After the Justice Department released millions of pages of documents linked to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, social media users touted supposed revelations in the files and accused famous people of depraved acts.
Former television host Ellen DeGeneres was one target.
“The Epstein files expose Ellen DeGeneres as Hollywood’s ‘most prolific cannibal.’ She ate children’s flesh,” a Feb. 14 X post read. It had gained 12.5 million views as of late afternoon Feb. 16.
It was the latest in a stringofbaseless claims trying to connect DeGeneres to crimes involving children. PolitiFact found no files in the Justice Department’s Epstein Library that show evidence DeGeneres took part in Epstein’s criminal activities or engaged in cannibalism. The library comes with caveats; text in some documents is not searchable.
We traced this claim to The People’s Voice, a frequentsource of misinformation. On Feb. 11, the People’s Voice released a video and an article that cited an “inside source.” The video contained a supposed audio clip from a “whistleblower” who spoke about DeGeneres having a separate kitchen without cameras. The “whistleblower” also mentioned babies in refrigeration units.
Four analysts told PolitiFact the audio was likely generated with artificial intelligence. V.S. Subrahmanian, a Northwestern University computer science professor, and Marco Postiglione, a postdoctoral researcher who works with Subrahmanian, analyzed the audio clip using 83 deepfake detection algorithms, 63 of which found that the audio clip is more likely to be fake than real.
Other signs also showed the audio is likely AI-generated, including a lack of verbal stumbles — which are typical in usual conversation — and “emotional breaks typical of genuine testimony,” Subrahmanian and Postiglione found.
The analysts also found the speech sounded like “written prose” and not like it was delivered spontaneously. For example, the voice described DeGeneres watching people eat her dumplings “not hungrily, not nervously, but with that sociopathic calm.”
Hafiz Malik, University of Michigan – Dearborn electrical and computer engineering professor, also analyzed the clip and said it was AI-generated. He pointed to the flatness of the speaker’s voice, and a stationary noise throughout the audio. “If you’re talking to somebody, noise does change, so you don’t see a fixed kind of pattern in noise in general,” he said.
The article from The People’s Voice cited no information from the Epstein files pointing to correspondences from, to or about DeGeneres.
Searching “Ellen DeGeneres” in the Justice Department’s Epstein Library showed some news and feature story clippings mentioning her. We found no news reports detailing any connection between DeGeneres and Epstein.
New York Magazine’s Intelligencer compiled a list of prominent people who have been linked to Epstein, using information from Epstein’s black book, flight logs and Justice Department files. DeGeneres is not on the list.
The claim that the Epstein files prove DeGeneres was a cannibal is baseless. We rate that Pants on Fire!
PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
After Nancy Guthrie’s Feb.1 abduction from her Tucson, Arizona, home, her daughter “Today” host Savannah Guthrie put out a call on social media for tips on her mother’s whereabouts, pleading for her safe return.
So far, social media users have been less than helpful. With the Justice Department’s Jan. 30 release of more than 3 million pages of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, X users proposed bogus links between the abduction and the file release.
MultipleXposts include a photo of Savannah Guthrie’s family and an accusation about her husband, Michael Feldman.
“Her husband’s company is listed as a co conspirator in the Epstein files… FGS Global,” reads a Feb. 12 X post with over 1 million views. “In case you’re wondering why now of all times for Savannah Guthrie’s mother to be ‘kidnapped.’”
The co-anchor’s husband isn’t named in the Epstein files, and neither is his current company.
Searching the digital Epstein files, we found one 2013 email to Epstein from a person named Michael Feldman, but it seems to be someone else, introducing himself as a “theoretical physicist.”
Guthrie’s husband is a communications consultant who previously worked in the Clinton administration as chief liaison to Congress and senior adviser for former Vice President Al Gore. Feldman currently works as North American co-chairman of FGS Global, an international public relations firm.
We did not find FGS Global listed in Justice Department files, but another public affairs company that was merged to found FGS Global was listed. As a community note on one of the X posts said, Feldman helped found Glover Park Group in 2001, and its name appears twice in the Epstein files. The firm merged with other companies to form FGS Global in 2021.
PolitiFact reached out to FGS Global, but didn’t receive an immediate response.
The second was in a 2015 email forwarded by Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury secretary and former Harvard University president. Summers suggested that Epstein contact Joe Lockhart, who worked at the Glover Park Group and served as press secretary during the Clinton administration, as well as other Democratic politicians. The initial email says Lockhart “helped Clinton and Genera= (sic) Petraeus.” (Former CIA director and retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus had an extramarital affair uncovered in 2012.)
(Screenshot of a Jan. 8, 2015, email exchange in the Epstein files)
These mentions are not evidence that Feldman, FGS Global or Glover Park Group were “co-conspirators” with Epstein.
Being mentioned in the files does not mean criminal wrongdoing. We reported in 2025 that figures such as President Donald Trump and Clinton appear in the files, but that doesn’t mean they are guilty or charged with crimes. As of February 2026, Epstein and his coconspirator Ghislaine Maxwell are the only people who have beenconvicted in the scheme to sexually exploit and abuse multiple minor girls.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said Feb. 16 on X that the Guthrie family, including “all siblings and spouses,” had been cleared as possible suspects in the Nancy Guthrie case.
We rate the X posts’ claims about Guthrie’s husband’s company False.
“About Veru.” Veru Inc., https://verupharma.com/about/.
Bennett, Geoff, et al. “Epstein Files Fallout Grows as Ghislaine Maxwell Pleads Fifth before Congress.” PBS News, 9 Feb. 2026, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/epstein-files-fallout-grows-as-ghislaine-maxwell-pleads-fifth-before-congress.
“Bobby Slayton on His Friendship with Jeffery Epstein.” YouTube, We Think It’s Funny Podcast, 28 Aug. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-NEGw87nbE.
