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 29, 2026

20 checks · 10 morning · 10 afternoon

Morning run

10 checks

Did the 28 October 2026 fire at the Savannah River Site nuclear lab in South Carolina cause an unfiltered radiological release that poses a danger beyond the site, as viral 'US Government Nuclear Incident' posts suggest?

X · hntrbrkmedia post 8,113 likes (syndication, 29 Oct ~02:40Z, ~2.5h after posting); nicksortor 2,468 likes; MarioNawfal 2,059 likes; covered by NY Post, Washington Examiner, Townhall, GB News, Mirror ('Panic as radioactive material released'), Fox Carolina; 'savannah river site' on Google Trends CA RS

True

The post is accurate: on 28 October 2026 the FAA issued a temporary flight restriction over the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site, and its notice cited a 'US Government Nuclear Incident' after a fire at the site's national laboratory. Multiple independent outlets, including Reuters and CNN, corroborated both the emergency declaration and the flight restriction.

DisasterEnvironmentView details→

Does a viral video show the US military preparing to launch a nuclear strike on Iran?

X · 3,073 likes on @AmericaSpoof (syndication, 29 Oct); Turkish version by @Mustafakurnaz 1,490 likes; copied by other accounts (Mr_J_F_K_Jr, Qdigital12); Misbar fact-check 28 Oct

Misleading

The footage is genuine but not American: it is Russian Yars intercontinental missile launchers on a February 2024 parade march to Alabino, relabelled as US forces poised to strike Iran. No evidence supports the claim of US nuclear-strike preparations or an attack on 29 October 2026.

ConflictPoliticsView details→

Did a Houthi ballistic missile hit Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura oil refinery on 27 October 2026 and set off huge fires, as Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed?

X · 1,426 likes on @MMY1444 relay of Saree statement (syndication, 29 Oct); wide pickup: Anadolu, Baird Maritime, Marine Insight (28 Oct), Clash Report, Al-Quds, Euronews Arabic; Energy News Beat 29 Oct on oil price reaction

True But

The post reproduces a genuine 27 October 2026 statement by Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claiming a precise ballistic-missile hit on Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura refinery with massive fires. Missile launches at the Eastern Province, interceptions and a contained fire near Ras Tanura are corroborated by Reuters, AFP and Bloomberg, but Saudi Arabia never confirmed the refinery was hit and the scale of damage is unverified.

ConflictEconomyView details→

Did dozens of Pennsylvania election workers say then-Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar ordered them to destroy more than 100,000 Trump ballots in the 2020 election?

X · 7,785 likes (syndication, 29 Oct); Lead Stories fact check 28 Oct

False

The photo is a genuine 2020 image of Philadelphia ballot counting, but the caption's claim that dozens of Pennsylvania election workers have exposed an ordered scheme to destroy Trump ballots is a fabricated story debunked by Lead Stories. Biden's 2020 Pennsylvania win stands, so the post's 'proof' is false.

PoliticsView details→

Was activist Thomas 'Young Bob' Moffitt arrested in London simply for saying 'Paki' instead of 'Pakistani', as Libs of TikTok claimed?

X · Libs of TikTok post 25,754 likes (check.py 29 Oct); counter-post by @I_amMukhtar 4,523 likes; X trending topics 'Young Bob Arrested for Paki at London Protest, Case Dropped' (per WebSearch); The Daily Britain 27 Oct

Can't Verify

The footage of British activist Thomas Moffitt being led away by police is genuine, and his arrest in Westminster on 25 October 2026 over an allegation he used the slur 'Paki' is reported. But the post overstates the case: no charge has been confirmed, the circumstances are disputed, and a single contested arrest does not show that 'the UK has no free speech'.

CrimePoliticsView details→

Does a viral video show Benjamin Netanyahu being violently attacked in Tel Aviv after the 27 October 2026 election, leaving him severely injured and needing to be flown to the United States?

X · 9,361 likes on the X post (check.py syndication, 29 Oct ~02:45Z) within ~9h; Lead Stories fact-check 28 Oct

False

The clip is real but wholly unrelated footage: it shows the 2013 attempt on Bulgarian politician Ahmed Dogan in Sofia, not an attack on Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv. The 'breaking' claim of his severe injury and evacuation to the United States is fabricated.

PoliticsConflictView details→

Does a viral video show Eritrean migrants rioting in The Hague, Netherlands, in late October 2026?

X · 3,221 likes on @MarioBojic; @MAGAStorm47 668 likes ('Massive riots have started in The Hague... broke into the Opera House'); Portuguese repost @canalsergio2 251 likes; Misbar fact-check 28 Oct · resurfaced

Misleading

The video is genuine footage of the February 2024 Eritrean community riots at The Hague's Opera Zalencentrum, but the post presents it as current unrest in October 2026 — a claim two independent fact-checks have already debunked.

