Your weekly fact-checks
#TrumpCheck
FactCheck.org
False: Trump said 500,000 fake, corrupt and illegal ballots had been mailed to ensure “Democrats win” in Maryland Primaries.
Maryland election officials are mailing replacement ballots to voters after a vendor error caused some to receive a mail-in ballot for the wrong political party’s June primary. The original ballots have been “voided” and can’t be cast, state election officials said. Maryland also has a closed primary, which means Democratic and Republican voters may vote only in the party primary for which they are registered.
Snopes
Mostly True: U.S. President Donald Trump is spending $5 million in taxpayer money to cover horse statues in Washington, D.C., in gold.
The Trump administration awarded a $5 million government contract to conserve and re-gild four bronze equestrian statues in Washington D.C., including applying 23.75-karat gold leaf. The exact portion allocated to the gold leaf itself is unknown, though given gold's high cost, it likely accounts for a significant share of the total.
#Politics
Agence France-Presse - AFP
False: The UK prime minister condemned Israel in parliament.
As Israel continued its deadly strikes in southern Lebanon, social media posts shared an AI-generated video of Britain's prime minister lambasting his Israeli counterpart and saying defence agreements and support would be reviewed. While Keir Starmer has called on Israel to halt its bombing campaign, there are no reports of him making the remarks depicted in the video, which contains errors that are telltale signs of synthetic content.
Agence France-Presse - AFP
False: S. Korean officials cover cameras at polling stations to rig elections.
Photos of covered CCTV cameras at South Korean polling stations sparked vote-rigging claims, but the coverage is legally required under a 2014 rule protecting ballot secrecy. An election expert dismissed the conspiracy as "nonsense," noting it would require coordinated collusion from every person at every voting site nationwide.
Snopes
True: The office of a Republican candidate for Senate in 2026 brokered a plea deal for a man accused of child sex abuse that allowed him to serve only 30 days in jail and not have to register as a sex offender.
Adam Hoffman's 2025 trial ended in a hung jury, and prosecutors offered a plea deal rather than retry the case. The deal reduced charges to indecent assault and display of harmful materials, and because his admission omitted the victim's age, Hoffman avoided the sex offender registry. He was initially sentenced to one day in jail, later extended to 60 days following protests, but was released after serving 30.
#Healthcare
Snopes
True: A peer-reviewed philosophy paper argued it is "morally obligatory" to genetically engineer ticks to spread an allergy to red meat.
The paper was a philosophical exercise, not a policy recommendation or a roadmap to explain an increase in the lone star tick population and cases of alpha-gal syndrome, both of which are the result of other factors, including climate change. Its authors acknowledged in the 2025 paper that it's not yet technologically possible to "proliferate" tickborne alpha-gal syndrome.
#Conflict
Misbar
False: There were recent intense naval clashes between the Iranian Navy and American warships and destroyers.
Accounts on social media circulated a video claiming it showed clashes between Iranian naval forces and U.S. warships and destroyers. The video actually consists of three old, unrelated clips and does not document recent clashes between Iranian naval forces and U.S. destroyers.
#Crime
Snopes
Mostly False: In late May 2026, immigrants without legal authorization to be in the U.S. slaughtered two family horses in Florida for their meat.
A real 2023 story about two family horses stolen and slaughtered in Miami-Dade County is being recirculated with a false 2026 date. The case remains unsolved, and there is no evidence linking the crime to anyone of any particular immigration status.
#Nordics
Faktisk
Feil: Dødsattesten til Shada, en 16-åring som døde på en norsk barnevernsinstitusjon i 2019, er forfalsket og signert av en lege som ikke eksisterer.
Journalister har uavhengig av hverandre identifisert legen som Jarle Sjøthun fra akuttmottaket i Stavanger, og hans arbeidsgiver har bekreftet overfor politiet at han utstedte attesten og var på vakt den kvelden. Attesten oppfylte også alle gjeldende lovkrav på det tidspunktet.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
True: Caviar, turtle soup, and lobster were just the start of one of the many dinner service menus were once offered by Scandinavian Airlines.
Vintage photos from the SAS Museum reveal the remarkable luxury of Scandinavian Airlines flights in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, featuring elaborate buffets, champagne, caviar, and lobster served by chefs and flight attendants. The images, spanning three decades, highlight a level of in-flight dining and elegance that stands in sharp contrast to modern air travel.
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