Caldwell, Noah. “America’s Satanic Panic Returns — This Time Through QAnon.” NPR, 18 May 2021. National, https://www.npr.org/2021/05/18/997559036/americas-satanic-panic-returns-this-time-through-qanon.
“Epstein Library .” U.S. Department of Justice, https://www.justice.gov/epstein.
Evon, Dan. “Qurious About QAnon? Get the Facts About This Dangerous Conspiracy Theory.” Snopes, 21 Aug. 2020, https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/08/21/qanon-2020-election/.
Goldstein, Matthew. “Epstein’s Trust Reveals Who Would Inherit His Fortune.” The New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/business/jeffrey-epstein-trust-inherit-karyna-shuliak.html.
Gresko, Jessica. “‘Pizzagate’ Gunman in DC Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison.” The Associated Press, 22 June 2017, https://apnews.com/article/united-states-presidential-election-e0d30f6da17348ce9f354bfd6cb5cd9a.
Groves, Stephen. “Justice Department Will Allow Lawmakers to See Unredacted Versions of Released Epstein Files.” The Associated Press, 6 Feb. 2026, https://apnews.com/article/epstein-files-congress-unredacted-justice-department-5219f89459e80a141b84e1aa2551b0d2.
“Harry Fisch.” Simon & Schuster, https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Harry-Fisch/21810784.
“Jeffrey Epstein Charged In Manhattan Federal Court With Sex Trafficking Of Minors.” United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, 8 July 2019, https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/jeffrey-epstein-charged-manhattan-federal-court-sex-trafficking-minors.
“Jimmy Kimmel & Guillermo Learn Sia’s ‘Chandelier’ Dance.” YouTube, Jimmy Kimmel Live, 4 July 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGYBFu4RHcE.
“Jmail.” Jmail.world, https://jmail.world/.
Klepper, David, and Jim Mustian. “Epstein: How He Died and What It Means for His Accusers.” The Associated Press, 11 Aug. 2019, https://apnews.com/article/b76666895e674991a6782d77b726d085.
Marchant, Robert. “New Canaan Resident Was Assistant to Jeffrey Epstein.” The Middletown Press, 4 Aug. 2019, https://www.middletownpress.com/news/article/New-Canaan-resident-was-assistant-to-Jeffrey-14279439.php.
“Newly Disclosed Epstein Documents Offer More Detail about His Interaction with the Rich and Famous.” The Associated Press, 31 Jan. 2026, https://apnews.com/live/epstein-files-news-updates-1-31-2026.
“Sam Hyde.” Know Your Meme, 28 Apr. 2015, https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/people/sam-hyde.
Sisak, Michael R., et al. “Medical Examiner Rules Epstein Death a Suicide by Hanging.” The Associated Press, 17 Aug. 2019, https://apnews.com/article/a947e0d85d31496eb5bd9ff4994c9718.
“The Podesta Emails.” WikiLeaks, https://www.wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/.
“U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Settles Sex Trafficking Case Against Estate Of Jeffrey Epstein And Co-Defendants For Over $105 Million.” United States Virgin Islands Department of Justice, 1 Dec. 2022, https://usvidoj.com/u-s-virgin-islands-attorney-general-settles-sex-trafficking-case-against-estate-of-jeffrey-epstein-and-co-defendants-for-over-105-million/.
Vera, Amir, and Brian Vitagliano. “MIT Professor Accepted Money from Jeffrey Epstein and Didn’t Tell the School, Report Says.” CNN, 11 Jan. 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/10/us/jeffrey-epstein-mit-professor-donation.
“Wayback Machine.” Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/.
One year after taking charge of the nation’s health department, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hasn’t held true to many of the promises he made while appealing to U.S. senators concerned about the longtime anti-vaccine activist’s plans for the nation’s care.
Kennedy squeaked through a narrow Senate vote to be confirmed as head of the Department of Health and Human Services, only after making a number of public and private guarantees about how he would handle vaccine funding and recommendations as secretary.
Here’s a look at some of the promises Kennedy made during his confirmation process.
The childhood vaccine schedule
In two hearings in January 2025, Kennedy repeatedly assured senators that he supported childhood vaccines, noting that all his children were vaccinated.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) grilled Kennedy about the money he’s made in the private sector from lawsuits against vaccine makers and accused him of planning to profit from potential future policies making it easier to sue.
“Kennedy can kill off access to vaccines and make millions of dollars while he does it,” Warren said during the Senate Finance Committee hearing. “Kids might die, but Robert Kennedy can keep cashing in.”
Warren’s statement prompted an assurance by Kennedy.
“Senator, I support vaccines,” he said. “I support the childhood schedule. I will do that.”
Days later, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, declared Kennedy had pledged to maintain existing vaccine recommendations if confirmed. Cassidy, a physician specializing in liver diseases and a vocal supporter of vaccination, had questioned Kennedy sharply in a hearing about his views on shots.
“If confirmed, he will maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ recommendations without changes,” Cassidy said during a speech on the Senate floor explaining his vote for Kennedy.
A few months after he was confirmed, Kennedy fired all the incumbent members of the vaccine advisory panel, known as ACIP, and appointed new members, including several who, like him, oppose some vaccines. The panel’s recommendations soon changed drastically.
Last month, the CDC removed its universal recommendations for children to receive seven immunizations, those protecting against respiratory syncytial virus, meningococcal disease, flu, COVID, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and rotavirus. The move followed a memorandum from the White House calling on the CDC to cull the schedule.
Now, those vaccines, which researchers estimate have prevented thousands of deaths and millions of illnesses, are recommended by the CDC only for children at high-risk of serious illness or after consultation between doctors and parents.
In response to questions about Kennedy’s actions on vaccines over the past year, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said the secretary “continues to follow through on his commitments” to Cassidy.
“As part of those commitments, HHS accepted Chairman Cassidy’s numerous recommendations for key roles at the agency, retained particular language on the CDC website, and adopted ACIP recommendations,” Nixon added. “Secretary Kennedy talks to the chairman at a regular clip.”
