chengxuphd/liar2 huggingface dataset:
Statement: Gov. Gavin Newsom "has no legal authority" to make wearing face coverings mandatory in California.
Speaker: facebook posts
About the speaker: Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
 
Date: June 18, 2020
Location: california
Topics: public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus
Context: a Facebook post
Fact-check justification: Some local government leaders and widely-shared facebook posts  Gov. Gavin Newsom doesn’t have the legal authority to make face coverings mandatory in California.  To justify the move, the Newsom administration pointed to the California Emergency Services Act, the same authority it used to order a statewide stay-at-home requirement in March due to the COVID-19 crisis.  Two constitutional law experts said Newsom, indeed, has broad powers under that law and under the state’s public health authority to make masks mandatory.  Unless face coverings are shown to be ineffective, they said Newsom’s requirement should also hold up against legal challenges. We rate the  the governor doesn’t have the power to make masks mandatory as .   – The statement is not accurate.
Statement: The average margin of victory in the House of Representatives was 37%" for Democrats and Republicans in the 2016 election.
Speaker: arnold schwarzenegger
About the speaker: Arnold Schwarzenegger is a Republican and was governor of California from November 2003 to January 2011. 
 
Date: February 23, 2017
Location: california
Topics: congress;elections;redistricting
Context: a tweet
Fact-check justification: Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently claimed the  "average margin of victory in the House of Representatives was 37%" among Republicans and Democrats during last year’s election. That  is supported by the 37.1 percent margin calculated by independent election tracker ballotpedia.org and longtime politics professor Jack Pitney of Claremont McKenna College, who put the margin slightly higher at 39 percent. The  shows Schwarzenegger was on target with his . We rated it .   – The statement is accurate and there’s nothing significant missing. Click here for  more  on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.
Statement: Says Adam Schiff used taxpayer money to "reach a sexual harassment settlement with a 19-year-old male.
Speaker: facebook posts
About the speaker: Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
 
Date: March 21, 2019
Topics: fake news;facebook fact-checks
Context: a post
Fact-check justification: Viral social media posts  that Schiff used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment allegation with a "a 19-year-old male." Despite the rapid spreading of the rumor, not a single credible news source picked up the story. The account could only be found in sporadic, unsourced social media posts and partially in a junk news website that used a fabricated interview and a phony photo. This conspiracy theory is full-on !
Statement: Says President Barack Obama "tax audit exposes MILLIONS in offshore accounts stolen from taxpayers.
Speaker: bloggers
About the speaker: Blog posting on the Internet
Date: April 4, 2017
Topics: fake news;punditfact
Context: a headline
Fact-check justification: It’s difficult to say whether the other sites are in on the joke or not. FederalistTribune.com’s Contact Us link doesn’t seem to perform any action, and FreedomsFinalStand.com doesn’t appear to have contact information at all. Both sites are privately registered , with no personal contact information. At any rate, the tale of Obama using an alias to bilk millions from the U.S. Treasury for naming his signature health care law was made up. We rate the statement !
Statement: This virus has a cure. It is called hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and Zithromax. I know you people want to talk about a mask. Hello? You don't need (a) mask. There is a cure.
Speaker: stella immanuel
About the speaker: Dr. Stella Immanuel is a Houston-based primary care physician and minister.
Date: July 27, 2020
Topics: public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus
Context: a press conference
Fact-check justification: In a viral video, Immanuel said there is a cure for COVID-19, hydroxychloroquine can treat it and people don’t need to wear masks to prevent the spread of the virus. All of those claims are . There is no known cure for COVID-19, hydroxychloroquine is not a proven treatment, and public health officials advise everyone to wear face masks in public. Immanuel’s statement is .
Statement: Says that in some Texas communities, "our unemployment rate is still at 10 and 20 percent.
Speaker: garnet coleman
About the speaker: Coleman, initially elected to the Texas House in 1991, formerly chairs the Texas House Committee on County Affairs. Coleman says in his online biography that he's one of the authors of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in Texas, a program that makes health insurance available to more than 500,000 children from working families. He said he also helped simplify access to Medicaid for more than 600,000 Texas children, and worked to secure an increase of $161.5 million for at-risk child care services.
Date: February 15, 2011
Location: texas
Topics: economy;jobs
Context: a press conference
Fact-check justification: "Some communities, some pockets, are experiencing high unemployment." All told, parts of Texas experienced jobless rates of 10 percent or more in December, including one county where unemployment approached 19 percent. We didn’t confirm any with 20 percent unemployment. Coleman’s statement is solid at the low end, teetery at the top. We rate it .
Statement: He's been endorsed by "every major newspaper here in the state of Texas.
Speaker: barack obama
About the speaker: Barack Obama is the former president of the United States. Obama also served as a U.S. senator from Illinois. He was born in 1961 in Hawaii, where his parents met as students at the University of Hawaii. Obama's father is from Kenya and his mother is from Kansas. He graduated from Columbia University and received his law degree from Harvard Law School. Obama previously served in the Illinois state Senate and was an instructor at the University of Chicago Law School. He and his wife, Michelle, have two daughters, Malia and Sasha.
Date: February 21, 2008
Location: national
Topics: elections
Context: Austin, Texas
Fact-check justification: San Antonio Express-News: "America needs a president that tries to create unity out of diversity, marshalling all the forces — red, blue or purple — that make this country great.
 Sen. Barack Obama is the Democratic candidate that offers the best chance to reach that lofty objective." Fort Worth Star-Telegram: "Obama might be shorter on detail, but he is by far longer on inspirational spirit, charisma and an ability to energize previously unengaged Americans in the voting process, particularly the usually unengaged up-and-coming generations on whose shoulders America's future rests." Corpus Christi Caller-Times: "The Editorial Board endorses Sen. Barack Obama because it believes that he offers the kind of inspirational leadership the country is hungry for." El Paso Times: "A weary America, tired of the status quo, fed up with business as usual, is longing for a positive change — and Barack Obama is that change."
Statement: Pope Benedict XVI and the Vatican requested that President Biden not attend Benedict's funeral.
Speaker: newsmax
About the speaker: Newsmax is a conservative magazine and website.
Date: January 4, 2023
Location: national
Topics: religion;facebook fact-checks
Context: a Facebook post
Fact-check justification: Newsmax claimed that Pope Benedict XVI and the Vatican requested that Biden not attend Benedict’s funeral. There’s no  that Biden was purposely not invited. The Vatican announced that Benedict had asked for a simple ceremony and that only delegations from Italy and Germany would be formally invited.  The U.S. ambassador to the Holy See attended the funeral. We rate this .
Statement: A video shows Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., playing a phone conversation between Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Hunter Biden.
Speaker: facebook posts
About the speaker: Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
 
