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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

Deutsche Presse-AgenturPolitics & government

Seit Jahren kursiert in sozialen Netzwerken ein angebliches Zitat von US-Präsident Donald Trump aus dem Jahr 1998. Er soll damals in der Zeitschrift «People» mit den Worten zitiert worden sein, er halte Wähler der Republikaner für die «dümmste Wählergruppe».

Publisher’s rating: Es gibt kein solches Zitat von Trump in der «People».

The claim concerns a purported 1998 People magazine quotation in which Donald Trump allegedly called Republican voters the “dumbest group of voters.” The dpa review investigated whether the magazine had published the statement, rather than simply whether Trump had expressed similar political views elsewhere. It reports that searches of People’s online archive found no matching result and that People itself had already described the quotation as debunked. [S1: “Im Online-Archiv der Zeitschrift «People» lässt sich kein passender Treffer für das Zitat finden. (http://dpaq.de/NiaqX) In der «People» selbst wurde das Zitat schon als «debunked» bezeichnet, also als widerlegt.”] The review also reports a direct response from a People spokesperson to dpa. According to the article, the spokesperson said the magazine had searched its Trump stories and found no similar statement; Trump had not given People an interview in 1998. This addresses both the alleged quotation and the implied interview setting. [S1: “Auf Anfrage der Deutschen Presse-Agentur bestätigte eine Sprecherin der «People», dass Trump nie auch nur einen ähnlichen Satz in der Zeitschrift gesagt hat: «Wir haben jede Geschichte zu Trump in unserem Archiv durchkämmt.» Donald Trump habe dem Magazin im Jahr 1998 auch kein Interview gegeben.”] The article adds a plausibility check about the quotation’s reference to Fox News: the channel had only a fraction of its present-day audience in 1998, making it unlikely that Trump would have referred to it in the manner described. The review presents this as supporting context, while its central evidence is the archive search and People’s statement. It also notes that Snopes and FactCheck.org had identified the quotation as fabricated in 2015. [S1: “Der Fernsehsender Fox News, der in dem Zitat genannt wird, hatte im Übrigen im Jahr 1998 nur einen Bruchteil der Zuschauer, die er heute hat. Daher ist es unwahrscheinlich, dass Trump ihn damals überhaupt in dieser Form erwähnt hätte. (http://dpaq.de/R1uyD)Die Faktenchecker der amerikanischen Webseiten snopes.com und factcheck.org haben das Zitat bereits im Jahr 2015 als Fälschung entlarvt.”]

FACTLYPolitics & government

Bungalows of Jammu & Kashmir leaders Gulam Nabi Azad, Omar Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The post presented four bungalow images as residences of Jammu & Kashmir leaders Gulam Nabi Azad, Omar Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti. FACTLY’s review checked the images individually, using Google reverse image searches and comparing the results with images found elsewhere. It concluded that three of the four images were associated with The Lalit Grand Palace Srinagar, a luxury hotel—not leaders’ homes. The review describes the first two images as matching hotel imagery found through reverse searches. For the third, it reports finding the same image in a Kashmir Life article, whose caption described it as “Omar in his Gupkar house”; an India TV article also identified it as Omar Abdullah’s residence on Gupkar Road. The fourth image was found on TripAdvisor as an image of The Lalit Grand Palace Srinagar. Thus, the review’s findings support that three images were misidentified as leaders’ bungalows, while its account identifies the third image with Omar Abdullah’s home. The post also referred to Ajit Doval. FACTLY reports that a similar post appeared on a Facebook page named “Ajit Doval,” but says the Prime Minister’s Office had told it that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had no social media accounts. The review therefore said the post was not shared by him. These findings concern the attribution of the images and the post; they do not establish that all four images depict hotel property.

The New York TimesPolitics & government

"I hardly know" Gordon D. Sondland

Publisher’s rating: This contradicts earlier statements.

Related reporting describes the statement as part of Trump’s response after Sondland became embroiled in the Ukraine scandal that led to Trump’s first impeachment. The excerpt reports that Trump said, “Let me just tell you, I hardly know the gentleman.” This directly supports the quoted remark attributed to Trump about Gordon Sondland. The same report supplies the relevant comparison: it says Trump had previously described Sondland as “a really good man” and “a great American.” Those earlier words are substantially warmer than saying he hardly knew Sondland, so the report supports the conclusion that the later remark contradicted Trump’s earlier public characterization. The excerpt does not provide the dates, venues, or full transcripts of either set of remarks, nor does it describe independent verification methods. The conclusion here is therefore limited to the comparison documented in this related reporting; the supplied evidence does not include the New York Times review itself.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturPolitics & government

In den sozialen Netzwerken wird ein Foto verbreitet, das Peter Altmaier auf einer Bühne zeigt. Unter seinem Stuhl sieht man einen Wagenheber. Die Überschrift lautet: «Ganz Deutschland rätselt über dieses Bild - Warum steht dort ein Wagenheber?»

Publisher’s rating: Das Foto ist manipuliert. Der Wagenheber wurde später hinzugefügt.

The claim concerns a social-media image showing Peter Altmaier on a stage, with a jack apparently beneath his chair, accompanied by a caption asking why it is there. The dpa review examined that image and concluded that the jack was added through image editing. It reports that the original photograph does not show a jack, so the detail presented in the circulating image is not part of the original scene. The review identifies the source photograph as an image published on the Kögel freight company’s website in 2013. It shows Altmaier, then federal environment minister, speaking with Oliver Stock, then editor-in-chief of Handelsblatt Online. The review says that comparing the circulating image with this original shows the jack was added later; it does not describe any further technical image-analysis procedure. The article also reports that the Facebook page “We're watching you” had already identified the image as fake on 21 February 2019. This provides an earlier documented debunking, while the original photograph’s provenance supplies the key comparison for the claim.