TUESDAY EDITION

Snopes Debunker

No evidence Hamas used US-funded condoms for bombs as Trump claimed

In late January, President Donald Trump and his administration made a claim that they stopped millions of taxpayer dollars from being used to fund condoms in Gaza. Last Wednesday, Trump said, "We identified and stopped $50 million being sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas. … And you know what's happened to them? They've used them as a method of making bombs."

We previously reported that there is no evidence $50 million was spent to buy condoms for Gaza. However, we came across reports of Palestinians in Gaza using condoms, balloons and other items to airdrop small incendiary devices into Israel in 2020, during the last Trump administration. Those actions took place at a different time, and there is no evidence tying them to Trump's claims now. Snopes reporter Nur Ibrahim investigated.

RFK Jr. misrepresented data to claim Bernie Sanders accepted millions from pharmaceutical industry

Kennedy claimed Sanders was "the single largest receiver of pharmaceutical money" in Congress in 2020.

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While Snopes has been busy fact-checking claims surrounding the tragic D.C. plane crash, our team has been hard at work looking into other topics as well. For instance, one of our favorite recent fact checks was about beer rations for the workers who built Egypt's Giza pyramids, which is featured later in this newsletter. We need your help to keep doing this far-ranging work. By building our membership, we will be able to continue keeping you informed on any subject you want to know about. We appreciate any support you can give. We also offer a donate option if you want to support us outside of a membership.

No, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt didn't say 'Jesus didn't have electricity'

Internet users expressed confusion over whether the quote was authentic.

Yes, Musk once posted it would take airplane crash to end 'crazy' DEI hiring policy

Users resurfaced the year-old post after Trump baselessly blamed DEI for a deadly midair collision in January.

Photo of Avril Lavigne, Steven Anthony Lawrence wasn't found on Osama bin Laden's hard drive

The image was a digital composition — that is, a combination of multiple photographs.

Staff Pick

Workers who built Egypt's Giza Pyramids received beer rations — but amount is uncertain

A claim that they received 4 to 5 liters of beer a day has appeared in social media posts, popular articles and books for years.