Tricia Cotham, tornadoes and gender transitions: PolitiFact's top NC fact-checks of 2023

The most popular fact checks of the year fall into one of two categories: claims about liberal ambitions or explanations of unexpected events — both in and out of politics.

WRAL is home to PolitiFact North Carolina, a partnership between the Raleigh-based outlet and PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking organization. Together, we review statements made by local politicians and government officials, as well as rumors that gain traction on social media.

Last year, our most popular articles featured some of Republicans’ top campaign issues, such as crime and immigration. Atop this year’s list: How did a Pfizer plant in Rocky Mount come crashing down? And why did a North Carolina legislator join the GOP after years of helping the Democrats?

Readers were also concerned about the political left’s influence on guns, the classroom and gender transitions. Here’s a rundown.

Leaving Mount Rushmore out of history books?

It’s common for fundraising emails from political candidates or parties to feature exaggerated claims about their opponents. And in February, a line in a North Carolina Republican Party email said this:
“The left is determined to erase Mount Rushmore from our history books and the stakes couldn’t be higher — the future of our nation’s revered leaders is in your hands!” the Feb. 24 email said.

It continued: “You need to act fast to support preserving and protecting Mount Rushmore for generations to come! It’s time to put the radical left in their place and stand up for the legacies of our founding fathers.”

The claim stood out to us in part because of its unusual characterization of the political left. Generally speaking, liberal education activists typically want the nation’s history on slavery and human rights to be taught more — not less.

The email offered no citations about what it was referring to, and the party didn’t respond to PolitiFact NC’s requests for comment. So we searched for news stories related to the state GOP’s claims. But we found no evidence of any elected leaders or political groups attempting to remove mentions of Mount Rushmore from history books.

In most of our articles, we rate the accuracy of the claim or rumor in question using PolitiFact’s Truth-O-Meter. The meter has six ratings in decreasing level of truthfulness, from True to Pants On Fire.

We rated the state GOP’s email: False.

Providing gender transition treatments to 'toddlers?'

A viral social media post circulating in May suggested that three North Carolina healthcare systems — Duke, UNC and East Carolina University — introduce transition-related medical care to children between the ages of 2 and 4 years old.

"Three medical schools in North Carolina are diagnosing TODDLERS who play with stereotypically opposite gender toys as having GENDER DYSPHORIA and are beginning to transition them!!" read the caption on the May 7 Instagram post. "So if a 2 year old girl is playing with trucks and a 2 year old boy is playing with Barbie’s- they can begin transitioning to the opposite gender."

Facebook flagged this post as part of its efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about PolitiFact’s partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

The group that made the claim — Education First Alliance — didn’t respond to requests for comment, and the hospital systems each denied claims that they were providing transition-related gender-affirming medical interventions to toddlers. Experts said the post misrepresents how gender dysphoria is diagnosed and how care might be administered to toddlers.

"On its own, a child playing with a toy associated with the opposite gender would not be an indication of gender dysphoria," said Jason Lowry, a spokesman for ECU Health.

Also, prepubescent children are ineligible for medical interventions under the standards of care recommended by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. Pediatric gender-affirming care might involve family counseling, allowing children to wear whatever clothes they like or encouraging the use of the name and pronouns that align with the children’s gender identity.

We rated the post: False.

Did a 'giant' shark surprise the Outer Banks?

In March, a Facebook account posted photos purportedly from the beaches of Kill Devil Hills. "A giant great white shark found washed out on the Outer Banks beach, North Carolina," the caption said. "A team of onlookers doing their best to push it back into the ocean."

But shark-trackers, local police, and misinformation experts disputed the claim.

"Fake news," said Chris Fischer, founding chairman of Ocearch, a nonprofit shark-tracking organization."That’s an old pic from a stranded shark that has been modified."

A spokesperson for the Kill Devil Hills Police Department told us there was no great white shark beaching.

Claire Wardle, a Brown University expert in misinformation and verification, told PolitiFact the images shared in the Facebook post likely were generated by artificial intelligence.

We rated the post: False.

A 1,000% tax on most firearms?