Date: April 13, 2023
Topics: congress;facebook fact-checks
Context: a Facebook post
Fact-check justification: He spoke about the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank, among other topics. Again, he made no mention of Ocasio-Cortez or Hunter Biden, much less played a phone conversation between them. We searched news archives and Google and found no reporting that reveals audio of a call between Ocasio-Cortez and Hunter Biden, nor did we find any legitimate reporting that Kennedy claimed to have such a recording. Fact-checkers at USA Today and Check Your Fact have rated similar claims . We rate this  !
Statement: Says Donald Trump "has a long history of exporting jobs overseas.
Speaker: tammy baldwin
About the speaker: Tammy Baldwin was elected to the U.S. Senate on Nov. 6, 2012. She represented Wisconsin’s Second Congressional District from January 1999 to January 2013. She served as a member of the Wisconsin Assembly from January 1993 to January 1999. She was a Dane County supervisor from 1986 to 1994 and briefly served on the Madison Common Council, filling a vacancy, in 1986.
Date: August 5, 2016
Location: wisconsin
Topics: jobs
Context: a speech
Fact-check justification: But it’s  to say he exported jobs, in that it’s not as though he created those jobs in the United States and then moved them overseas. Trump has complained that China manipulates its currency, making it more expensive to make products outside of China. Our rating Baldwin said Trump "has a long history of exporting jobs overseas." For more than a decade, Trump-brand products such as his clothing have been made overseas, although those were jobs that were created overseas, not U.S. jobs that were moved. We rate Baldwin’s statement .
Statement: Says Nancy Pelosi bought $1.25 million in Tesla stock the day before Joe Biden signed an order "for all federal vehicles" to be electric.
Speaker: facebook posts
About the speaker: Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
 
Date: January 31, 2021
Location: california
Topics: ethics;facebook fact-checks
Context: a Facebook post
Fact-check justification: An image shared on Facebook claims that Nancy Pelosi bought $1.25 million in Tesla stock the day before Biden signed an order "for all federal vehicles" to be electric, implying that she sought to profit from inside information about new government policies. The House speaker did report transactions involving Tesla stock, but the post misrepresented the purchases and Biden’s policies to create the  impression that the transactions represented improper insider trading in Tesla shares. The statement contains an element of , but ignores critical facts would give a different impression — our definition of .
Statement: Says the 2019 coronavirus "causes sudden death syndrome.
Speaker: facebook posts
About the speaker: Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
 
