MBFC's Daily Vetted Fact Checks for 02/26/2025

Media Bias Fact Check selects and publishes fact checks from around the world. We only utilize fact-checkers who are either a signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) or have been verified as credible by MBFC. Further, we review each fact check for accuracy before publishing. We fact-check the fact-checkers and let you know their bias. When appropriate, we explain the rating and/or offer our own rating if we disagree with the fact-checker. (D. Van Zandt)

Claim Codes: Red = Fact Check on a Right Claim, Blue = Fact Check on a Left Claim, Black = Not Political/Conspiracy/Pseudoscience/Other

Fact Checker bias rating Codes: Red = Right-Leaning, Green = Least Biased, Blue = Left-Leaning, Black = Unrated by MBFC

BLATANT LIE	Claim via Social Media: Elon Musk threatened to withdraw support to the World Boxing Organization if it did not revoke a championship title and $25 million in prize money it had awarded to Algerian boxer Imane Khelif. Snopes.com rating: False (The claim is false. For one thing, Khelif has never won a WBO title. She has won (and has had revoked) championship title events sanctioned by the International Boxing Association. The gold medal she won at the 2024 Olympics was governed by the International Olympic Committee. Neither the WBO nor the IOC gives out prize money. Musk has never said such a thing.) Musk didn’t threaten to withdraw support to boxing organization over Imane Khelif
BLATANT LIE	Claim via Social Media: Listening Devices Discovered in Oval Office: President’s Desk Removed for Scanning. Lead Stories rating: False (Completely made up.) Fact Check: Non-Existent Sources In Viral Story About ‘Listening Devices’ In Oval Office And Resolute Desk Removal
TRUE	Claim via Social Media: On Feb. 24, 2025, an unauthorized video appeared on TV monitors in the Washington headquarters of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development featuring the caption “LONG LIVE THE REAL KING” superimposed over fake, AI-generated footage of President Donald Trump kissing the feet and toes of tech billionaire and government efficiency adviser Elon Musk. Snopes.com rating: True (The video genuinely showed that the AI-generated footage of Trump and Musk displayed on TVs at HUD headquarters.) Yes, AI-generated video of Trump kissing Musk’s feet played on TV monitors in HUD headquarters
FALSE	Claim by Libs of TikTok: Doge uncovered a secret 2 billion federal grant to Power Forward Communities a nonprofit organization linked to Democrat activist Stacey Abrams Lead Stories rating: False (The Environmental Protection Agency publicly announced the grant from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund on April 4, 2024. It was not covered up and Abrams’ connection to the group is overstated, she was hired as the senior counsel of one of the five nonprofits that founded it but holds no leadership position.) Fact Check: DOGE Did NOT Uncover $2 Billion Grant To Nonprofit Power Forward Communities, Linked To Stacey Abrams Libs of TikTok Rating
BLATANT LIE	Claim via Social Media: Aircraft are spraying chemical gas with traces of aluminum, barium, and other metals to manipulate the weather by blocking the sun and creating chemical rains and fogs. Science Feedback rating: False (There is no evidence that chemtrails exist, and the claim’s details are inaccurate or misleading. Meteorologists are well aware that contrails form from water vapor and that they can last for several hours.) Long-lasting contrails aren’t proof of chemtrails, and they aren’t caused by chemtrails
FALSE	(International: United Kingdom): 8% of the BBC’s “total funding” came from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2022/23 and 2023/24. Full Fact rating: False (This isn’t correct. It was the international charity BBC Media Action, not the BBC as a whole, which received funding from USAID amounting to 8% of its income in 2023/24.) The BBC did not receive 8% of its ‘total funding’ from USAID – Full Fact

Disclaimer: We are providing links to fact-checks by third-party fact-checkers. If you do not agree with a fact check, please directly contact the source of that fact check.