The daily check-in

Trending, checked.

Twice a day we pull the posts going viral on TikTok, Instagram, X and Facebook and run them through the record. Each entry is a published verdict — what we found, why, and the sources behind it.

Checks from

October 24, 2026

20 checks · 10 morning · 10 afternoon

Morning run

10 checks

Did Zohran Mamdani post a video coaching people on how to evade ICE?

X · @nicksortor 22,638 likes; @DC_Draino 10,274 likes (adds that it is 'so they can illegally vote' and be counted in the 2030 census); @Deancain 13,540; @SenMikeLee 8,507; original @NYCMayor video 84,822 likes; Mediaite coverage 23 Oct

Misleading

The video is authentic and was posted by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani; it provides standard 'know your rights' legal guidance in Spanish and lists the city's Immigration Legal Support Hotline. Characterizing the clip as 'coaching illegals to evade ICE' or as 'openly assisting federal crimes' is misleading — the mayor is giving lawful rights information and a referral to legal help, not instructions to commit crimes.

PoliticsView details→

Did Zelensky spit at King Carl XVI Gustaf?

X · At least 3.7M views, 12,000 likes, 2,500 quote posts per IBTimes UK; verify.py shows 13,962 likes; @DanielMacl1n copy 45.7K likes (X syndication) · resurfaced

False

The clip is a real but edited/truncated video that omits the handshake; reputable wire and official footage show the king and Zelensky did shake hands on April 17, 2026, so the post's implication that the king refused the handshake and that Zelensky spat is misleading and false.

PoliticsConflictView details→

Did Iran unveil an unmanned submarine that can launch missiles?

X · 1,685 likes on the post (x-syndication); fact-checked by Annahar 23 Oct · resurfaced

False

The video is authentic footage of Anduril/ Australia's 'Ghost Shark' XL‑AUV published on Oct 21, 2026. The X post's claim that Iran unveiled a missile‑launching unmanned submarine is false and stems from misattributing the footage.

ConflictTechnologyView details→

Is Anna Kelly President Trump's new White House Press Secretary?

X · 5,476 likes (X syndication); Lead Stories fact-check 23 Oct

False

False — there is no authoritative announcement that Anna Kelly has been named President Trump's next White House press secretary. The image is an authentic official portrait of Anna Kelly, but the personnel appointment claim is unconfirmed and contradicted by a White House statement and fact-checking coverage.

PoliticsView details→

What did a voter report about an Illinois voting machine message?

X · 72,856 likes on @WallStreetApes post (X syndication); @TheSCIF 6,127 likes; @DerrickEvans4WV 5,229 likes; X trending topic 'Cook County Voter Spots Unusual Message on Dominion Voting Machine'; Illinois State Board of Elections called it a 'hoax' 23 Oct (Center Square), Snopes 23 Oct, AFP via Yahoo 2 · resurfaced

Misleading

A Cook County voter posted a video saying a touchscreen warned her that "people are not typically choosing this person" after she picked Republican judges. Cook County and Illinois election officials — and independent fact-checkers — say voting machines do not display candidate-popularity messages and that routine ballot-review/undervote prompts can appear; the viral post is therefore misleading.

PoliticsView details→

Did Pedro Sánchez claim one million homes were built recently?

X · Program clip 2.6K likes; broadcast drew 33.9% audience share; claim disputed by The Objective, OKDiario, Libertad Digital, El Debate, El Distrito, PP's Alberto Nadal (680,000 homes in 8 years); Newtral checked it (722,307 completed 2018-Q1 2026)

Misleading

The video is authentic RTVE footage of Pedro Sánchez's interview on La Revuelta broadcast on 22 October 2026. The segment legitimately discusses the housing crisis, but Sánchez's numeric claims that 'one million homes have been built in recent years' and that 13% of them are protected are not supported by ministry/observatory data and are misleading.

PoliticsEconomyView details→

Did a man save his dog during multiple Russian attacks in Ukraine?

X · DrLuetke post 20.6K likes; Russian Embassy in Kenya repost 2.1K likes; Polish version >100K views per Konkret24; spread in German, English and Polish · resurfaced

False

The collage is manipulated: one image (Rivne, Oct. 13, 2026) is a genuine police photograph, but the other two images were generated with AI. The post's claim that the same man repeatedly rescued his dog at different Ukrainian attacks is false.

ConflictView details→

Did Zelensky Buy a $42 Million Bunker in Nova Scotia?

X · @its_The_Dr 1,449 likes; @ROYALMRBADNEWS 499; @DangerousThinkg 157 (X syndication); Lead Stories fact-check 23 Oct (impostor domain toronto-sun.ca registered 8 days earlier; Toronto Sun deputy editor denied it)

False

The video’s central claim — that Volodymyr Zelensky bought a Nova Scotia underground bunker for $42 million — is false. The story comes from an impostor website using the Toronto Sun brand; reputable reporting documents the bunker’s redevelopment but provides no evidence of any sale to Zelensky.

PoliticsConflictView details→

Did approximately 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers surrender in Kharkiv?

X · 223 likes on X (also posted on Facebook); sitting MP; Konkret24 article 23 Oct; debunker post 119 likes · resurfaced

Can't Verify

The video appears to show real prisoners being marched or assembled and is likely authentic, but there is no independent, credible evidence that ~2,000 Ukrainian soldiers surrendered in northern Kharkiv as the caption claims. The numeric claim is unsupported by reputable coverage and the footage alone does not prove that total.

ConflictPoliticsView details→

Did monkeys in Italy try to loot a bakery?