Date: February 8, 2020
Topics: public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus
Context: a video
Fact-check justification: A Jan. 30 study of 99 coronavirus cases found that the virus "can result in severe and even fatal respiratory diseases such as acute respiratory distress syndrome." Three-quarters of the patients in the study showed signs of double pneumonia, and the characteristics of those who died were consistent with a warning model that predicts who’s most likely to die from the disease. Some patients did die after experiencing heart problems, including cardiac arrest, but the study did not establish a link between the virus and sudden death syndrome. The Facebook post is . We rate it .
Statement: Six months before the COVID 'plandemic,' Bill Gates had negotiated a $100 billion contact tracing deal with (the) Democratic congressman sponsor of bill.
Speaker: facebook posts
About the speaker: Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
 
Date: June 14, 2020
Topics: public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus
Context: a Facebook post
Fact-check justification: An article shared widely on Facebook claimed: "Six months before the COVID ‘plandemic,’ Bill Gates had negotiated a $100 billion contact tracing deal with (the) Democratic congressman sponsor of bill." There is no  of Gates collaborating on the bill, which would provide $100 billion to faith-based organizations, clinics, medical centers and other organizations that perform COVID-19 testing, conduct contact tracing or provide services for individuals who are isolating at home.  We rate the statement .
Statement: Says Donald Trump said he believes suicide bombers deserve the death penalty.
Speaker: facebook posts
About the speaker: Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.
 
