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

November 4, 2026

20 checks · 10 morning · 10 afternoon

Morning run

10 checks

Did an FBI raid in Houston uncover 20,000 fraudulent ballots for Democrats?

X · 17,788 likes on X post (syndication, 2026-11-04); Newser: 400,000+ views and ~15,000 related posts on X; FBI and Harris County Clerk issued denials; PolitiFact, Lead Stories, Dallas News, NYT coverage

False

The caption is a fabricated election-fraud story from a satirical/comedy account: the FBI said no election-related raid occurred in Houston, and the attached photo of an 'FBI Atlanta' vehicle actually comes from a January 2026 FBI search in Fulton County, Georgia.

PoliticsCrimeView details→

Did the Emergency Broadcast System really go off in the US with a nuclear attack warning?

X · Primary 78 likes (X syndication, 4 Nov), copy-paste reposts across QAnon-style accounts; earlier @BackChannelQ post (2 Nov) now deleted; Misbar fact-check 3 Nov says clip is a 2022 YouTube simulation · resurfaced

False

The video is a handheld recording of a home TV playing a 2022 YouTube 'mock scenario' of a US nuclear-attack emergency alert, republished without its fiction disclaimer as if a real EBS activation had occurred. No such alert was ever issued — FEMA has denied it and multiple fact-checkers have rated the claim false.

ConflictTechnologyView details→

Did Trump say "the inflation is solved" on Fox & Friends on Election Day 2026?

X · Clip of Trump statement, 974 likes (verify 2026-11-04); Independent headline 'Trump declares inflation is solved' 3 Nov

True

The clip is authentic Fox News footage of Trump's 3 November 2026 Election Day call-in to Fox & Friends, and he did say "the inflation is solved" and "everything is going good" — statements contradicted by official data showing 3.7 percent annual inflation in September 2026.

EconomyPoliticsView details→

Was Tehran's oil refinery just bombed, as this video claims?

X · Primary 744 likes/38 replies (X syndication, 4 Nov); repost by @QanatSadaQDSIQ ('more than 100 US planes targeting Iran now') 425 likes, @Alomari67 254 likes; Misbar fact-check 3 Nov

Misleading

The video is real fire footage but far older than claimed: a fact-check by Misbar traced the same clip to the Shahran oil depot blaze in Tehran on 14/15 June 2025, and no bombing of Tehran's refineries took place around 2-3 November 2026 — the only documented US action then was limited strikes near Qeshm Island and the Strait of Hormuz.

ConflictPoliticsView details→

Is Iranian state TV broadcasting nuclear-blast survival instructions to prepare for an attack?

X · X post 160 likes with video (verify 2026-11-04); covered by IBTimes UK and Metro ('Iranian TV broadcasts advice on a nuclear strike') 3 Nov

Misleading

The clip is an AI-generated Persian-language awareness video, first posted on a private Instagram account on 21 October 2026, that is being passed off as an Iranian state television broadcast. Iranian state media did separately publish a genuine eight-minute nuclear-survival civil-defence guide on 29 October 2026, so the underlying story is real but the footage in this post is not.

ConflictView details→

Did Iran put up a billboard in Tehran reading 'We will kill Trump'?

X · X post 1,381 likes, 52 replies with image (verify 2026-11-04); IBTimes UK headline 'Tehran Unveils We Will Kill Trump Billboard' 3 Nov

True

The photograph is genuine: Iran did unveil a giant billboard over Tehran's Enghelab Square on 3 November 2026 reading "We will kill Trump" with Trump depicted behind bars, as reported by AFP and many international outlets. The post's core claim is accurate, though its "terrorists occupying Iran" wording is advocacy framing rather than neutral description.

ConflictPoliticsView details→

Was Tel Aviv completely submerged by storms, as this video claims?