X · 20.3K likes on the X post · resurfaced

Misleading

The video is authentic footage of Corbo's Bakery in Cleveland, Ohio from May 31, 2020 showing owners and employees armed to defend the shop; the post's caption that this occurred in Italy and describes the crowd as 'monos africanos' is false and misleading.

CrimeView details→

Afternoon run

10 checks

What’s going on here?

X · @patriottakes 'What's going on here?' photo post: ~3,000 likes (X syndication, 24 Oct). IBTimes UK 24 Oct: photos revived unverified leg-brace/exoskeleton claims.

True

The image appears to be an authentic photo of a political rally (likely showing Donald Trump from behind) and contains no explicit factual claim; the poster's caption 'What's going on here?' is a prompt, not a verifiable assertion. Visual signage matches sponsorship elements (NCH / 'Go Eagles') associated with Florida Gulf Coast University, but we found no authoritative match tying this exact image to a dated news report.

PoliticsHealthView details→

Did Trump claim NATO gave the U.S. Greenland?

X · 20 Minutes (24 Oct) says an X post relaying the clip passed 400,000 views; this @atrupar clip has 1,259 likes (X syndication). Spreading again in French-language feeds 24 Oct. · resurfaced

False

The video is authentic and the caption accurately quotes Trump saying "NATO was nice enough to give us Greenland. We got Greenland." However, the substance of that statement is false: the September 22, 2026 agreement and statements from Denmark and Greenland confirm no transfer of sovereignty or ownership to the United States.

PoliticsView details→

Did Trump say he has the right to run for president again?

X · Clip from Trump's 22 Oct Iowa rally: 1,638 likes on this post (X syndication); covered by HuffPost and Daily Beast 23 Oct.

True But

The video shows authentic rally footage of Donald Trump (Sioux City, Iowa, Oct 22, 2026) in which he said he believed the law bars him from running again but claimed, without evidence, that because 'they cheated us' he 'has the right to run again.' The speech occurred and the quoted lines are confirmed; the legal claim to a third elected term is not supported by the Constitution or by precedent.

PoliticsView details→

Was Hitler a far left socialist?

X · 63,568 likes on Musk's post (X syndication, 24 Oct); quote-posts @brivael's 'Hitler was far left' thread; Mimikama debunk 24 Oct.

False

The statement that "Hitler was a far left socialist" is false. It is true that the Nazi party's formal name included the word "socialist," but historians and reference sources classify Nazism as a far‑right, fascist ideology that opposed Marxist socialism and persecuted socialists and communists.

PoliticsOtherView details→

Did President Trump announce a RICO investigation into George Soros?

X · 19,230 likes (X syndication, 24 Oct). MEAWW: recycles Trump's Aug 2025 'should be charged with RICO' post as new. · resurfaced

Misleading

The post recycles and amplifies earlier statements: there is no evidence that President Trump made a new Oct 23, 2026 announcement that George Soros and his entire network would be investigated under RICO; reputable coverage shows similar calls from August 2025, and fact‑checks label the viral Oct 23 post misleading.

PoliticsCrimeView details→

Was Prince Khalid bin Salman killed in an attack on the Ministry of Defense?

X · Near-identical posts from several accounts 23 Oct (@Bint_AlDeerah 491 likes, @Hanadi_AlQahti 393; X syndication). New claim riding the Houthi strike story.

False

The video is authentic footage but has been misattributed: independent fact‑checkers traced the clip to an earlier, unrelated incident. There is no credible confirmation that Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman was killed or airlifted after an attack on the Ministry of Defense; the social‑media claim is false and misleading.

ConflictPoliticsView details→

Did Donald Trump admit he's dying in a Truth Social post?

X · Screenshot post: 616 likes (X syndication). Daily Beast 23 Oct 'Trump, 80, Raises Health Concerns With Ominous Post'.

False

The image is a likely authentic screenshot of a Truth Social post Donald J. Trump published on October 23, 2026 that reads "A healthy person has a thousand dreams. A sick person has only one (to get better)!" but the post does not admit that he is dying; the caption's suggestion that he 'just admitted he's dying' is false and misleading.

PoliticsHealthView details→

Did a reporter ask Trump if he’s in the KKK because of his dad?

X · 45,145 likes (X syndication, 24 Oct). Satire account; MEAWW says the exchange never happened.

False

The X post is fabricated/satirical. Fact‑checkers and other reporting identify the claim as originating from a satire account and found no evidence (video, transcript, or reputable news reporting) that the alleged reporter question and Trump's reply occurred.

PoliticsView details→

What did Flávio Bolsonaro claim during the Globo debate?

X · 79,293 likes (X syndication, 24 Oct). Flávio's team posted an 'unedited' clip during the debate; g1 says it cut ~30s of the 2021 live stream.

True

The post's central claims are correct: during the Globo debate (Oct 23, 2026) Flávio Bolsonaro presented an edited clip he called 'real', and Globo's Fato ou Fake reported the clip was an edited excerpt of Jair Bolsonaro's 18 Mar 2021 live and labelled it misleading/false.

PoliticsHealthView details→

Did 2 Pakistani Muslims Set Fire to a Church in Wales?

X · 13,399 likes (X syndication); Hindi repost 22 Oct 1,990 likes; Misbar 23 Oct says video is a 2025 fire at Bethany chapel.

False

The video is authentic footage of the Bethany Chapel fire in Port Talbot on 24 April 2025, but the post's caption claiming '2 Pakistani Muslims' set it alight is false. South Wales Police arrested two local teenagers and explicitly denied any link to Pakistan.

CrimeOtherView details→