Your weekly fact-checks
#Elections2025
This week's election: Polish Presidential Election (2nd Round)
DW
Election Date: 01/06/2025
The 2025 Polish presidential election held on 18 May resulted in a runoff between Rafał Trzaskowski (Civic Coalition) and Karol Nawrocki (Independent), as no candidate secured a majority. Trzaskowski led the first round with 31.36% of the vote, followed closely by Nawrocki with 29.54%. The election takes place amidst significant political shifts, including economic deregulation and healthcare debates under Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist coalition government.
Read more here.
#TrumpCheck
Snopes
False: H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, contains a provision allowing the U.S. president to delay or cancel elections.
Claims that the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" allows U.S. President Donald Trump to delay or cancel elections are false; a thorough review of the bill found no such provisions. Keywords like "president" and "executive" appear in unrelated contexts, and nothing in the bill grants presidential power over election timing.
Lead Stories
False: There was a mass grave of "over 1,000 of white farmers" in South Africa.
U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that a video shown to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa depicted a mass grave of over 1,000 white farmers is false; the footage actually showed a temporary 2020 memorial honoring murdered farmers, not a burial site. Organizers and later reports confirmed the crosses seen in the video were symbolic, and the site no longer displayed them by 2023.
Snopes
True: U.S. President Donald Trump said that he wished a happy Memorial Day to "the scum that spent the last four years trying to destroy our country."
Following Memorial Day, a federal holiday honoring service members who have died while serving in the U.S. armed forces, a screenshot circulated online that appeared to show a Truth Social post by President Donald Trump in which he wrote an all-caps message wishing a happy Memorial Day to, among others, "the scum that spent the last four years trying to destroy our country."
#Politics
Africa Check
False: Nigerian politicians Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar strike a joint ticket deal for 2027 presidential election.
Several Facebook posts claim that Peter Obi will be running alongside Atiku Abubakar in Nigeria’s 2027 general election, as he did in 2019. However, both politicians have denied reaching such an arrangement.
#Healthcare
Africa Check
False: Fluoride is one of the main causes of cancer.
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome falsely claimed that fluoride causes cancer and is used to reduce global population, despite scientific consensus finding no evidence linking fluoride to cancer in humans. While excessive fluoride can cause health issues and may affect children's IQ at high levels, small amounts in water are proven to benefit dental health.
FactCheck.org
False: 1.4 million illegal immigrants would lose Medicaid coverage as a result of a new bill, according to a preliminary CBO estimate on coverage changes.
The CBO estimated that overall, the Medicaid provisions in the Republican bill would reduce the number of people with Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage by 10.3 million by 2034, though some would retain or acquire other insurance. A net 7.6 million people would become uninsured, CBO said. But the agency did not say that 1.4 million people in the U.S. illegally would lose Medicaid benefits.
Africa Check
False: No vaccine is good, not one of them, they have never worked.
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome falsely claimed that vaccines don’t work and remain in the body forever, but extensive global data shows vaccines are safe, effective, and have saved millions of lives, including reducing measles and polio deaths. Experts confirm vaccines are cleared from the body within days or weeks, while the immune protection they provide can last for years.
#Conflicts
India Today
False: A man in Gaza performed a skateboard stunt on an undetonated missile, causing it to explode.
A viral video claiming a Gaza skater caused a missile to explode during a stunt was edited; the original footage shows no explosion and was meant to raise awareness about the dangers of unexploded ordnance. The skater, Rajab Al-Reefi, founder of the Gaza Skate Team, uses skating to support youth amid the conflict and promote public safety.
Lead Stories
False: Houthis missiles targeted Israel's Ben Gurion Airport in May 2025.
The Houthis' attempt to target the airport on May 18, 2025, failed when Israel's air defenses intercepted the rockets. There was a Houthi missile that hit near the airport on May 4, but none since. The image appeared to have been generated by artificial intelligence as it showed a jet airliner on a runway with two tails. One on each end and backward wings.
PolitiFact
False: The slaying of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, D.C., is a false flag.
Two Israeli embassy employees were fatally shot May 21 in Washington, D.C., outside the Capital Jewish Museum. Claims that this was a false flag operation are unfounded. A false flag operation is a deceptive act where one group carries out an attack or event but makes it appear as though another group is responsible. U.S. government officials said the incident is being investigated as a hate crime and a terrorism crime.
#Pop Culture
Snopes
False: Actor Samuel L. Jackson testified against Sean “Diddy” Combs during his trial in New York.
No credible evidence or news reports support Jackson’s involvement in the trial, which centers on serious charges including sex trafficking and racketeering.
#Nordics
Faktisk
Det meste er usant: På en NRK-debatt 20. mai sa Marielle Leraand fra Freds- og rettferdighetspartiet at en Gallup-måling viser at de fleste ukrainere er for fredsforhandlinger, selv om territorium går tapt.
Det er riktig, ifølge 2024-målingen, at 52 prosent av befolkningen ønsker fredsforhandlinger for å få slutt på krigen så snart som mulig. Det er imidlertid ikke sant at halvparten av befolkningen ønsker å avstå territorier. Undersøkelsen spurte kun respondenter som allerede ønsket fredsforhandlinger, om de var åpne for å avstå territorier. Også her svarte 52 prosent ja.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
True: Hollywood movie directors once used the pseudonym Allen Smithee on films they didn't want their names attached to.
The pseudonym Allen Smithee was used by Hollywood directors, starting in 1969, to remove their names from films they felt they had lost creative control over, as confirmed by the Directors Guild of America. Although once common, its use declined after 2000, especially following the 1998 satirical film "An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn," and it became associated with troubled or poorly received productions.
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