Fake headlines, altered audio and a face-swapped candidate in a cowboy hat: fact checking online misinformation about the US election

Claims about this week’s US presidential election have been a key focus of Full Fact’s work on online misinformation in recent months. 

In total, since July we’ve published 44 fact checks about the election, covering everything from edited images and altered audio to likely deepfakes and bogus news articles. We’ve even written about an old John Lewis ad which made an unexpected appearance mid-campaign.

Though we looked at some of the claims made by US presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in their September TV debate, we’ve focused more on claims (and often video, or images) circulating on social media, rather than those from politicians. And there’s been plenty to keep us busy.

As Americans head to the polls, here’s a summary of some of the key themes from the online misinformation we’ve seen about the US election.

Edited images

At least 10 fact checks have been about edited images, including in the wake of the assassination attempt against Republican candidate and former president Mr Trump in July.  

Some social media users shared images of Secret Service agents with broad smiles surrounding Mr Trump in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, with the implication that this showed the incident had been staged. But we found that these photographs had been digitally altered to change the expressions of the people featured. 

Another picture was shared with a claim it showed Mr Trump golfing the day after the attack, with a small white bandage covering the top part of his ear. But the picture was actually nearly two years old, and had been edited to include the bandage. 

We’ve spotted at least two edited images of Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Ms Harris supposedly alongside the rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, who will go on trial in the US in May 2025 for sex trafficking and racketeering charges (he has pleaded not guilty). 

One image was an altered photo of Ms Harris with TV host and actor Montel Williams, with Mr Williams’s face replaced with Mr Combs’s. Another image was based on a photo of Mr Combs with fashion designer Misa Hylton. That (real) photo had been flipped horizontally, with Ms Harris’s face superimposed onto Ms Hylton’s body. 

Suspected deepfakes

Some images we have seen were almost certainly created using Artificial Intelligence (AI), including one supposedly showing Mr Trump sitting with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and a young girl. There were several clues in the picture which indicated it was likely generated using AI, including Mr Trump appearing to have only one leg and the girl appearing to have only three fingers. 

An image which was also likely created by AI accompanied claims that Ms Harris had supposedly worked as an “escort” (there’s no evidence at all for such claims). Clues in the image included discrepancies with the hands, a distorted left shoulder and gibberish text on a sign in the background (text is something that AI often struggles to reproduce). 

We suspect AI may have also been used to edit video and audio clips which have been shared online. An old advert for the UK department store John Lewis had a fake, possibly AI-generated voiceover added, and was shared online with claims it was an official campaign advert. (There’s no evidence that’s the case.)

And another clip claiming to show Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz dancing in a cowboy hat and crop top was likely a deepfake created with AI, face-swapping the head of Mr Walz onto the body of another man.

Other themes

Other examples we’ve seen of altered audio and video include the slowing down of a clip to change the way Ms Harris sounded—it was shared with claims she appeared drunk while delivering a speech—and a parody clip using audio of an impersonator, which was shared with false claims that it showed Mr Trump insulting soldiers during a call on Fox News. 

False claims on social media about mainstream media reporting have been another recurrent theme during this election. We’ve fact checked seven faked news articles, including two screenshots claiming to show headlines published by The Atlantic (they weren’t) and two faked CNN headlines. 

As we always say, during unfolding global events it’s essential to consider whether what you see online is accurate, so you can avoid sharing misleading information. 

We have written a number of guides to help, including on how to spot misleading images and videos. We’ve also created a toolkit to help identify misinformation, and written about how to spot AI-generated images and videos. 

Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI, JIM WATSON/AFP