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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

Video of Rahul Gandhi calling himself a fool

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a video circulated as showing Rahul Gandhi calling himself a fool. FACTLY identifies the footage as part of Gandhi’s speech at an OBC Sammelan in New Delhi in 2018. Its account says the clip was selectively trimmed, leaving out context that changes who is speaking about being a fool. FACTLY describes its checking method: a Google search for “Rahul Gandhi calls himself a fool” led it to a longer YouTube version of the speech, posted on Gandhi’s official channel. In that fuller version, FACTLY says, Gandhi is recounting a conversation between himself and an NDA MP in the Lok Sabha corridors. The MP—not Gandhi—called himself the “biggest fool in the country” for supporting Narendra Modi. Thus, the longer version supplies the context missing from the circulating cut: Gandhi was quoting another person, and the shortened excerpt makes the remark appear self-referential. FACTLY concludes that the video was edited to create that misleading impression.

BBC Reality CheckPolitics & government

"Trump said 'there were fine people on both sides' in far-right protests."

Publisher’s rating: The quote is correct, but President Trump said in the same press conference that he wasn't referring to neo-Nazis or white nationalists.

The claim concerns Donald Trump’s remarks about the 2017 far-right protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. In the BBC’s account, Kamala Harris raised the comments during the 2020 vice-presidential debate. The review says violent clashes in Charlottesville left one counter-protester dead, and checks Trump’s words against a transcript of his 15 August press conference. That transcript records Trump saying that there were “very fine people, on both sides” when asked about neo-Nazis at the rally. The review also notes a qualification from the same press conference: Trump said he was not talking about neo-Nazis or white nationalists, whom he said should be condemned. So the quoted phrase is supported, but giving it alone leaves out Trump’s stated distinction about whom he meant.

USA TODAYPolitics & government

Kamala Harris said Americans aren’t equipped to make decisions for themselves

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerned a Facebook post circulated after the October 7, 2020, vice-presidential debate. It presented the statement “The American people aren’t equipped to make these decisions for themselves” as a direct quote from Kamala Harris. USA TODAY compared the post’s attributions with the debate transcript, which the review identifies as the basis for its account of what the candidates said. The review reports that Harris spoke after Mike Pence argued that he and Donald Trump trusted Americans to make choices about their health, while Biden and Harris favored mandates. In her response, Harris criticized the administration for withholding information people needed to protect themselves and their families. She said people should have the information needed to help themselves and protect their parents and children; the review describes her point as being about the administration’s failure to provide accurate information, not Americans’ inability to decide for themselves. The distinction is central: the post turned Harris’s criticism of the information available to Americans into a claim about Americans’ capacity to make decisions. The review also says the post misrepresented Pence’s words, so the paired quotations did not accurately reflect the exchange. Its conclusion rests on the difference between the post’s asserted direct quote and the remarks the review attributes to the debate transcript.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturPolitics & government

Die Politiker in der Türkei sind angeblich viel gebildeter als deutsche Politiker. Jedenfalls lassen dies Postings bei Facebook vermuten, in denen behauptet wird, in der Türkei müssten Politiker ein abgeschlossenes Studium haben. Hingegen regierten in Deutschland «Ausbildungslose, Versager und solche mit erschlichenem Doktortitel».

Publisher’s rating: Die Behauptung ist falsch. Lediglich der Staatspräsident muss in der Türkei ein Hochschulstudium abgeschlossen haben. Für alle Abgeordnete reicht der Grundschulabschluss. Und in Deutschland besteht die Regierung aus Hochschulabsolventen.

The review addresses two linked claims in Facebook posts: that Turkish politicians must have completed university, and that Germany is governed by people without vocational qualifications, failures, or politicians with improperly obtained doctoral titles. To check the Turkish claim, it examines Articles 76 and 101 of Turkey’s constitution. Article 76 sets eligibility for parliament and, apart from other disqualifications, requires candidates to have completed at least primary school. Article 101 adds the university-degree requirement for the president, along with the requirement that the person be over 40 and eligible for parliament. The review therefore distinguishes the rule for the head of state from the rule for parliamentarians rather than treating all politicians alike. For Germany, the review checks the qualifications of Chancellor Angela Merkel and the other 15 cabinet members. It reports that all had some form of training, most had university education, and gives examples of ministers who obtained academic qualifications through different routes: Jens Spahn and Anja Karliczek earned degrees through the University of Hagen after other training and work, while Horst Seehofer graduated from Munich’s Academy of Administration and Economics. These examples directly address the claim that the government consisted of people without qualifications. The review also separates allegations or disputed credentials from cases in which a politician actually lost a doctorate. It names four politicians whose titles were revoked for plagiarism, notes that Andreas Scheuer no longer used his Prague doctorate for a different stated reason, and says that allegations against Franziska Giffey and Ursula von der Leyen did not result in revocation. It further reports that the University of Giessen found neither intent to deceive nor academic misconduct in its review of Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s dissertation. The review concludes that no known German politician who had to relinquish a doctorate afterward retained political responsibility. Thus, it does not deny that some politicians faced plagiarism findings or scrutiny; it disputes the broader characterization of the government.

Myth DetectorPolitics & government

პოსტი შეიცავს ნახატს, რომელზეც საქართველოს ტერიტორიის სამცხე-ჯავახეთის მხარე წითლად არის მონიშნული და სომხეთის ნაწილად წარმოდგენილი. ნახატს თან ერთვის დეზინფორმაციული შინაარსის ინგლისური და ქართული ტექსტი: “Akhalkalaki is Armenia. Akhaltsikhe is Armenia. ახალქალაქი არის სომხეთი.

Publisher’s rating: საქართველოს ერთ-ერთი მხარის ქალაქების - ახალციხის და ახალქალაქის სომხეთის ნაწილად წარმოჩენის შესახებ დეზინფორმაციული პოსტი, მთიანი ყარაბახის კონფლიქტის გააქტიურების ფონზე, საზოგადოებაში შუღლის გაღვივებას ისახავს მიზნად.