Facts Matter: Military didn't mistakenly send an extra $6 billion to Ukraine

Some recent social media posts have renewed the months-old claim that the U.S. sent $6 billion to Ukraine by mistake.

The posts include a video of a Sept. 7 broadcast of "The Joe Rogan Experience," a podcast featuring comedian Joe Rogan. During the episode, Rogan was interviewing politician Tulsi Gabbard about wildfires in Maui when he said the U.S. "accidentally sent" $6 billion to Ukraine. One post of the clip on X was shared more than 10,000 times.

But this claim is false, according to The Associated Press. The U.S. didn't accidentally send Ukraine billions of dollars. Rogan's statement was based on an announcement earlier this summer.

During a June news conference, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said the government had overestimated, by $6.2 billion, the value of weapons that were sent to Ukraine since the conflict with Russia began.

The accounting error resulted from the value of the weapons being based on the replacement cost, instead of the net book value. When the mistake in valuation was discovered, the figures were reissued, Singh said. No extra funds were mistakenly sent to Ukraine.

The funds found through the "reevaluation" will just "go back into the pot of money that we have allocated" for aid to Ukraine, Singh said in June.

Trump overstates inflation under Biden

Former President Donald Trump sat down for a recent interview with commenter Kristen Welker on NBC's "Meet the Press."

During the Sept. 17 program, Welker asked Trump about the economy.

"I think that the way it's going now, you're going to have to - things are not going, right now, very well for the consumer. Bacon is up five times," Trump said.

It's not quite that high, according to PolitiFact. The cost of bacon has risen since President Joe Biden took office, but it's not near the price put forth by Trump.

At its peak, bacon rose 30% from January 2021, when Biden was inaugurated, to November 2022. Since then, prices have come down and bacon is currently 11.5% higher than it was in January 2021. Trump's claim of "up five times" would result in a 400% price increase.

Michigan State University associate professor David L. Ortega told PolitiFact 2021 and 2022 brought "significant inflationary pressures in the economy and increased consumer spending on food."

"High grain prices during that time made it more costly to raise hogs. All of this contributed to increased prices for pork products, and other foods," he said.

Class disruption was a skit

A video circulating on social media shows an angry mother interrupting a classroom as she rips a Pride flag off the wall and throws it away.

"I am not paying my tax money to support this type of -" the mother says. "We are paying you to teach history, and that's what you need to be teaching." The teacher tries to get the mother to leave and threatens to call security.

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, from Georgia, was among those to share the clip, which runs 1 minute, 22 seconds.

"GOD BLESS THIS MAMA!!!!! I stand with her!!!" Greene wrote on X.

But the confrontation in the video isn't real, according to The Associated Press. It's a skit.

A longer version of the video was originally posted by a Facebook user named Jibrizy, who appears at the end of the clip, surrounded by the actors who appeared in the sketch.

"Hey, guys, this was all a skit," Jibrizy says, asking users to comment about how the situation made them feel.

Jibrizy also posted on X.

"This video is originally my video people steal it gain a following off it and never credit me. I am the director. I create video to start discussion. It's openly fake. But I want you to debate your point of view," he wrote.

Beyoncé was not banned by NFL

A post on Facebook earlier this month claimed singer Beyoncé is no longer allowed to perform at National Football League games.

"TRUE: NFL Issues Lifetime Ban to Beyoncé for Performing 'Alternative national anthem' at NFL," the post reads, linking to an article that says she sang "Lift Every Voice and Sing" in place of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

But there is no truth to this, according to USA Today. The article is satire.

There are no credible reports Beyoncé was banned from any football stadiums and she has not performed at any games so far this season.

Beyoncé is currently on tour promoting her album "Renaissance."

• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.