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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Politics & government fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about politics & government. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

12,754 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYPolitics & government

People waiting for the Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath speech in Bihar at a public meeting

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a photograph presented as showing people in Bihar waiting for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to speak at a public meeting ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections. FACTLY reports that the image instead shows a helicopter view of a public meeting held by Narendra Modi in Kolkata in 2014, before that year’s Lok Sabha elections. The photograph therefore does not establish that the pictured crowd was in Bihar or waiting for Adityanath. The review describes two lines of checking. A reverse-image search found similar versions of the photograph posted on social media as early as February 2014, identifying it as an aerial picture of Modi’s “Jan Chetan Sabha” in Kolkata. The investigation also found a Desh Gujarat article dated 5 February 2014 that described the crowd as attending Modi’s rally there. FACTLY says the meeting took place that day, in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The review concludes that the image was falsely recirculated as a picture of Adityanath’s public meeting in Bihar in 2020. Its account ties the photograph to an earlier event in another city, rather than to the Bihar election setting claimed in the post.

USA TODAYPolitics & government

Image shows Nancy Pelosi being escorted out of a restaurant after a 'liquid lunch'

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerns a genuine photograph of Nancy Pelosi walking with a woman and a man in a suit. Social-media captions said she had been escorted out of a restaurant after drinking, and some users presented the image as recent. The investigation identifies a different setting and date: Pelosi was visiting a clothing store in Hartford, Connecticut, before a fundraising event. The photo was taken on Sept. 16, 2016. USA TODAY describes its conclusion as based on research and says the image “does not show Pelosi leaving a restaurant after drinking and it was not taken recently.” [S1: “The viral photo shows Pelosi walking on a sidewalk with help from a woman and a man in a suit behind her.”; “The photo is from Sept. 16, 2016, when Pelosi visited a clothing store in Hartford, Connecticut, prior to a fundraising event.”; “The image does not show Pelosi leaving a restaurant after drinking and it was not taken recently.”] The review traces the photograph to local news anchor Dennis House, who shared a blog post titled “Nancy Pelosi Shops in Hartford.” As quoted in USA TODAY, House reported that store owner Jody Morneault and a government security detail escorted Pelosi to a waiting SUV, and that Pelosi and Morneault hugged. The review also says the blog post showed other images from that day, including Pelosi greeting people near the SUV and opening the shop door with the store owner. This documented shopping outing explains the escort visible in the photograph without supporting the restaurant or drinking caption. [S1: “The photo was captured by local news anchor Dennis House and was shared as a blog post, ‘Nancy Pelosi Shops in Hartford.’”; “Pelosi was greeted by store owner Jody Morneault and later escorted to a waiting SUV by Morneault and a government security detail. The two hugged before Pelosi was whisked away,”; “The blog post includes other photos from that day, including Pelosi greeting people near the SUV, opening the door of the shop with the store owner as well as an image of her security detail waiting outside for her.”] The review further reports that Pelosi was leaving Stackpole, Moore and Tyron, described as one of Connecticut’s oldest stores, and notes she had visited it in 2013 and 2014. It says Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff had previously confirmed to USA TODAY that she does not drink; that statement is additional context, while the photograph’s 2016 date and store provenance directly address what it depicts. The review places the viral claim among recurring allegations that Pelosi appeared intoxicated, but the evidence it gives for this particular image is its identification as a 2016 shopping outing. [S1: “Pelosi was exiting one of Connecticut's oldest stores, Stackpole, Moore and Tyron, which she first visited in 2013 and again in 2014, according to Connecticut Magazine.”; “Drew Hammill, Pelosi's deputy chief of staff, confirmed the House speaker does not drink.”]

USA TODAYPolitics & government

In 1973, Joe Biden said "I know what is good for the negro"

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerned text shared by Peggy Hubbard over a black-and-white photo of Biden: “I know what is good for the negro.” USA TODAY traced the allegation to Biden’s May 18, 1973, appearance at The City Club of Cleveland. The review says it consulted the club’s account of the event and its online recording, then compared the claim with the words reported from the speech. The setting matters: Biden was responding to a question about whether Southern senators had become “warmer” toward Black Americans’ problems. He named Southern Democrats he saw as showing a change in attitude, added that Republicans were also involved, and then spoke about the two-party system. The review quotes his remark as saying that the system was “good for the South, and good for the negro and good for the black in the South.” That passage shares some wording and the general subject of the circulated claim, but it does not contain the alleged sentence “I know what is good for the negro.” The review’s comparison of the attributed wording with the speech’s quoted text therefore found that the post presented a paraphrase as a verbatim quotation. Its evidence supports distinguishing Biden’s recorded comment about the two-party system from the different words attributed to him.

FACTLYPolitics & government

BJP leader being welcomed with a shoe garland in Bihar

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a video presented as showing a BJP leader being welcomed with a shoe garland in Bihar during the run-up to the Bihar assembly elections. FACTLY’s review says the footage instead shows an incident in Madhya Pradesh in 2018, so it does not establish that the event happened in Bihar or was part of that election campaign. To check the video’s provenance, the review reports that a reverse image search of screenshots led to a 2018 news article about the incident. That report identified the leader as Dinesh Sharma and placed him campaigning for local body elections in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh. FACTLY also says it found a news video of the incident, which it describes as confirming the Madhya Pradesh location and 2018 timing. The review gives further context: an elderly man put the shoe garland on Sharma to express dissent over authorities’ action on a complaint about water shortage. Its conclusion is that a real 2018 incident in Madhya Pradesh was misleadingly linked to Bihar’s election campaign.