Cassidy and his office have repeatedly rebuffed questions about whether Kennedy, since becoming secretary, has broken the commitments he made to the senator.
Vaccine funding axed
Weeks after Kennedy took over the federal health department, the CDC pulled back $11 billion in COVID-era grants that local health departments were using to fund vaccination programs, among other initiatives.
That happened after Kennedy pledged during his confirmation hearings not to undermine vaccine funding.
Kennedy replied “Yes” when Cassidy asked him directly: “Do you commit that you will not work to impound, divert, or otherwise reduce any funding appropriated by Congress for the purpose of vaccination programs?”
A federal judge later ordered HHS to distribute the money.
The National Institutes of Health, part of HHS, also yanked dozens of research grants supporting studies of vaccine hesitancy last year. Kennedy, meanwhile, ordered the cancellation of a half-billion dollars’ worth of mRNA vaccine research in August.
A discredited theory about autism
Cassidy said in his floor speech that he received a guarantee from Kennedy that the CDC’s website would not remove statements explaining that vaccines do not cause autism.
Technically, Kennedy kept his promise not to remove the statements. The website still says that vaccines do not cause autism.
But late last year, new statements sprung up on the same webpage, baselessly casting doubt on vaccine safety. “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism,” the page on autism now misleadingly reads.
The webpage also states that the public has largely ignored studies showing vaccines do cause autism.
That is false. Over decades of research, scientific studies have repeatedly concluded that there is no link between vaccines and autism.
A controversial 1998 study that captured global attention did link the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine to autism. It was retracted for being fraudulent — though not until a decade after it was published, during which there were sharp declines in U.S. vaccination rates.
As Republicans pushed for a national photo voter ID law, they made a familiar argument: If people need an ID for everyday purchases, why not for voting?
The Save America Act, which passed the House Feb. 11 with unanimous GOP support, would mandate that all states require a photo ID to vote in person or by mail.
U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., said during debate that when he recently went to buy a six-pack, the clerk asked to see his ID even though she recognized him. Steil is 44.
“I think it’s nuts that we protect our beer in this country more than our ballots in jurisdictions,” Steil said Feb. 11.
Hold my beer. Is that true?
Comparing ID rules for purchasing alcohol and casting a ballot is about as satisfying as a warm beer on a hot day.
Let’s tap into the facts.
Not every state requires stores to card all beer buyers
When, how and why alcohol retailers ask customers for IDs is typically dictated by state law. Retailers can impose stricter requirements for ID checks if they wish.
A 2024 Oklahoma law gives businesses discretion as to whether they ask for ID. The law is named for a 90-year-old man denied a beer because he lacked ID.
Utah’s law requires an ID check for every customer purchasing alcohol.
In Steil’s home state of Wisconsin, employees “should demand proof of age of anyone entering the premises who appears to be under the legal drinking age,” a state guide says. Under the law, employees “may require a person” to present ID and proof of age.
The guide lists several acceptable forms of ID: a driver’s license, state ID, passport, military or tribal identification or “any other form of identification or proof of age acceptable to the licensee.”
That “any other form” language is more expansive than Wisconsin’s voter ID law.
Steil’s spokesperson pointed to several states that don’t require a photo ID.
Most states — 36 — request or require voters to show some form of ID at the polls. The remaining 14 states and Washington, D.C., require no form of identification, but they use other methods to verify voters’ identities, such as matching signatures or asking for personal information. Federal law requires first-time voters to show ID when requesting mail ballots, while some states have additional ID requirements for voters mailing in ballots.
Wisconsin is one of about 10 states that have strict photo ID laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The law requires voters to bring their photo IDs to the polls. (Voters felt so strongly they enshrined it in the state constitution in 2025.) Acceptable forms include a valid Wisconsin driver’s license, a state ID card or a passport. The law says student IDs from accredited Wisconsin colleges or universities are allowed, if they meet the requirements.
Why the beer vs ballots comparison falls short
Keep these points in mind when you hear the photo ID voting and alcohol comparison.
Legal rights: The right to vote and the right to drink beer are not the same. The right to vote is a right enshrined by constitutional amendments. No such constitutional rights pertain to beer buying. “Voting is a right and is a public act,” said Barry Burden, University of Wisconsin political scientist. “Purchasing alcohol is a private activity.”
Scope of problem: The proof of age law doesn’t exist to “protect” beer, said Derek Clinger, senior staff attorney with the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin law school. It is meant to prevent underage drinking, which poses health risks. Voter fraud is far morerare than youth alcohol consumption.
Election laws provide additional protections: States have laws beyond voter ID to protect ballots. Every state but North Dakota requires people to register to vote. People who register attest to their eligibility, including U.S. citizenship. There is no such registration step to purchase alcohol.
“The registration step requires documentation to prove that a person is a legal resident,” Burden said. “Only after that is it possible to take part in an election. An alcohol purchase is a more superficial interaction where the purchaser’s eligibility is determined on the spot with no prior knowledge.”
In case readers were wondering, we asked Steil spokesperson Michael Donatello what kind of beer Steil was buying when the clerk asked for ID.
“Congressman Steil was purchasing a Potosi Czech-Style Pilsner at the time of this incident,” he said in an email. “He has been spotted purchasing Miller Lite, Gray Brewing Co., and Lakefront Brewing Co. depending on the occasion.”
RELATED: Thirsty for more facts about voter ID? Read PolitiFact.
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In early January 2026, an image circulated online purportedly showing a vintage advertisement for Smirnoff vodka that read, “Every morning’s a Smirnoff morning.”
The alleged ad featured a woman in a bathrobe, sitting at a table with a cigarette and glass of vodka. Social media users on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived) and Reddit claimed it was published in 1980.
A reverse image search on Google showed the image has been shared online since at least 2014.