CrimePoliticsView details→

Has Iran's air force declared a no-fly zone over the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf, barring civilian aircraft, as a viral video of Iranian fighter jets claims?

X · 1,149 likes on @Rd_Irani (syndication, 29 Oct); multiple Facebook reels with same clip cited by Misbar (EN + AR fact-checks 28 Oct)

False

The video is genuine Israeli Air Force footage of F-15I jets heading to strikes on Tehran, released by the IDF in June 2025, but the Arabic caption presents it as an Iranian Air Force operation enforcing a no-fly zone over the Strait of Hormuz — an announcement for which no credible evidence exists.

ConflictView details→

Did Mary Peltola's campaign commit 'election fraud' by recruiting a second Dan Sullivan to run for Alaska's Senate seat, as Trump claimed on 28 October when he said she should not be allowed to run?

X · atrupar 1,284 likes; Fox's Bill Melugin post on DOJ 'aggressive criminal investigation' 4,448 likes; NYT report 28 Oct on spoiler recruitment; Daily Beast, Raw Story, Fox News, Mediaite, Radio-Canada, Washington Examiner coverage 28 Oct

True But

The screenshot is a genuine capture of a Trump Truth Social post from 28 October 2026, and the quote is confirmed word-for-word by multiple news outlets. The substance is mixed: the New York Times did report that Peltola aides and DSCC staffers helped recruit a second Dan Sullivan, which they deny, but labelling it 'election fraud' and 'perjury' is an unproven allegation and such ballot-stacking is generally legal.

PoliticsView details→

Does a viral clip show that Trump's 27 October 2026 Corpus Christi, Texas rally drew only a small crowd that could not fill a high-school gym?

X · JoJoFromJerz quote-post 5,807 likes; ImBreckWorsham 3,952; AriDrennen 2,912; Acyn original clip 1,721 likes; NBC's Garrett Haake on the small Chillicothe venue 3,546; Daily Beast, Mediaite, Raw Story 28 Oct

Misleading

The video is authentic C-SPAN footage of Trump's 27 October 2026 rally in Corpus Christi, but the caption's claim that the crowd 'can't even fill a high school gymnasium' is misleading — the venue was an industrial warehouse, not a gym, and local reporting says it was a crowded room of about 2,000 with capacity reached inside and an overflow screen outside.

PoliticsView details→

Afternoon run

10 checks

Did Flávio Bolsonaro's letter prove Brazil's election was stolen?

X · 238,832 likes and 34,379 replies on the X post per syndication API (29 Oct 14:46Z). Covered by Metrópoles, Jovem Pan, Poder360, Gazeta do Povo, Congresso em Foco, ND Mais and Lupa. The TSE issued a rebuttal. Greenwald reports the first version, with 'true president-elect', was deleted and re-posted

False

The image is a genuine copy of the letter Flávio Bolsonaro posted on 28 October 2026 after flying to the United States, but the letter's central claim — that Brazil's presidential election was stolen through a Supreme Court voting-hours extension — is false and unsupported, contradicted by the electoral court's certified results and its own arithmetic.

PoliticsView details→

Did three tankers hit mines in the Strait of Hormuz and catch fire?

X · Post with video 461 likes (check.py 29 Oct); UKMTO confirmed at least one ship on fire, another in distress, no cause given; CENTCOM insists primary routes demined; wire pickup (Reuters via IOL/Dhaka Tribune, Xinhua, Saudi Gazette, CBS) 29 Oct; oil-market relevance

Can't Verify

The IRGC did announce on 29 October 2026 that three tankers hit mines and burned in the Strait of Hormuz, so the post's attribution is accurate — but the mine-strike account is an unverified belligerent claim that CENTCOM disputes, and independent monitors confirmed only a single burning vessel with the cause unknown. The clip is plausible IRGC-released footage of a burning vessel but cannot by itself confirm the specific three-tanker incident.

ConflictEconomyView details→

Did a Russian drone strike the railway station in Dnipro, killing 13 people?

X · Zelensky post 13,138 likes / 710 replies, with video+photos (check.py 29 Oct); wide wire pickup (AFP via France24/Yahoo, CNN via local US sites, Kyiv Independent: toll now 14)

True

Authentic footage from Ukraine's State Emergency Service showing the aftermath of the 29 October 2026 Russian drone strike on Dnipro railway station, which Zelenskyy correctly described: 13 people had been confirmed killed at the time of posting, with the toll later revised to 14.

ConflictView details→

Did Iran capture a US MQM-170 drone intact west of the Strait of Hormuz?

