Skeptics Stack Exchange
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Questions tagged [united-states]

Use this tag for questions about claims based in the United States, or limited to the United States.

The United States of America (also referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, the States, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district.

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On average in the US, is there a mass shooting 9 out of every 10 days?

Reading the New York Times today, I came across this very amusing "tourism video" touting the benefit of visiting/moving to Australia, namely, "You Won't Get Shot". Don’t Get Shot in America. Live in Australia! At ~1:25, the actor states, In your…
anongoodnurse
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Did Valerie Jarrett say she wanted "America to be a more Islamic country"?

This picture, being shared on Twitter, alleges that Valerie Jarrett, former Senior Advisor to the President, during the Obama administration, claimed to be of Iranian descent and of Islamic faith in her yearbook. Image reads Take a look at the…
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Did Donald Trump fire the entire pandemic response team in 2018?

This tweet claims Trump "fired the entire pandemic response team in 2018": Text: Just a reminder: it’s okay to blame the president for how bad things get with COVID-19 because he fired the entire pandemic response team in 2018. While another…
Say No To Censorship
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Was Morocco the first country to recognize USA?

Here in Morocco, when you talk about relations between Morocco and the USA, Moroccans tell you, proudly, that Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States of America, and that the Sultan made it possible to accredit a consul of USA…
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Are cars in Arizona melting in the 2018 summer heat?

Facebook just posted to my timeline this picture claiming that cars in Arizona are melting in the heat. Is it true?
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Was there violence on both sides in Charlottesville?

Was violence perpetrated by factions on both the left and the right side of the political spectrum during this rally? A specific quote by US president Donald Trump is: TRUMP: The driver of the car is a disgrace to himself, his family and this…
kingfrito_5005
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Is it illegal to refuse US currency for a purchase?

I hear this claim every now and then. That US currency is legal tender and that it is illegal to not accept it. The most recent example of this was on an old episode of 30 Rock: The head and the hair. I was not able to find a clip online, however I…
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Has the Trump administration revoked these listed LGBT protections?

This image is doing the rounds on Facebook: It quotes a tweet by Donald Trump from early 2016, followed by claims that the Trump administration has performed these actions: Thank you to the LGBT community! I will fight for you while Hillary…
dsollen
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Was President Trump's inauguration "the first time ... that floor coverings have been used to protect the grass on the Mall"?

On 21 Jan 2017, the White House called a press conference where the press secretary accused the media of "deliberately false reporting" on two issues of which the number of people attending President Trump's inauguration was one. The white floor…
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Was Donald Trump's father a member of the KKK?

This tumblr post has garnered over 13,000 notes: The post makes 3 main claims: Donald Trump's father was a member of the KKK for over 70 years He was arrested in 1927 at a KKK event He was photographed with his son and wife in 1999 wearing klan…
Phoenix
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Did Donald Trump make campaign contributions to Attorneys General who then decided not to prosecute him?

According to this Medium article and this Vox article Donald Trump made campaign contributions to two attorneys general who then suddenly decided to stop investigating his "Trump University" for fraud. Is this true?
Paul Johnson
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Is the curtain behind Obama in this picture a "muslim prayer curtain"?

I've been shown this image a few times: Naturally, it's a little ridiculous, because there are surely at least a thousand pictures of him near an American flag. But it is making a claim that the yellowish curtain behind Obama is some kind of Muslim…
user11643
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Did Steve Mnuchin's OneWest Bank foreclose on a 90-year-old woman's house after a 27-cent payment error?

Politico reports: Two years ago, OneWest filed foreclosure papers on the Lakeland, Florida, home of Ossie Lofton, who had taken a reverse mortgage, a loan that supplies cash to elderly homeowners and doesn’t require monthly payments. After…
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Did Colorado replace any 420 mile markers with a 419.99 mile marker to deter theft?

This claim has been circulating on Facebook: Although marijuana is now legal in Colorado, I don't see any particular attraction to mile markers from this state, as US mile markers are pretty standard--at least along interstate highways (where this…
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Has the US COVID-19 lockdown resulted in more years of life lost than COVID-19 itself?

Published in The Hill on May 25, 2020, an opinion piece by Scott W. Atlas, John R. Birge, Ralph L. Keeney, and Alexander Lipton claims that as of the time of writing, in the United States, COVID-19 was responsible for 800,000 lost years of life, but…
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