In short, there is no evidence this was an authentic ad for Smirnoff vodka, nor that it was published in 1980. Satirical anti-capitalist magazine Adbusters appeared to have created the advertisement as a spoof. It was not possible to track down a physical or digital copy of the ad in Adbusters’ online archive or in its back issue archives.
Adbusters had not replied to our inquiries at the time of publication.
For these reasons, Snopes could not independently verify the ad’s presence in the magazine; therefore, we were unable to rate this claim, though it did appear to be an authentic spoof ad attributed to Adbusters.
The alleged Smirnoff ad has been mentioned specifically in at least two publications, both of which stated that Adbusters published the image in its Winter 1989-90 issue, one of the magazine’s earliest.
Fake ads such as this were considered a form of “culture jamming,” a movement The Los Angeles Times called “the new dissent in America” in 1992. The newspaper described culture jamming as an effort to “sabotage advertising” and “sabotage television” by turning advertising “against itself.”
Ronald K.L. Collins, who authored the 1992 LA Times piece, and David M. Skover, professor emeritus at Seattle University School of Law, mentioned the alleged Smirnoff ad in their 2005 book “The Death of Discourse,” in a section discussing culture jamming. They called it “one form of dissent that the captains of commerce are not likely to countenance.”
(“The Death of Discourse” by Ronald K.L. Collins and David M. Skover)
Collins and Skover described the seemingly fake ad as “an advertising photo of a bedraggled, middle-aged woman sitting at the breakfast table, holding a cigarette and a glass of vodka, with the caption ‘Every morning’s a Smirnoff morning.’”
The book’s citations listed the image as appearing on the inside cover of Adbusters Quarterly’s “Winter 1989-1990” issue.
A 2012 University of Iowa dissertation, titled, “Contested Images: The Politics and Poetics of Appropriation,” by Michael Alan Glassco, a “Doctor of Philosophy in mass communications” according to his LinkedIn page, also mentioned the image.
In the paper’s section on culture jamming, Glassco described Adbusters as a way to “address hyper commercialism and the degradation of the physical and mental environment.” He wrote:
The alternative ads in the first Adbusters publication included a photograph of a horse grazing alone in a cemetery. Across the bottom of the photograph are the words “Marlboro Country.” Another showed a destitute woman facing her first drink of the day with the text, “Every morning is a Smirnoff morning.”
Glassco’s dissertation did not make a citation noting where he found the alleged commercial. By saying the supposed spoof Smirnoff ad appeared in Adbusters’ first publication, Glassco clouded the waters slightly, as the cover for Adbusters Quarterly, Winter 1989-90 — the issue cited in “The Death of Discourse” book — displayed “Volume 1, Issue 2.”
Snopes reached out to Glassco for further information and will update this article if we receive a response.
Sources
Collins, Ronald K. L. “PERSPECTIVE ON THE MEDIA : Waging War on Culture Pollution : ‘Jamming,’ a New Breed of Dissent, Parodies Popular Ad Images in a Campaign to Cleanse Our Mental Environment.” Los Angeles Times, 22 Nov. 1992, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-11-22-op-2060-story.html.
———. The Death of Discourse. With Internet Archive, Durham, N.C. : Carolina Academic Press, 2005. Internet Archive, http://archive.org/details/deathofdiscourse0000coll_ed02.
———. The Death of Discourse. With Internet Archive, Durham, N.C. : Carolina Academic Press, 2005. Internet Archive, http://archive.org/details/deathofdiscourse0000coll_ed02.
Collins, Ronald K. L., and David M. Skover. The Death Of Discourse. Avalon Publishing, 1996.
A chart of mass shooters by demographic depicting transgender people at the highest per capita rate of any group is accurate.
Rating:
Conservative social media influencers and public figures frequently turn their ire against transgender and nonbinary communities in the wake of mass shootings. As part of this, they often claim that transgender people are disproportionately violent and more likely to commit mass shootings than the rest of the U.S. population.
One chart often used to make this claim originated from an Aug. 27, 2025, post to X (archived). That chart was titled “Mass shooting rates by demographic (2015-2025).” The chart’s data was narrowed to public incidents with four or more fatalities and expressed rates per million population for Asian men, white men, Black men, Hispanic men, Asian women and two categories for transgender people: “Trans/Non-Binary (Biological Male)” and “Trans/Non-Binary (Biological Female).” The graph depicted rates for the transgender groups as higher than those for the other groups.
In short, the chart is incorrect, and the available evidence shows that the wider claim that transgender people are more likely to commit mass shootings than cisgender people is false. No matter how the terms are reasonably defined, cisgender men — that is, men assigned male at birth — most disproportionately commit mass shootings.
Fact-checking the chart
The simplest way to fact-check the “Mass shooting rates by demographic” chart is to first calculate the data ourselves.
The Violence Prevention Project defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are fatally shot, excluding the shooter, in a public location, with no connection to underlying criminal activity such as gangs or drugs. Because the chart limits its definition of mass shooting to public attacks with four or more fatalities, the Violence Prevention Project’s definition seems to match the chart’s definition.
As of the Violence Prevention Project’s January 2026 update, there were 202 mass shootings committed by 207 people in the U.S. between 1966 and 2025. Of those 207 mass shooters, the Violence Prevention Project identified only one perpetrator as transgender: the 2023 Nashville shooter.
According to U.S. Census estimates from 2025, there are 269,763,509 resident adults in the United States. USA Facts, which uses Census data itself, estimated in February 2025 that 0.95% of U.S. adults identified as transgender, 47.09% of adults identified as cisgender men and 50.26% identified as cisgender women. Based on Snopes’ math, that means there were about 2,562,753 transgender adults in 2025, as well as 127,031,636 cisgender men and 135,583,140 cisgender women.
