AP Fact Check

CLAIM: Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley “changed” her name for political reasons.

Getting the facts right has been core to AP’s mission since our founding in 1846. When a public figure says something questionable, it is our job to investigate it and offer the facts. You’ll find some of those stories here.

A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out.

CLAIM: Searches on the National Institutes of Health website show that ivermectin is a cure for cancer but it is being suppressed.

CLAIM: Ireland’s government and a local diversity nonprofit distributed a flyer near Dublin instructing girls to stay indoors after 6 p.m. because of new immigrants “not accustomed to Irish cultural norms.” 

CLAIM: Everyone living in the Ohio River basin, as shown in the yellow area of a map, should be concerned about the safety of their drinking water after the derailment of a train in East Palestine, Ohio, contaminated the river.

CLAIM: Statistics show that among members of Congress, 117 have bankrupted at least two businesses, 71 can’t receive credit cards due to bad credit and 84 have been arrested for drunk driving.

NEW YORK (AP) — In a video from a Jan. 25 news report, President Joe Biden talks about tanks. But a doctored version of the video has amassed hundred of thousands of views this week on social media, making it appear he gave a speech that attacks transgender people.

CLAIM: Dr. Anthony Fauci, in a recent science paper, admits that COVID-19 vaccines don’t work.

A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out.

CLAIM: The Church of England will stop using male pronouns for God and will drop the phrase “our Father” from the Lord’s Prayer.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The church has been in ongoing discussions about using gender-neutral language in written services, and recently said it is launching a new project on the matter in the spring.

CLAIM: Los Angeles International Airport is adding urinals to its women’s restrooms. 

Social media users claim to have found a new culprit for sky-high egg prices: chicken feed.

The theory gained steam on Facebook, TikTok and Twitter in recent weeks, with some users reporting that their hens stopped laying eggs and speculating that common chicken feed products were the cause.

Results from 6-year-old Anastasia Weaver’s autopsy may take weeks. But online anti-vaccine activists needed only hours after her funeral this week to baselessly blame the COVID-19 vaccine.

A prolific Twitter account posted Anastasia’s name and smiling dance portrait in a tweet with a syringe emoji.

CLAIM: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is requiring all female student-athletes in the state to provide detailed information about their periods in order to compete in organized sports. 

A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out.

CLAIM: The CEO of Starbucks said, “If you support traditional marriage, don’t buy our coffee.”

CLAIM: Pfizer has acknowledged in a statement it conducted “gain of function” research as part of its development of a vaccine and a separate medical treatment for COVID-19.

CLAIM: The COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson enters the nucleus of cells, suggesting that the shot alters recipients’ DNA.

CLAIM: House Republicans are requiring Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, to remove the headwear he’s donned on the House floor while undergoing chemotherapy.