X · Post with video 283 likes (check.py 29 Oct); CENTCOM spokesman called the IRGC report false; conflicting versions (captured MQM-170 vs MEE report of MQ-1 shot down); covered by Gulf News, Middle East Eye, Saudi Gazette, Xinhua, CBS live blog 29 Oct

Can't Verify

The video is genuine footage released by Iran's IRGC and shows an airframe on the ground, but the central assertion — that a US MQM-170 drone was electronically captured intact west of the Strait of Hormuz — rests solely on Iranian state media and is categorically denied by US Central Command, with no independent verification.

ConflictView details→

Did Jarosław Kaczyński announce that Poland should start negotiations on leaving the EU?

X · Tusk post 14,203 likes / 2,031 replies; Kaczyński rebuttal 'Tusk jak zwykle kłamie' 2,873 likes / 821 replies; Defence Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz 1,323 likes (check.py 29 Oct); Konkret24 explainer 29 Oct 15:07

True But

The post is genuine and its core claim is well supported: at Krynica Forum 2026 Jarosław Kaczyński did say Poland should, as a hard and risky fallback, start negotiations on the conditions for leaving the EU. Tusk's wording strips out that conditional framing, which Kaczyński himself disputed while insisting he wants EU reform rather than exit.

PoliticsView details→

Did Trump pass three cognitive tests and say Obama couldn't have?

X · Acyn clip 937 likes / 541 replies (29 Oct check); HuffPost write-up 29 Oct

Misleading

The video is genuine footage of Trump at his 28 October 2026 rally in Chillicothe, Ohio, and the caption quotes him accurately. His claims inside the clip — that a dementia screening test proves a 'very high IQ', that no other president took one, and that Obama could not have passed — are misleading or unsupported.

PoliticsHealthView details→

Was a Trump supporter stabbed outside Trump's rally in Ohio?

X · Bowyer post 2,832 likes; Derek Myers video 2,645 likes / 373 replies (29 Oct check); pushed by Gateway Pundit, LifeZette, 100PercentFedUp; Chillicothe police told Newsweek and TMZ 'there was no stabbing' (officer's pocketknife clip caught in a shirt during a fight)

False

The video is genuine footage of a scuffle outside Trump's Chillicothe, Ohio rally on 28 October 2026, but the caption's claim that an anti-Trump protester stabbed a Trump supporter is false — police say the apparent knife was an officer's closed pocketknife whose clip snagged on a man's shirt, and no one was stabbed or arrested.

CrimePoliticsView details→

Did Trump shut down a paid protester screaming about Epstein at his Ohio rally?

X · Sortor post 7,671 likes; heckler Robby Roadsteamer's own uncut video 49,058 likes; HQNewsNow clip 26,273 likes (29 Oct check); TMZ: Trump claimed $250 payment with no evidence; heckler (Robert Potylo) disputes, per HuffPost

Misleading

The rally video is genuine footage from Trump's 28 October 2026 Chillicothe, Ohio rally, where he did berate an Epstein heckler and defend throwing Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago. But the post's framing of a 'paid protester' is unsubstantiated — the heckler was identified as activist and comedian Robert Potylo — and Trump's claim that Epstein 'never came up with me' is contradicted by flight logs.

PoliticsView details→

Did a Cleveland 19 newscast report that four former staffers accused Sherrod Brown of sexual assault?

X · Spreader post 1,421 likes (29 Oct check); Lead Stories debunk 28 Oct; Fast Company and IBTimes UK (28-29 Oct) report it as a Storm-1516-style Russian fake with the former intern denying it; Ohio Senate race rated toss-up days before 3 Nov

False

This is a doctored Cleveland 19 news clip: real station footage with an AI-generated voiceover and faked graphics inventing sexual-assault allegations against Sherrod Brown. The station says it never reported any such story, one named accuser calls the claim 'completely made up', and NewsGuard and the AP attribute the fake to the Russian operation Storm-1516.

PoliticsView details→

Did Bernie Moreno say Abdul El-Sayed can't be a senator because he doesn't understand Jesus came for our salvation?

X · Acyn clip 967 likes / 952 replies; Chris Hayes quote 2,381 likes; covered by Mediaite, Raw Story (Scarborough segment on MS NOW), CNN live blog, JoeMyGod on 29 Oct

Misleading

The clip is genuine footage of Sen. Bernie Moreno speaking at a Chillicothe, Ohio rally on 28 October 2026, and the caption accurately summarises his remarks about Abdul El-Sayed. The substance of what Moreno said is misleading, because it implies Christian belief is a qualification for the Senate, which the Constitution's Article VI expressly forbids.

PoliticsView details→