Between 2015 and 2025, the Violence Prevention Project listed 66 shooters in its database: Sixty-three of those shooters were cisgender men, two were cisgender women and one was a transgender person, the only such person in the entire database. If we were to turn that data into people per million committing massing shootings during that time, we’d find 0.496 per million cisgender men were mass shooters, 0.390 per million transgender people were mass shooters and 0.015 cisgender women were mass shooters.
How were our numbers for transgender people so much lower and why didn’t we divide groups the same way the creator of the chart did? That’s where we get into the issues with the chart and its data.
The creator of the chart later said that he included 32 perpetrators, two of whom were transgender or nonbinary. Already, 32 is too small of a sample size to make inferences about the general population. On top of that, the creator included the perpetrator behind the 2022 attack on a Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ nightclub as nonbinary; although the perpetrator claimed in court that he was nonbinary, there was doubt as to the authenticity to this claim considering there was no evidence he identified as such prior to being charged and was eventually convicted of hate crimes targeting LGBTQ+ people. The Violence Prevention Project identified him as a cisgender man.
The original chart compared the transgender population as a whole to groups divided by both race and gender, which is like comparing apples to oranges. If the original 32-person dataset also divided transgender people by race, the Black, Asian and Hispanic transgender people who commit mass shootings per million people at that time would have been 0.000, the lowest on the chart.
This helps highlight the issues with using per capita data from such a small sample size, especially when one group far outnumbers another. It’d be unusual to claim that something is a pattern because it happened once. Yet, if we were to go back to our 66 mass shooters from between 2015 and 2025, the 65 cisgender people would amount to 0.248 mass shooters per million cisgender people, a lower per capita value than the 0.390 per million value mentioned above for transgender people, even though just a single perpetrator was transgender.
As a reminder, USA Facts estimated 0.95% of the U.S. adult population identified as transgender, which was similar to other credible estimates such as an August 2025 report from the UCLA School of Law Williams Institute. USA Facts estimated about 47.09% of the adult population were cisgender men.
Of those 207 mass shooters previously mentioned in the Violence Protection Project’s database, only the 2023 Nashville shooter was identified as transgender. That’s 0.48% of all the shooters in the database. The database said 202 of the shooters were cisgender male, which was 97.6% of all shooters.
The Gun Violence Archive has a broader definition of a mass shooting: a shooting in which at least four victims are shot and either injured or killed, not including the shooter. The Gun Violence Archive does not separate other underlying criminal activity, such as gang activity, from its definition.
Snopes reached out to the Gun Violence Archive by email in August 2025 because its public database did not include the gender identity of the perpetrators. Mark Bryant, its founding executive director, replied with gender-identity data for mass shootings and mass murders (in which four or more people are killed) between Jan. 1, 2013 and August 2025.
Of 5,729 mass shootings in the Gun Violence Archive’s database, there were five confirmed transgender shooters. If including a few incidents in which the gender identity of the shooter was not confirmed, the Gun Violence Archive estimated that there may have been eight transgender mass shooters since 2013. That’s between 0.09% and 0.14% of all mass shooters in the database.
Bryant said 319 of those shootings qualified as mass murders, by the group’s definition. There were three proven transgender shooters among those 319 incidents, Bryant said. That’s 0.94% of all mass murders since 2013.
A January 2023 Secret Service report on mass attacks — attacks in which three or more people, not including the attacker(s), were harmed — between 2016 and 2020 found three of the 180 attackers from the time period were transgender men. Of the remaining 177 attackers, five were cisgender women and 172 were cisgender men.
That means about 1.67% of attackers in the Secret Service report were transgender and 95.56% of attackers were men who were not transgender.
For further reading, Snopes has previously fact-checked false claims insinuating transgender people commit mass shootings at rates higher than the rest of the population.
Helderman, Rosalind S., and David A. Fahrenthold. ‘Trump Camp Says $25,000 Charity Contribution to Florida AG Was a Mistake’. The Washington Post, March 22, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-camp-issues-rare-admission-of-error-charity-donation-to-florida-ag-was-a-mistake/2016/03/22/349c8f8c-efb4-11e5-a61f-e9c95c06edca_story.html.
Moore, Elena. ‘Pam Bondi Clashes with House Democrats over Epstein Files at DOJ Oversight Hearing’. NPR, 11 Feb. 2026. Politics. NPR, https://www.npr.org/2026/02/11/nx-s1-5707280/pam-bondi-oversight-hearing-department-of-justice.
A video authentically shows U.S. President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein at a social gathering with young girls.
Rating:
In February 2026, a video resurfaced online, allegedly showing U.S. President Donald Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein at a social gathering with young girls.
The purported footage of Trump and Epstein circulated on social media amid widespread attention surrounding the recent release of millions of pages of documents from the Jeffrey Epstein case by the U.S. Department of Justice under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. It touched on rumors that have persisted for years about Trump’s ties to Epstein, who died by suicide in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.
One X post (archived) featuring a screenshot from the video read:
#EpsteinFile reveals a horrifying truth that will send chills down anyone’s spine. Minors were subjected to unimaginable abuse and exploitation. Despite these horrific crimes, some perpetrators still hold positions of power and fame, becoming presidents, prime ministers, or celebrities. #EpsteinFile doesn’t just expose the criminals; it also reminds society of its responsibility and the importance of truth.
However, the footage was not authentic. It was based on a real photograph taken in 1997, but was most likely generated using artificial intelligence tools. The original image showed Trump, Epstein and Belgian model Ingrid Seynhaeve attending a Victoria’s Secret party in New York City. No children appeared in the original photo. As such, we’ve rated this claim as fake.
How the video was created
TinEye reverse image search results led us to a 2017 Reddit post (archived) titled “New photo surfaces of Trump with paedophile Epstein at Victoria’s Secret lingerie party in 1997.” The post featured what appeared to be a photograph of a printed page and credited the image to photographer Marina Garnier.