X · Primary 1,233 likes (X syndication, 4 Nov); identical copy-paste reposts 2 Nov; Arabic versions; Misbar fact-check 3 Nov says footage is a Las Vegas dust storm/flood (RT Arabic posted the Las Vegas clip 1 Nov)

False

The video is real but it is not Israel: it shows the 30 October 2026 dust storm and flash floods in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the Paris Las Vegas Eiffel Tower replica plainly visible. The caption's claim that Tel Aviv was completely submerged with 20 billion dollars of damage is false and was debunked by the fact-checker Misbar.

DisasterEnvironmentView details→

Did the FBI tell people Election Day was on Wednesday?

X · Klippenstein post 16,764 likes; Krassenstein follow-up 5,987 likes (syndication, 2026-11-04); FBI post had 257,000+ views and a Community Note (IBTimes); CT Secretary of the State statement; Lead Stories, Snopes, Raw Story coverage · original post deleted

True

The post's factual assertion checks out: the FBI's New Haven field office did publish a since-deleted post telling people Election Day was Wednesday, when the 2026 midterms were held on Tuesday, 3 November. The FBI called it a typo, so the implication of deliberate deception is unproven.

PoliticsView details→

Was Poland about to impose a state of emergency and pacify the protest camp at midnight?

X · Karnowski post 1,248 likes; PiS MP Bartosz Lewandowski 'there will be a motion for a state of emergency... we live in a dictatorship' 3,322 likes (x syndication 2026-11-04); wPolsce24 headline 'Tusk plans state of emergency, concrete date given' 3 Nov; wPolityce/Przydacz 3 Nov; OKO.press coverage

Can't Verify

The video is a genuine wPolsce24 broadcast in which editor-in-chief Jacek Karnowski relayed unnamed-source warnings that a state of emergency, martial law and a 'pacification' of the protest camp outside Poland's Constitutional Tribunal would begin at midnight on 3-4 November 2026. President Nawrocki's chancellery and constitutional experts said there was no legal route to such a declaration, and no indexed coverage reports that anything of the kind happened overnight — but the claim is only hours old, so it can only be recorded as unconfirmed.

PoliticsView details→

Did the RNC send Michigan county clerks a letter about split-ticket voting?

X · 6,894 likes on RNC post (syndication, 2026-11-04); The Blaze article 'Last-minute dirty tricks' 3 Nov; RNC says it put county clerks on notice

Can't Verify

The image is a genuine RNC Counsel's Office letter dated 3 November 2026, sent to Michigan county clerks and reported the same day; its central legal claim — that Michigan's constitution lets voters choose a straight-party ticket and then cross over for individual candidates of another party — is accurate. Only the letter's assertion that voters were 'reportedly' being told otherwise rests on unverified RNC-sourced reports.

PoliticsView details→

Afternoon run

10 checks

Did the Iranian Navy blow up an Indian Navy ship and kill 13 personnel?

X · 243 likes, 63 replies on X (syndication, 4 Nov); Newschecker fact-check 4 Nov; MEA statement on the attack on merchant vessel MSV Al Jusufi off Oman

False

The video is real footage of a burning Indian-flagged cargo dhow, but the caption is false: MSV Al Jusufi was a commercial vessel hit by an unidentified aerial object off Oman on 2 November 2026, one sailor died and 13 were rescued — not 13 Navy personnel killed by the Iranian Navy.

ConflictView details→

Did Trump claim on Fox News that he won Minnesota three times?

X · 10.8K likes on X (syndication, 4 Nov); HuffPost coverage of Trump reacting on air as Fox called Minnesota for Flanagan

True

The video is genuine Fox News election-night footage: the network called Minnesota's Senate race for Peggy Flanagan while Trump was live on the phone, and he did claim on air that he had won Minnesota three times — a claim he has repeated but which is false.

PoliticsView details→

Did Russia's Lavrov say India is "a trading partner, nothing more"?

X · 455 likes on primary; Russian Embassy reply ("Please stop copying silly AI fakes") 3.1K likes; MEA FactCheck "Fake Alert" 8.1K likes; covered by Organiser, BOOM, Factly, The Quint, Newschecker

False

The video is a deepfake: real footage of Sergey Lavrov from a 30 October 2026 press conference with AI-generated audio and re-synced lips putting words about India in his mouth. Fact-checkers, India's MEA and the Russian Embassy confirmed Lavrov never made the remarks.

