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 25, 2026

20 checks · 10 morning · 10 afternoon

Morning run

10 checks

Did debris from ballistic missiles fall in Mecca and Medina?

X · 4.4K likes, 1.9K reposts; covered by Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, JPost, Gulf News, NDTV, Hindustan Times; GCC, MWL and OIC condemnations; Houthi spokesman Saree denied

Can't Verify

True — on Oct 24, 2026 Saudi Civil Defense reported (and the Saudi Press Agency and multiple reputable outlets corroborated) that debris from the interception of two ballistic missiles launched by Houthi forces toward the Makkah and Madinah regions fell in several locations.

ConflictPoliticsView details→

Did Trump say his uncle invented radar and that he told the DOJ to sue Alaska?

X · Supercut 2.8K likes, standalone radar clip 1.5K likes; Raw Story pickup; debunk-style reposts

True

The video is authentic footage of a post-vote gaggle in Palm Beach (Oct 23, 2026). Trump did say he 'told' the DOJ to sue Alaska and he said his uncle 'invented radar' on camera. The DOJ-suit admission is confirmed by multiple reputable outlets; the 'uncle invented radar' line is misleading — John G. Trump contributed to radar research but did not 'invent radar.'

PoliticsScienceView details→

Did Trump make an indescribable sound effect while speaking?

X · 47K likes on the clip; resurging via Jimmy Fallon segment (HuffPost) and 'dementia' framing reposts · resurfaced

True

The video is authentic footage from President Trump’s Oct. 21, 2026 rally in Pendleton/Clemson, South Carolina; he did say the quoted phrase and produced an odd guttural sound — both of which are confirmed by transcripts and multiple news reports.

PoliticsHealthView details→

Did Ukraine use Starlink for drone strikes?

X · 111K likes; covered by Kyiv Independent, Mediaite, Raw Story, t-online; rebutted by ex-Ukrainian defence adviser Sternenko (21K likes)

Can't Verify

The post mixes a correct point (Starlink's Terms of Service state the commercial system is not intended for use as weaponry) with an unverified and disputed allegation (that Ukraine's military violated those terms by using Starlink for offensive lethal drone strikes) and an imprecise claim about Starshield ownership/control. There is no independent public evidence confirming the central allegation.

ConflictTechnologyView details→

Did Benjamin Netanyahu order Israel to support Argentina on the Falklands?

X · 47K likes; Telegraph report, picked up by JPost, Times of Israel, Haaretz, ynet, i24, IBTimes; Israeli embassy categorically denied

True But

The tweet accurately states that The Telegraph published a report claiming Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Israeli diplomats to back Argentina on the Falklands (Telegraph, 24 Oct 2026). Multiple outlets repeated the Telegraph story but the Israeli embassy denied the directive, so the underlying policy change is disputed and not independently confirmed.

PoliticsConflictView details→

Did Katie Hobbs-Aligned Canvassers Help Non-Citizens and Felons Vote?

X · 11.6K likes on origin; TPAction repost 38K likes, Kari Lake 23K; UW CIP measured up to ~3,300 X posts/hour with renewed surge 23 Oct · resurfaced

Misleading

An undercover video posted Oct 22, 2026 by Muckraker shows some canvassers appearing to offer or encourage voter‑registration assistance to people who said they were non‑citizens or a felon, but the footage does not show any completed unlawful registrations and there is no independent, authoritative reporting or official finding confirming illegal registrations or votes — the post’s framing overstates what the footage proves.

PoliticsCrimeView details→

Did police throw grenades in Metz on October 17, 2026?

X · 18.3K likes; related post 19.7K likes; same Metz clip re-shared in Italy as 'agenti provocatori' (Open, 21 Oct); resurfacing around 24 Oct protest day · resurfaced

True

The circulated video is genuine footage filmed in Metz during the October 17, 2026 demonstrations and shows plainclothes police (reported as BAC officers) throwing a crowd-control grenade near the Passage/ruelle behind Caf Blondel and then moving back toward uniformed colleagues; regional outlets and local authorities have confirmed this description.

PoliticsCrimeView details→

Does the DOJ seek to stop the certification of Alaska's election?

X · 5.9K likes; Straight Arrow News, Democracy Docket coverage; lawsuit widely described as seeking to block certification

False

FALSE — The Attorney General's post claims DOJ 'does not seek to stop ... the certification of Alaska's election,' but the Justice Department's complaint explicitly asks the court to block certification of any result 'tainted by' voter confusion and to enjoin certification pending an investigation.

PoliticsView details→

Did Emmanuel Macron say this is the first planned racist terrorist act in France?

X · Bellamy rebuttal 13.6K likes; Le Figaro 'la lourde erreur de Macron', Entrevue, i24news; Bardella, Crif and PS deputy objected; Elysee clarified

Misleading

The video is authentic footage of Emmanuel Macron speaking in Trappes on Oct 23, 2026; his description of the shootings as a racist terrorist attack is supported by contemporaneous reporting and the PNAT investigation. However his claim that this is "the first time" such a planned racist terrorist act has occurred in France is false or misleading because earlier attacks have targeted people for their religion or presumed ethnicity (e.g., Toulouse 2012, Hyper Cacher 2015, Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray 2016).

PoliticsCrimeView details→

Did Wedgewood Polls admit to publishing fake numbers?