(Reddit u/DrDuplicitous)
The photograph likely originated from the 2017book “Filthy Rich: The Shocking True Story of Jeffrey Epstein – The Billionaire’s Sex Scandal.” On Page 222 of the PDF version, the image was captioned: “Jeffrey Epstein, Donald Trump, and (newly signed Trump Model) Ingrid Seynhaeve, attending the Victoria’s Secret Angels party at Laura Belle club in New York City on April 8, 1997 (Marina Garnier).” This caption matched the text partially visible in the Reddit post, suggesting the user had photographed a page from the book.
(“Filthy Rich: The Shocking True Story of Jeffrey Epstein – The Billionaire’s Sex Scandal”)
The New York Post also published a seemingly enhanced version of the photo with the caption: “Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein and Ingrid Segrhaeve chat it up at Victoria’s Secret Lingerie Party in 1997. PAY PER USE.” However, it did not cite a source for the image.
As of this writing, we were unable to verify additional details about the original photograph or its origin.
Several other photographs from the 1997 Victoria’s Secret event featuring Trump were available through Getty Images. In these images, both Trump and Seynhaeve were wearing the same outfits as in the photo that appeared to have been used to generate the fake video.
(Getty Images)
Overall, the video in question displayed multiple signs of AI generation, including unnaturally smooth skin textures, unrealistic facial expressions and awkward movements. These characteristics indicated that the original 1997 photograph was likely transformed into a video using AI tools that applied motion to the still image and inserted a fabricated scene showing underage girls.
Independent fact-checking organizations, including Italian Open.Online and BBC Verify, also analyzed the clip and reached the conclusion that the footage was AI-generated.
In July 2025, we debunked a similar AI-generated video, allegedly showing Trump pointing at a preteen girl while standing with Ghislaine Maxwell, the former associate of Epstein. For broader context, check out our collection of 23 rumors we’ve examined regarding Trump and Epstein’s relationship.
Sources
“BBC Verify Live: What Impact Could Small Boat Sanctions Have?” BBC News, https://www.bbc.com/news/live/clyl0433k35t. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
Liles, Jordan. “Fake Video Shows Trump Pointing at Preteen Girl While Standing with Ghislaine Maxwell.” Snopes, 15 Jul. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trump-maxwell-preteen-girls-video/.
———. “Fake Video Shows Trump Pointing at Preteen Girl While Standing with Ghislaine Maxwell.” Snopes, 15 Jul. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trump-maxwell-preteen-girls-video/.
Patterson, James, et al. Filthy Rich: The Shocking True Story of Jeffrey Epstein – The Billionaire’s Sex Scandal. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
Rascouët-Paz, Anna. “23 Rumors We’ve Examined about Trump and Epstein’s Relationship.” Snopes, 10 Sep. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//collections/trump-epstein-collection/.
Stanley, Mickey. “Photos: Photos: Following Manhattan’s ‘Ladies Who Lunch.’” Vanity Fair, 30 Jan. 2012, https://www.vanityfair.com/style/photos/2012/02/ladies-who-lunched-slideshow-201202.
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In February 2026, an array of similar rumors spread online suggesting that, in one way or another, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were not being paid.
The claims varied from post to post, appearing on Facebook, Reddit and Instagram. Some made a broad generalization about a lack of paychecks, while others explicitly stated that agents were not receiving a $50,000 sign-up bonus the agency has prominently featured in recruitment ads.
For example, an Instagram post featured an image with overlaid text reading, “ICE recruits say promised $50K bonuses never came as Trump hiring push backfires.”
Snopes readers also contacted us looking for more information about the claims.
Despite the rumors, there was not much firsthand information available online; therefore, it was not possible to confirm or deny any of the allegations. Snopes reached out to ICE, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of Personnel Management for comment but, as of this writing, had not received a response from any agency. We will update this article if any of them reply. As such, this story remains unrated.
(Any active ICE agents wishing to provide information on the topic are encouraged to reach out to Snopes via our tip page at the bottom of this article.)
Here’s what we found out:
Why there’s no information
The lack of information can partially be chalked up to the agency’s hyper-publicized operations — particularly, its use of unmarked, masked and heavily armed agents throughout President Donald Trump’s second term. The federal government has consistently defended its agents’ identities, saying they must remain anonymous due to fear of doxing. (The Trump administration’s definition of doxing appears to include simply publicly naming an agent, broadening the standard definition of the word — the publication of sensitive, location-identifying information).
A subreddit for ICE agents— in which the rumor reportedly originated, according to an article by online newspaper International Business Times — was recently set to private, meaning users could not join or access the forum without moderator approval. This made it difficult to find public comments from ICE agents on their working conditions.
A Wired article, published around the same time the ICE employee subreddit went private, documented several complaints, such as “long working hours” and “limited overtime pay.” The article did not provide confirmation regarding the claims, though it did quote one Reddit user as saying, “Haven’t heard a peep about the sign-on bonuses either.”
Meanwhile, one X user (archived) (whose post later appeared in a Daily Dot article) posted four screenshots, three of which purportedly showed ICE employees on the subreddit. The posts allegedly revealed ICE agents complaining about receiving no healthcare after two months of work, no pay after four weeks of work and that a large chunk of the promised $10,000 sign-up bonus went to taxes.
Snopes reached out to all the accounts featured in the screenshots. Several had since been deleted or set to private. None had responded at the time of publication.
Claims about bonuses may have some truth
While it was not possible to confirm or deny the rumors, it was possible there was some truth to the idea that new hires were not given the full $50,000 sign-up bonus the agency has touted.
Despite the government’s attempts to keep the exact details of the offer secret (for instance, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, another DHS agency, placed an asterisk on the $50,000 bonus without seemingly clarifying what its terms are), reports suggest that only retired employees returning to the job are eligible for the bonus and that it comes in $10,000 chunks.
For fruther reading, Snopes previously investigated a claim that newly hired ICE agents were being paid more than teachers.
