on Long Island just days after the second apparent assassination attempt on him are false.

Russia goes all-out with covert disinformation aimed at Harris, Microsoft report says

A new Microsoft threat intelligence report details how Russia-linked actors are now going full throttle in their covert influence efforts against Vice President Kamala Harris.

FACT FOCUS: A look at false claims made by Trump in California

Former President Donald Trump, speaking Friday at his Los Angeles-area golf club, unleashed an attack on Vice President Kamala Harris, revisiting many points from Tuesday’s presidential debate and making several false and misleading claims, many of which had been made before.

Trump falsely accuses immigrants in Ohio of abducting and eating pets

Former President Donald Trump has amplified false rumors that Haitian immigrants in Ohio are abducting and eating pets.