MBFC's Daily Vetted Fact Checks for 03/04/2025

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 by nypost.com: President Zelenskyy met with a group of exclusively Democrats before heading into the February 28 White House meeting with Trump. Lead Stories rating: False (Republican Senator Lindsey Graham was present in the same room in the Hay-Adams hotel, along with Democrats Amy Klobuchar, Chris Murphy and Chris Coons. Coons and Klobuchar posted on social media that the meeting was “bipartisan”. Zelenskyy’s official website also mentioned Republican Senators Chuck Grassley and Roger Wicker being present.) Fact Check: Zelenskyy Met With Democrats And At Least One Republican Right Before White House Oval Office Meeting On Friday 28, 2025 New York Post Rating
BLATANT LIE	Claim via Social Media: Elon Musk “contracted a helicopter and the first DOGE payments are being” dispersed in California. PolitiFact rating: Pants on Fire! (The video is from other events. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and President Donald Trump have not announced a return of money saved back to taxpayers, although they have floated a possible $5,000 dividend.) No, DOGE didn’t drop cash from a helicopter
TRUE	Claim via Social Media: A picture authentically shows Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell photographed together. Snopes.com rating: True (WireImage photographer Kevin Mazur captured the photo of Musk and Maxwell at the Vanity Fair Oscars party on March 2, 2014. The picture stood as the only known image of the pair. No photographic evidence existed to suggest they conversed or greeted each other. Musk later responded to a question about the picture and claimed that he didn’t know Maxwell, and that she had “photobombed” him.) Yes, Elon Musk and Ghislaine Maxwell were once photographed together
FALSE	Claim via Social Media: USAID funded Jeffrey Epstein. Lead Stories rating: False (Wrong guy. A screenshot circulating online on social media actually lists “Jeffrey E Epstein,” a different person who is a director at Kaiser Permanente.) Fact Check: USAID Did NOT Fund That Jeffrey Epstein — Different Guy
MISLEADING	Claim via Social Media: “Doctors: don’t eat fish when you’re pregnant to avoid mercury getting into your baby Also doctors: vaccines containing mercury are safe to inject into your baby” Science Feedback rating: Misleading (Multiple studies show that vaccines don’t cause mercury toxicity. Some vaccines contain a mercury compound called thimerosal, a preservative that prevents the growth of harmful microorganisms. This compound is chemically different from the form of mercury that accumulates in some seafood and is also not associated with neurodevelopmental problems in children.) Vaccines don’t cause mercury toxicity; the mercury compound present in some vaccines is different from the one in seafood
FALSE	(International: Philippines): The Supreme Court has nullified the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte. VERA Files rating: False FACT CHECK: SC did NOT declare Sara’s impeachment ‘null and void’

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.