Sources
Bustillo, Ximena. “ICE Recruits Former Federal Workers to Join Its Ranks amid Hiring Spree.” NPR, 1 Aug. 2025. Immigration. NPR, https://www.npr.org/2025/08/01/g-s1-80636/trump-immigration-ice-federal-workers.
Deng, Rae. “Clarifying Claims That New ICE Agents Receive 6-Figure Salaries, Far Exceeding Pay for Teachers.” Snopes, 23 July 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/ice-agents-teachers-salaries/.
“Don’t Expect Much”: ICE Agents Are Venting about Missing Pay and Benefits on Reddit. 3 Feb. 2026, https://dailydot.com/subreddit-ice-agents-complain/.
Definition of DOX. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dox. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.
Duret, Daphne. “ICE Wants Your Cops, Florida. But So Do Police Chiefs and Sheriffs.” The Marshall Project, 18 Oct. 2025, https://www.themarshallproject.org/2025/10/18/florida-ice-job-police-hiring.
Elliott, Vittoria. “Inside the ICE Forum Where Agents Complain About Their Jobs.” Wired. www.wired.com, https://www.wired.com/story/inside-the-ice-forum-where-agents-complain-about-their-jobs/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
Felicity, Thea. “ICE Employees on Reddit Complain about Late Salaries and Missing Insurance, despite Promises Made upon Hiring.” International Business Times UK, 2 Feb. 2026, https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ice-employees-vent-reddit-saying-theyre-not-getting-paid-still-no-insurance-despite-promises-1775650.
“ICE Agents Whine That They Aren’t Getting Their Massive Bonuses.” Yahoo News, 2 Feb. 2026, https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ice-agents-whine-aren-t-220242548.html.
“ICE Offers up to $50,000 Signing Bonus for Retired Employees to Return to the Job.” Federal News Network, 21 July 2025, https://federalnewsnetwork.com/federal-newscast/2025/07/ice-is-offering-up-to-50000-signing-bonus-for-retired-employees-to-return-to-the-job/.
“Masks Emerge as Symbol of Trump’s ICE Crackdown and a Flashpoint in Congress.” AP News, 9 Feb. 2026, https://apnews.com/article/ice-masks-congress-homeland-security-shutdown-funding-3c5b2050286aab930d8c81eb9cb1e03e.
US Offers up to $50k Bonus for Would-Be ICE Deportation Officers. 1 Aug. 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqle5newg0no.
Ward, Myah. ” $50K Bonuses, Reduced Age Minimums and Superman: How ICE Will Fill Its Ranks.” Politico, 20 Aug. 2025, https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/20/ice-recruitment-military-bonuses-00516709.
An image shared online in February 2026 showed a real Truth Social post made by U.S. President Donald Trump, in which he wondered why no one had tried plugging volcanoes with cement to prevent eruptions.
Rating:
Context
Snopes traced versions of the post back to at least 2022, none of which were attributed to Trump.
In February 2026, socialmediausersshared an image claiming to show a Truth Social post from U.S. President Donald Trump, in which he allegedly wondered why no one had tried plugging volcanoes with cement to prevent eruptions.
Snopes readers asked whether Trump really shared the post.
A reverse image search found versions of the post circulating online since at least 2022, none of which were attributed to Trump. Someone altered the image circulating in 2026 to make it appear as though the president had posted it. As such, we’ve rated the image as fake.
For the record, filling a volcano with cement would not stop lava from escaping during an eruption.
Post appeared as early as 2022, not attributed to Trump
The text of the alleged post read:
Why has no one ever experimented with placing cement in the mouth of volcanoes considered active, as in the image, or heavy metal rocks. And when erupting the lava would be blocked, preventing deaths and accidents.
The attached image includes a mock diagram showing a cement plug over the top of a volcano and along a side chute.
The earliest version of the post attributed to Trump was shared on Feb. 11, 2026. However, no evidence of such a post exists on Trump’s Truth Social account from that time.
Using Google’s reverse image search tool, we found examplesof the post dating as far back as June 2022. Those old images, however, did not credit the post to Trump. They were credited to a different user, whose name was blocked out.
Idea wouldn’t work
While the idea of filling a volcano with cement might sound plausible at first, it’s not scientifically sound. That’s because most volcanoes already have a natural plug — it’s just rock instead of cement.
When people think of a volcano, they often imagine a mountain with a fiery pit of lava at the top. While these lava lakes do exist on some volcanoes — Hawaii’s Kilauea, for instance — they’re quite rare. Most volcanic craters are filled with rocks and ash from previous eruptions. When a volcanic eruption happens, the magma is already breaking through a cap of rock.
Kasprak, Alex. ‘Unsubstantiated Trump Child Rape Allegations Originated with “Jerry Springer” Producer’. Snopes, 1 Aug. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//news/2024/08/01/trump-child-rape-epstein/.
Kasprak, Alex. ‘Was Trump “Found Guilty” of Sexually Assaulting E. Jean Carroll?’ Snopes, 9 May 2023, https://www.snopes.com//news/2023/05/09/trump-liable-sexual-abuse/.
Kasprak, Alex. ‘What We Know About Origins of Trump Child Rape Allegations’. Snopes, 3 Sept. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//news/2024/09/03/trump-epstein-katie-johnson/.
‘Mark Ruffalo Apologizes after Reposting False Images of Trump on Epstein’s Plane’. NBC News, https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/mark-ruffalo-apologizes-after-reposting-false-images-of-trump-on-epstein-s-plane-201646149874. Accessed 17 Nov. 2025.
Rascouët-Paz, Anna and Joey Esposito. ’19 Rumors about Trump’s Relationship with Epstein, Fact-Checked’. Snopes, 12 Nov. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//collections/trump-epstein-rumors-collection/.
‘Trump Asks Supreme Court to Throw out E. Jean Carroll’s $5 Million Verdict’. AP News, 10 Nov. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/trump-carroll-abuse-defamation-supreme-court-be62982deb6821b62e0471f5bea3e64d.