PoliticsConflictView details→

Is Zelensky's 'Gestapo' shooting at protesters over torture black sites?

X · 31K likes, 413 replies on X (syndication, 4 Nov); picked up by Skwawkbox 3 Nov

Misleading

The clip appears to be genuine night footage from real clashes near Kyiv on 2 November 2026, but the caption is misleading: independent reporting says police fired warning shots into the air and used tear gas, and Ukrainian authorities called the 'torture chamber' and death reports fake, while a Russian propaganda push framed the incident as a nationwide Gestapo-style torture system.

ConflictPoliticsView details→

Did Tusk say armed people might enter Poland and that 'individuals with flashlights' were seen at the Russian border?

X · 3.5K likes, 700 replies on X (syndication, 4 Nov); covered by TVN24, Interia, rp.pl, Onet, Newsweek.pl; Border Guard said nobody tried to cross

True

The video is genuine TVP Info footage of Donald Tusk's 3 November 2026 briefing, and the caption quotes his remarks on intelligence warnings of a possible armed incursion and on 'individuals with flashlights' at the Polish-Russian border essentially verbatim. The one element that outruns the record is the 'foiled provocation' framing: the Border Guard said nobody tried to cross, and Tusk himself said the intent could not be confirmed.

PoliticsConflictView details→

Did Abdul El-Sayed tell a Sky News reporter he wants "zero" votes in the UK?

X · 18.2K likes, 3.2K replies on X (syndication, 4 Nov); HuffPost UK, GB News, Joe coverage 4 Nov

True

The Sky News clip is genuine footage of Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed telling Sky News correspondent James Matthews he wants 'zero' votes in the UK and would not answer his questions; the caption accurately describes the exchange, though El-Sayed's on-camera claim that Sky News is not watched in the US is untrue.

PoliticsView details→

Does this video show ADNOC facilities burning after an Iranian strike?

X · 613 likes, 19 replies on X (syndication, 4 Nov); copied by other accounts; fact-checked by Misbar and Kashif 4 Nov

Misleading

The video is real firefighting footage, but it is not ADNOC: it shows the June 2016 magnesium-fed warehouse fire in Maywood, California, reposted as a fresh Iranian strike on Emirati oil facilities. The claim is misleading, and Misbar's fact-check reached the same conclusion on 4 November 2026.

ConflictEconomyView details→

Was the San Diego ballot drop box video proof of mishandled ballots?

X · 28K likes, 1.6K replies on X (syndication, 4 Nov); covered by CNN and Mediaite; RNC election-integrity account said the van was a county vehicle

Misleading

The footage is genuine: it shows San Diego County election workers lawfully emptying an overflowing drop box on Election Day 2026. But the post's framing is misleading — county officials and even the RNC's own election-integrity monitors said the ballots were being transported normally to the central counting site, not mishandled or taken to a dump.

PoliticsView details→

Did Fox News call the Georgia Senate race for Stacey Abrams?

X · 4.4K likes, 273 replies on X (syndication, 4 Nov); Fox spokesperson denied the graphic aired

False

The image is a fabricated Fox News-style 'WINNER: Stacey Abrams' graphic, and the claim is false: Abrams was not on the ballot in Georgia's 2026 Senate race and Fox News made no such call — the AP declared Jon Ossoff the winner over Mike Collins on 3 November 2026.

PoliticsView details→

Was the Kyiv Independent newsletter hacked to send a fake email about a nuclear warhead on Kyiv?

X · 172 likes on X (syndication, 4 Nov); covered by dev.ua and Hromadske; Kyiv Independent editor confirmed a breach

True

The claim is accurate: Kyiv Independent's editor-in-chief confirmed the outlet's CMS and newsletter service were hacked and a Russian-language email falsely claiming a nuclear warhead had been launched at Kyiv was sent to subscribers, with reporting attributing the operation to Russia. The attached image is a screenshot of that fraudulent email.

TechnologyConflictView details→