X · 5.1K likes; FCC chair Carr post 5K likes; Trump repeated it on Truth Social 22 Oct; UW CIP spread analysis 23 Oct · resurfaced

True

Verified: Wedgewood Polls publicly admitted on Oct 20, 2026 that most of its polls were fabricated. Multiple outlets report that poll trackers and news organizations (including The New York Times' poll tracker, per published editor notes reported by major outlets) had included Wedgewood's polls and removed them after the admission.

PoliticsView details→

Afternoon run

10 checks

Were there explosions at the King Faisal Naval Base in Jeddah?

X · 261 likes on primary, 162 on a copy; also shared on Facebook

Misleading

The video attached to the post is real CCTV-style footage but not of Jeddah; frames show a 25/01/2021 timestamp and a snowy scene, and fact-checkers have previously found similar clips reused to illustrate attacks on Saudi sites. The caption is misleading because it uses unrelated footage to claim violent explosions at King Faisal Naval Base.

ConflictView details→

Did Polymarket place an ad in a fortune cookie?

X · 32,380 likes; indy100 reports 3M+ views

Can't Verify

The photo appears authentic and shows a fortune-cookie slip bearing the words "Yes, we paid for a fortune cookie ad" together with Polymarket branding; multiple news outlets reported the same viral image on Oct. 24, 2026. Polymarket has not publicly confirmed campaign details or scale, so the pictured ad is well-supported while the extent of an official, wide distribution remains unverified.

ConsumerTechnologyView details→

Did Audi announce a $4 billion factory in Georgia?

X · 2,688 likes; wide pickup (Fox Business, AP wire, NY Post, Bloomberg)

True But

The video authentically records President Trump announcing Audi will build a major factory in Middle Georgia. Audi and Georgia officials confirm a roughly $4 billion investment and a design capacity of up to 200,000 vehicles, but several specific claims in the clip and caption (construction 'next month', 30,000 jobs, 'single largest investment', $40 billion total) are inaccurate or exaggerated.

EconomyPoliticsView details→

Did a huge fire recently break out at an oil facility in Riyadh?

X · 1,026 likes on primary; same text posted by at least 5 accounts

Misleading

There was a real fire at an Aramco facility south of Riyadh on October 3, 2026 (reported by AFP and Reuters), but the close-up explosion video attached to this post is a recycled clip previously published in 2021 and does not reliably show the Riyadh event — the post therefore misleads by pairing an older video with a recent AFP report.

ConflictView details→

What did Obama say about meme coins and the reflecting pool?

X · 9,356 likes

True

The video is authentic footage of Barack Obama speaking at a Cleveland rally on Oct. 24, 2026. The caption accurately quotes his remarks; his lines reference widely reported issues (the drained Reflecting Pool after a no-bid renovation and an ex‑Olympian accused and later legally challenged) and make broader accusations about Trump-family crypto and contracts that are supported in part by public disclosures but remain complex and contested.

PoliticsView details→

Did Democrats place a second Dan Sullivan on the ballot in Alaska?

X · 43,635 likes on Stephen Miller's post

Misleading

There really was a second Dan (Daniel J.) Sullivan who filed to run in Alaska and whose eligibility led to official review and court fights in June 2026, but the specific claim that 'Dems placed' him as a fake candidate to conceal the incumbent is unproven and misleading.

PoliticsView details→

Did Sílvia Orriols claim rioters in Barcelona were subsidized immigrants?

X · Orriols 6,836 likes; Vox's Garriga 1,549 likes; @agusantonetti 7,077 likes

Can't Verify

The X post repeats an unproven political claim that the recent Barcelona rioters are 'subsidized immigrants'. News reporting from Oct 24-25, 2026 documents the disturbances and many detentions but provides no authoritative evidence supporting that characterization; the claim is therefore unsupported/misleading.

PoliticsCrimeView details→

Is US taxpayer money sent to Ukraine laundered back to political campaigns?

X · 70,732 likes (parent post 251,428 likes); follow-up coverage 25 Oct in Bulgarian, Pakistani, Indian and Ukrainian outlets

Misleading

The post's claim that U.S. taxpayer money sent to Ukraine is laundered back to fund U.S. political campaigns is misleading. Credible fact-checkers and reporting find no evidence of a systematic scheme of U.S. aid being returned to fund U.S. campaigns; isolated past misconduct involving private foreign money is not the same thing.

PoliticsConflictView details→

Will John Healey announce new HMRC powers to seize bank accounts?

X · 5,832 likes; wide UK pickup (Times, GB News, Express, Metro, Independent); Budget due 28 Oct

Misleading

Major UK outlets report John Healey plans to use the upcoming Autumn Budget to propose wider HMRC powers to recover unpaid tax directly from bank accounts. The Budget (scheduled for 28 October 2026) has not yet occurred, so the tweet's 'BREAKING' claim that he 'will announce at the Budget' is premature and presented in a misleading way until the official Budget statement is published.

EconomyPoliticsView details→

Did Trump say the U.S. is making a fortune amidst high gas prices?

X · 22,802 likes; Newsom quote-post 6,786 likes

True

The video is authentic rally footage and accurately captures Donald Trump saying, including the line 'We're making a freaking fortune' and 'I don't give a damn.' The quoted words match multiple published transcripts and news reports from Oct 24–25, 2026. Some numerical and causal claims in the speech ("hundreds of billions," causal attribution) are exaggerated or imprecise, so the content mixes factual elements with hyperbole.

PoliticsEconomyView details→