Trump, Donald. Truth Social, 2 Feb. 2026, https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116002410765945086.
An image of a woman with orange hair is an authentic photo of Jesse Van Rootselaar, the 18-year-old woman who killed at least eight people at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in Canada in February 2026.
After the shooting, many people on social media rushed to identify the shooter based on little to no credible information, sharing various names and photos they claimed were the shooter’s. One such post (archived) simply consisted of the words “The shooter,” paired with an image of a woman with orange hair.
Other social media posts on Facebook (archived) as well as X joined in claiming the woman with the orange hair was the shooter. The image also appeared in some news reporting on the shooting, such as a Times of India article (archived) that credited it to an X account. Many Snopes readers searched the site to find information on the identity of the shooter.
Though real, the photo was not of the Tumbler Ridge shooter. It was instead a photo from the Facebook profile of a woman unrelated to the shooting. Therefore, we have rated the image as miscaptioned.
In a news release from Feb. 11, the day after the shooting, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police shared a legitimate photo of Van Rootselaar. It showed a person with long, dark brown hair and a nose that did not match that of the orange-haired person whose photo was shared online.
The photo of the orange-haired woman, who looked distinctly different from Van Rootselaar as she appeared in the image shared by police, was the cover photo of a still-active Facebook profile. The profile changed its cover photo to a white heart on a black background on Feb. 11. Because Van Rootselaar was found dead at the scene of the shooting, she would not have been able to make changes to her Facebook profile the following day.
In a fact check of the same claims, AFP, an international news agency based in France, screenshotted the Facebook profile as it appeared previously with the name Zylii Strang. The AFP’s fact check also included a screenshot of a since-deleted LinkedIn profile belonging to the same person and referenced messages it exchanged with their mother, who told AFP the woman in the photo was “afraid to go outside after being misidentified.”
Considering that in the two days since the shooting the profile has changed its name, profile picture and cover photo, made its posts and profile information private by the time Snopes found it, and belonged to someone who recently deleted their LinkedIn profile and whose mother said was “afraid to go outside,” Snopes is not directly linking to the person’s profile out of respect for their privacy.
The LinkedIn screenshot from AFP showed that Strang has worked since September 2018. At that time, Van Rootselaar would have been 11. All of Strang’s former jobs as they appeared in the screenshot were based in Ontario, Canada, which is hundreds of miles from Tumbler Ridge’s province, British Columbia.
The RCMP identified the shooter’s slain mother as Jennifer Jacobs, although CBC News, Canada’s largest news broadcaster, previously referred to the same woman as Jennifer Strang. The CBC said Jennifer Jacobs was her legal name.
A day earlier, the RCMP said at a news conference that Van Rootselaar was a transgender woman. Zylii Strang’s photo was frequently shared in transphobic social media posts falsely claiming a link between transgender people and some heightened degree of violence. Therefore, it is likely that bad actors reposted Strang’s photo and misidentified her as Van Rootselaar based on her last name and gender identity.
For further reading, Snopes has previously fact-checked false claims that mass shooters are disproportionately transgender.
Media Bias Fact Check selects and publishes fact checks from around the world. We only utilize fact-checkers that are either a signatory of the International…
In February 2026, a rumor that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi held an Israeli passport spread online, with some social media users accusing her of disloyalty to the U.S. or lying about her citizenship under oath.
“If an official holds two passports, how do we ensure full loyalty to U.S. interests?” read the caption of several posts acrossmultipleplatforms (archived, archived, archived), each paired with an image of the alleged passport.
(X user @SilentlySirs)
However, there is no evidence the image authentically depicts an Israeli passport belonging to Bondi. It was generated with artificial intelligence and originated from a social media account that describes itself as satirical. Bondi has publicly identified herself as Italian American, not Israeli.
We wrote to the U.S. Department of Justice seeking confirmation and will update this story if we receive a response.
A Google search for the keywords “Pam Bondi Israeli passport” primarily returned unrelated results or unverified social media posts. If the image and rumor were authentic, major news media outlets would have reported on them.
The image originated with a post from X user @BackupJeffx, or Parody Jeff, on Feb. 11, though it had been deleted at the time of publication.
(X user @BackupJeffx)
We reached out to the account for comment and will update this story if we receive a response.
Parody Jeff is a self-proclaimed satire account. The account’s bio reads (archived): “FUNNY MEMES- Commentary & satire account. All content is opinion, fictional commentary, and satire only. Not affiliated with any real person, entity, or brand.”
The image of the supposed passport also showed clear signs of AI generation. When compared with an authentic Israeli passport, certain discrepancies stand out. For example, in the fake version, the word “ISRAELI” appears tinted blue compared to the other text, while the font color remains consistent in the real passport. The fake version also lists “place of birth” twice and does not list “sex” — only Bondi’s place of birth. There is also no Star of David on the right-hand side of the profile image and no entry under “Authority,” unlike the authentic image of an Israeli passport.
(X user @BackupJeffx, Wikimedia Commons and Snopes Illustration)
Google’s SynthID — a tool that detects Google AI watermarks — determined “all or part of it was edited or generated using Google AI tools,” and noted “there are unusual formatting choices and font inconsistencies typical of digital manipulation.”
AI-detection software Hive also found the image was 99% likely to be AI-generated.
Bondi is of Italian ancestry and has never publicly identified as Israeli. Upon Bondi’s nomination for the role of attorney general, the National Italian American Foundation said in a congratulatory press release that Bondi was a “longtime friend and supporter” of the organization, and that she “consistently championed the Italian American community.” She also reportedly won an award for “Italian American Women of Excellence” in 2005 as a member of The Italian Club of Tampa, though we could not independently verify this at the time of publication.
The fictional claim spread amid Bondi’s continuous support of the Israeli state. In January 2026, she spoke at an Israeli-American summit, where she called for stronger U.S. ties with Israel.