Date: May 28, 2019
Topics: fake news;terrorism;facebook fact-checks
Context: a Facebook post
Fact-check justification: Breaking Burgh describes its site as "a satirical blog serving Western Pennsylvania and beyond." In the old satirical story, President Trump apparently made the suggestion (with no time or place identified) that "anyone who terrorizes and kills good people by suicide bombing deserves nothing less than the highest penalty, which is to pay with their life," and "If you detonate yourself with high explosives in the United States, I will make you regret it. Believe me." There is no  Trump ever said this, and while the blog has a disclaimer that all of its content is satire, the content has been repurposed in social media posts that do not provide users any information suggesting that the statement was fabricated. We rate this !
Statement: The national debt is equal to $48,700 for every American or $128,300 for every U.S. household. It is now equivalent to the size of our entire economy.
Speaker: randy forbes
About the speaker: Randy Forbes is from Chesapeake and represents Virginia's Fourth District in Congress. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2001. He serves on the Judiciary Committee and the Armed Services Committee, where he is chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee.
Forbes previously served in Virginia's House of Delegates from 1989 to 1997 and in the State Senate from 1997 to 2001. He also was chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia from 1996 to 2001.
Forbes received a bachelor's degree from Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, in 1974, and a law degree from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, in 1977.
Date: January 24, 2012
Location: virginia
Topics: deficit
Context: a blog post
Fact-check justification: Our ruling: Forbes said the national debt is equal to $48,700 per person and $128,300 per household. He also said the debt is equivalent to the size as the U.S. economy. On all three scores, he’s pretty much on target. We rate the  .
Statement: After Ronald Reagan cut taxes in 1981 the U.S. enjoyed "exponential growth.
Speaker: john loughlin
About the speaker: John Loughlin is state representative from Tiverton who ran an unsuccessful 2010 campaign for Congress in Rhode Island's 1st District. He owns a television, radio and film production company and served 26 years in the military, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve in 2006. He is married with two daughters.
Date: August 20, 2010
Location: rhode island
Topics: economy;federal budget;history;taxes
Context: a campaign commercial
Fact-check justification: In the end, Loughlin is correct that Reagan cut taxes in 1981. Yet he omits the important fact that the 40th president subsequently approved substantial increases, an omission we consider significant. As for exponential growth after the Reagan tax cut, the candidate acknowledges that that's an exaggeration, although he shares the conviction of many others that the 1981 cut played a key role in economic growth in the 1980s. In an economy as complex as ours, cause and effect statements like Loughlin's are great for a campaign ad, but they make the -O-Meter shudder. So we'll give the candidate a .
Statement: When union membership goes down, so do (middle class) wages.
Speaker: ed schultz
About the speaker: Ed Schultz is the host of the Ed Show on MSNBC.
Date: February 12, 2014
Topics: income;unions;punditfact
Context: a broadcast of "The Ed Show"
Fact-check justification: Schultz said when union membership goes down, so do wages. Schultz emphasized that "all workers" have a stake in this and his chart tied union membership to the income of everyone in the middle class. Schultz would have done better to have talked about the distribution of income rather than wages. His  is most likely to be  for male union workers and only partly  for non-union workers. Even for union workers, other factors such as globalization and technology have diminished the union effect. The ability of unions to push up wages for workers outside the union is limited to certain industries that operate in the same region. Schultz’s statement has a measure of  but in today’s economy, the data don’t support the strong tie he suggests between unions and wages overall. We rate the  .
Statement: Individuals with mental illnesses die an average of 25 years earlier than those without a mental illness.
Speaker: terry russell
About the speaker: Terry Russell is the executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Ohio, an organization that serves as an advocate for people with on mental  health issues. 
NAMI Ohio was created in 1982 by a small group of family members to provide mutual support, education, and advocacy for individuals and families affected by serious brain disorders. Over the years, its membership has expanded to include family members, mental health consumers and providers, community mental health boards, mental health organizations and other supporters.
Date: December 6, 2012
Location: ohio
Topics: health care;medicaid
Context: an interview
Fact-check justification: Among its recommendations, the report called for better access to physical health care for people with serious mental illnesses to fight what it called an "epidemic of premature death and its contributing causes." Russell said that people with mental illnesses, on average, die 25 years earlier than those without a mental illness. He accurately cited findings of a major study on the issue. And in Ohio, the average is actually greater than 25 years. On the -O-Meter, his  rates .
Statement: Democrats are voting to add an army of 87,000 IRS agents who will target middle class taxpayers and conduct at least 1 million more audits each year. 
Speaker: bob good
About the speaker: Bob Good is the 2020 Republican nominee for Virginia's 5th Congressional District seat. A self-described biblical conservative, Good is a former associate athletic director at Liberty University, and served a term on the Campbell County's Board of Supervisors.
Good defeated incumbent Rep. Denver Riggleman at a convention in June 2020 to win the 5th District's GOP nominaion. He is opposed in the general election by Democrat Cameron Webb, a Charlottesville physician.
Webb graduated from Liberty in 1988 with a degree in finance.
Date: August 10, 2022
Location: virginia
Topics: taxes
Context: a tweet
Fact-check justification: There is no basis for saying the IRS will target the middle class. To the contrary, the administration has ordered no increase of auditing earners making less than $400,000. The last part of his statement — that the IRS will conduct at least 1 million more audits a year — is undetermined. It’s clear the agency will be auditing more tax returns from high earners, but there’s no official estimate on how many more.   All told, we rate Good’s statement .
Statement: If you cross the border illegally in the U.S., you get a drivers license, medical insurance, housing, career training, the right to vote.
Speaker: viral image
About the speaker: Graphics, pictures and charts shared on social media give chain emails a run for their money when it comes to spreading too-good-to-be-true claims all over the Internet. A common form is is the "Internet macro," which uses an easily recognized and repurposed image (called a meme) wth superimposed text to make a funny but political argument. Sometimes these images are passed across social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit so widely that the original source is nearly impossible to determine.
Date: October 31, 2018
Topics: immigration;fake news;facebook fact-checks
Context: a Facebook post
Fact-check justification: A Facebook post said, "If you cross the border illegally in the U.S., you get a drivers license, medical insurance, housing, career training, the right to vote." The post attempts to contrast illegal border crossing consequences and punishments in other countries and the United States. If someone is caught crossing U.S. borders illegally, they're placed in removal proceedings or returned to their countries. They don't automatically get the benefits outlined in the meme. People who already live in the United States illegally may be able to get some priviliges such as a driver's license or medical care — if their state allows it, not many do. Those benefits are not guaranteed across the country. Immigrants in the country illegally are barred from federal housing benefits. Children can go to public school regardless of immigration status, though it's unclear if that's what the post suggests by "career training." Only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections, a few jurisdictions allow noncitizens to participate in local elections. The post leaves out important context to distort the facts. We rate it .
Statement: Since January 2010, New Jersey has added 103,000 new private sector jobs. The last two years -- 2011 and 2012 -- have been the best two years of private sector job growth since 1999.
Speaker: chris christie
About the speaker: Chris Christie announced June 6, 2023 that he is running for the Republican nomination for president. Christie was the governor of New Jersey and a candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 2016. As governor, Christie won office in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014. Prior to that, he was U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2002 to 2008. 
Date: February 26, 2013
Location: new jersey
Topics: jobs
Context: a budget speech to the New Jersey Legislature
Fact-check justification: Christie said during his budget address Tuesday that, "Since January 2010, New Jersey has added 103,000 new private sector jobs. The last two years -- 2011 and 2012 -- have been the best two years of private sector job growth since 1999." The governor is right that New Jersey has gained 103,000 new private-sector jobs since 2010, but that’s counting from February 2010, his first full month in office. He cited job growth from January 2010. Christie also is correct that 2011 and 2012 represent the best two years of private-sector job growth since 1999, according to BLS data and calculations from a Rutgers University economist. We rate his  . To comment on this story, go to NJ.com .