Guns
Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar claims that the Uvalde mass shooter was a "transsexual leftist illegal alien."
FALSE. The picture that inspired this claim was not of the shooter, but of a transgender artist whose photos were wrongly taken from her Reddit page. The real shooter was a cisgender male US citizen.
Wisconsin senator Tammy Baldwin claims that 29 states still don’t have "comprehensive protections" for people in the LGBTQ community.
TRUE. Outside of basic protections offered to everyone under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, there are few laws guaranteeing LGBTQ+ individuals' safety.
Arizona Republican candidate Blake Masters claims that “Democrats want open borders so they can bring in and amnesty tens of millions of illegal aliens — that’s their electoral strategy.”
FALSE. This is an example of the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, which has prompted many racist attacks recently. Democrats have not proposed open borders.
New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins claims that when the New York State Senate voted to legalize abortion in 1970, 12 Republican senators voted in favor of it.
TRUE. At the time abortion was legalized in New York, Republicans controlled the Senate, Assembly, and the governor's office.
Texas Rep. Roger Williams claimed that "The number of COVID-19 deaths recorded in 2021 has surpassed the total for 2020."
TRUE. 385,443 deaths in 2020 were reported as having COVID-19 as an underlying or contributing cause of death. In 2021, 446,197 deaths were reported in this way.
Twitter users claim that the mass shooting in Buffalo, NY was a false flag event.
FALSE. A “false flag” event is an act committed with the intention to pin the blame on someone else. Int truth, the shooting was real. False flags are frequently claimed in the wake of a mass shooting.
After the Pulse nightclub shooting, then-U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch claimed that the LGBT community is more often the victims of hate crimes than any other recognized group.
TRUE. This claim is correct when examining the rate of hate crimes per capita. However, A 2012 study by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics found that 60 percent of violent hate crime victimizations were not reported to police.
Iowa senator Joni Ernst claims that in Iowa, “since we have put a number of the voting laws into place over the last several years — voter ID is one of those — we've actually seen voter participation increase, even in off-election years.”
TRUE. Iowa’s 2020 election attracted record-high turnout of 1.7 million voters, with a little more than 1 million voting by absentee ballot. In 2018, when state offices were on the non-presidential year ballot in Iowa, state election records show that 1.3 million people voted, with 547,200 voting by absentee ballot.
Texas governor Greg Abbott claims that the Texas abortion law “provides at least six weeks for a person to be able to get an abortion.”
FALSE. When counting weeks in pregnancy, the calendar begins with the first day of the woman’s last period. That means that a woman with a typical cycle is four weeks pregnant by the time she misses her period. Women with irregular cycles often don't know they are pregnant until later than six weeks.
FALSE. This claim is completely untrue. In reality, wearing masks can aid in preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Iowa Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell claims that 86% of Americans and 82% of gun owners support requiring all gun buyers to pass a background check.
TRUE. The majority of Americans do support universal background checks.
Illinois Rep. Mary Miller claims that the Biden Administration is engaging in extreme ‘woke’ politics by encouraging children to take chemical castration drugs and undergo surgeries, and they are lying to children by telling them puberty blockers are "reversible."
Texas Rep. Chip Roy claims that a Rep. Rafael Anchía said in 2007 that mail-in ballot fraud “is the greatest source of voter fraud in this state.”
TRUE. Anchía did say this. However, it was said in 2007 against House Bill 218, one of the Legislature’s first attempts to pass a voter ID law to combat allegations of widespread voter impersonation. Statistics of voter fraud in regards to Anchía's statement are unclear as to whether his own claim is true.
Democratic candidate Jacky Rosen claims that "Danny Tarkanian … wants to defund Planned Parenthood and would outlaw a woman's right to choose, even in cases of rape or incest."
TRUE. Tarkanian only supports abortion when it threatens the life of the mother. He has stated that he wants to defund Planned Parenthood.
One America News, a conservative news outlet, claims that Ivermectin, a heartworm medication for animals, can treat COVID-19.
FALSE. No scientific studies prove that Ivermectin can treat COVID-19. Ivermectin is not approved by the FDA for prevention or treatment of COVID-19.
Wisconsin AG Josh Kaul claims that people convicted of felonies or under restraining orders can buy a firearm without going through a background check.
TRUE. Background checks are federally required, but 22% of gun owners in 2015 bought a gun without going through a background check.
Conservative radio host Dennis Prager claims that when there is “a noose on a college dorm of a Black student” or a racial slur “on a dormitory building, the odds are overwhelming that a Black student actually did that."
FALSE. Researchers who study hate crimes have documented that hate crime reports are not falsified with anywhere near the level of frequency Prager suggested.
The Gateway Pundit, a conservative blog claims “A STOLEN ELECTION: State totals minus illegal ballot trafficking numbers give President Trump decisive victories in AZ, GA, MI, PA, and WI.”
FALSE. This is yet another claim that the 2020 election was rigged that has no basis in fact.
Former US Vice President Mike Pence claims that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris support abortion “up to the moment of birth.”
FALSE. Neither President Biden or VP Harris have stated this. Abortion cannot be performed at the moment of birth, and late-term abortions only occur in rare cases such as fetal anomalies or endangerment of the mother's life.
Kathryn Moffett Bradford, the division chief of pediatric infectious diseases at West Virginia University's School of Medicine, claims “If you look at the hospitalizations at Ruby Memorial in West Virginia, and around the country, 90% to 95% of those hospitalized are unvaccinated.”
TRUE. Ruby Memorial Hospital confirmed that this claim was true at the time it was stated. Less than one-hundredth of 1% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients were vaccinated as of August 2, 2021.
Texas senator Ted Cruz claims, "“We know from past experiences that the most effective tool for keeping kids safe is armed law enforcement on the campus.” Some schools in Texas have armed their teachers.
FALSE. There are no studies that show that the presence of armed officers or teachers keeps people from targeting schools.
President Joe Biden claimed that then-president Donald Trump's own FBI director said that the greatest domestic terrorist threat is white supremacists.
TRUE. The acting director of Homeland Security testified that white supremacist extremists in 2018 and 2019 were the most persistent and lethal threat when referring to domestic violent extremists. Independent think tanks and researchers have also flagged the threat of white supremacists.
Ohio US Senate candidate Josh Mandel claims that "the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump."
FALSE. These baseless claims started even before the 2020 election, with President Trump claiming that mail-in ballots would lead to widespread Democratic voter fraud. None of these claims are based in fact, and still they have led to horrible events such as the attack on the Capitol in January of 2021.
Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy claims that "Abortion providers like Planned Parenthood do little other than provide abortions."
FALSE. Planned Parenthood provides many services related to women's health, such as birth control, testing and treatment for STIs, and screenings for reproductive cancers.
Pennsylvania US Senate Candidate Dave McCormick claims that China created COVID-19.
FALSE. There is no evidence that China "created" the virus. Common scientific theories state it may have originated from natural causes or as the result of a lab accident. The conspiracy that China "created" COVID-19 has been used to excuse hate crimes targeting Chinese Americans since the start of the pandemic.