Video shows a game, not Trump's plane with military escort
Between court appearances and the campaign trail, former President Donald Trump has been traveling a lot. A video posted on social media claims to show Trump's jet being escorted by the military.
The clip includes a large plane flying with smaller military planes covering the flanks, and other small planes following the group.
"Our President Donald Trump has more protection than Biden," reads one of the comments.
But this isn't video of the former president, according to Reuters. It's a clip that was created using a video game, which was posted last month.
The video was originally posted to a YouTube account on Oct. 18 with the caption, "SPOTTED: Air Force One flying today with extensive fighter escort, somewhere in the Middle East." Text with the post claims the clip was made using the video game the Digital Combat Simulator, or DCS.
The user connected to that account told Reuters that it's been made "very clear" the videos have been created using DCS.
James' comments about Trump, not Biden
New York Attorney General Letitia James is heading up the prosecution in a civil fraud trial against former President Donald Trump. But a video posted to Facebook last month appears to show James criticizing President Joe Biden.
"LETITIA JAMES: I believe this president is an embarrassment to all that we stand for," reads the text above the video in an Oct. 20 post, which begins with an image of Biden behind bars.
"I will never be afraid to challenge this president," James says in the video as images of Biden are interspersed with clips of the New York AG.
The clips of James are real, according to PolitiFact, but the context is misleading. In the original footage, James is talking about Trump.
The video is taken from a 2018 clip in which James is talking about then-President Trump as she is campaigning to become New York's attorney general.
In the recent post, the audio of that speech runs through most of the minute-and-a-half-long clip, but the video continually switches to footage of Biden from various debates, appearances and events.
Historic moment was covered when it happened
Recent social media posts show the leaders of North Korea and South Korea walking together in the demilitarized zone, along with criticism of the mainstream media for ignoring this historic event.
Text in the post claims news outlets are too involved with conflict to report on a positive video moment showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in smiling as they cross the military demarcation line together.
"History made again. This gave me chills. You won't see this on the television or hear about it on the radio. We the people all across the [world] want peace not war!," reads the text in a Facebook post that included the video.
But this event was not ignored by the media, according to The Associated Press. It was widely covered when it happened, more than five years ago.
This meeting took place April 26, 2018 in the village of Panmunjom, in the Demilitarized Zone. It was the first time a North Korean leader set foot in South Korea since 1953 at the end of the Korean War.
The two leaders signed the Panmunjom Declaration, which was based on improving relations and putting an end to the Korean War.
Messi photos are fake
Posts showing Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi delivering contradicting messages have been circulating on social media recently.
"Leo Messi Palestinian Support," reads an Oct. 26 post on X which appears to show Messi holding a Palestinian flag.
However, an Oct. 28 post on Facebook reads, "Messi support Israel," and includes an image that appears to have the soccer player holding an Israeli flag. This screenshot is also similar to posts on Messi's official Instagram account.
Both images are fake, according to Reuters. The photos in the post were taken from a promotion for a sports memorabilia company and altered to include the flags.
In the actual photos, Messi is holding a placard for the memorabilia business Icons.com. In each photo, the placard was digitally manipulated to appear he is holding a different flag.
"We can say with absolute confidence that the images portrayed online are fake," a spokesperson for Icons.com told Reuters. The company said the placard which was replaced by the Israeli flag originally read, "Icons.com // Signed by the world's best," and was from a Sept. 29 signing session.
Dan Rushton, a spokesperson for Icons.com, told Reuters the original image replaced with the Palestinian flag was from a Nov. 24, 2020 signing session in Barcelona, Spain. Additional images from the session were provided to Reuters.
• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.