A look at what didn’t happen last week

Associated Press

A roundup of some of the most popular, but completely untrue, headlines of the week. None of these stories are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked these out; here are the real facts:

Not real: “President Trump just saved Christmas for 13 million retirees”

The facts: The nation’s seniors won’t be getting a letter from the Internal Revenue Service granting them a “Christmas stimulus,” despite claims of a viral story circulated by hoax site Reagan Was Right. The story, citing an official from the White House director of information and propaganda, claims anyone over 65 who receives Social Security payments and has an annual income under $40,000 would be receiving a stimulus check. The White House has no such office, and the IRS tells the AP it’s not aware of any such proposal.

Not real: “Canada legalizes euthanasia so parents can kill disabled children”

The facts: Canada did legalize medically assisted suicide last year for those with serious illnesses, but the Canadian government’s website says children are not eligible. A near-identical story posted on several websites falsely claims Canada allows “parents who want their doctors to kill their sick, disabled or dying children” to turn to euthanasia. Not real: “Pentagon claims ‘no issues’ after F-35 float explodes at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade”

The facts: The military-themed satire site Duffel Blog posted this story claiming an F-35 fighter jet float leveled an entire city block along Sixth Avenue in Manhattan during the annual New York City parade last week, killing thousands. Not only was there no such explosion, the official lineup of floats and balloons shows Olaf the snowman and SpongeBob SquarePants.