A fundraising email arouses interest again — this time from a U.S. Senator whose claim wasn’t completely off-base.

“The Democrats are once again trying to infringe on the constitutional rights of America’s citizens by proposing a 1000% gun tax on most firearms,” said an Aug. 14 email from the Thom Tillis Committee, which supports the North Carolina senator.

“But we can’t defeat the gun-grabbing Democrats without the continued support of America’s grassroots patriots, friend,” the email continued. “Please consider making a contribution to help Republicans defend our Second Amendment rights and fight back against the Democrats’ radical 1,000% gun tax proposal.”

The email appeared to reference a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va. The bill does propose 1,000% tax on guns, but only at the point of sale. It wouldn't act like a property tax that's due every year — a detail the Tillis email left out.

Whether the bill would affect “most” gun sales is difficult to determine. There’s no national gun registry. And the scope of the bill — the fact that it applies not only to guns, but also numerous features that can be added-on — leaves experts with too many variables to pinpoint the bill’s marketplace effect.

The email included some partially accurate information but omitted important details that would give readers a different impression of the facts.
We rated the email’s claims: Half True.

A man-made tornado?

In July, at least 16 people were injured by a tornado that ripped through Rocky Mount — leaving homes destroyed and businesses damaged. One of the buildings hit by the twister was part of a storage and distribution facility used by drug maker Pfizer.

A July 19 Instagram post flagged by Meta suggested that the tornado was planned to give the pharmaceutical company a big payout. After suggesting the tornado could have been orchestrated via weather manipulation, the post asked: "Is this just an insurance claim for big pharma?"

We found no evidence to support the claim. And experts with the National Severe Storms Laboratory said that a patent application for an artificial tornado-generating mechanism wouldn’t generate a tornado the same size of the one that touched down in Rocky Mount.

We rated the post: False.

Checking Cotham’s defection claims

In April, state Rep. Tricia Cotham’s decision to join the GOP sent shockwaves through North Carolina. Her defection from the Democratic Party provided Republicans with the one seat they needed for a supermajority — enabling the GOP to override vetoes by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and push through conservative legislation on abortion, education, guns, taxes and more.

At an April 5 press conference announcing the switch Cotham cast her Democratic colleagues as controlling and abusive. Several of her claims were either disputed by Democrats or found by PolitiFact NC to be misleading. They ranged from how often she communicated with her chamber’s leadership and even whether Cooper was involved with picking her seat on the House floor.

One claim in particular stood out to us: Cotham accused House Minority Leader Robert Reives — who needed every single Democratic vote available to stop or stall Republican legislation — of trying to push her out. She claimed that, before her party switch, Reives issued a statement encouraging her to “resign” or face “a primary challenge.”

The statement she referenced didn’t explicitly call for anyone to resign. In March, Republican legislators were able to loosen state gun laws while Cotham and two other Democrats were absent. After the vote, Reives released a statement that said: “If voters want a different direction on gun safety, the 2024 primary and general elections are their only avenue for change.”

Reives’ claim could have been interpreted as a shot across the bow at Cotham. But it didn’t specifically target her. So we rated Cotham’s claim: Mostly False.

Did 4 Republicans break their abortion promise?

With Cotham’s help, Republican legislators enacted a new law restricting most abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy, replacing a law that restricted most after the 20th week of pregnancy. It was an interesting position for Cotham. After all, as a Democrat she gained national recognition in 2015 for an impassioned speech about abortion rights, describing her personal experience with the procedure.

Before the new abortion law was enacted, Cotham became the target of a claim made by a Democrat: Gov. Cooper. In an effort to keep the new restrictions from becoming law, Cooper turned up the heat on Republicans who — he claimed — vowed to leave abortion laws alone.

“Republican legislators like Ted Davis and Michael Lee from Wilmington, John Bradford and Tricia Cotham from Mecklenburg County, made campaign promises to protect women’s reproductive health,” Cooper said in a video posted to Twitter.

In three of the cases, Cooper was right. Bradford and Davis indicated that they planned to support the status quo on abortion and Cotham said she would seek to expand access.

But Cooper’s claim about Lee missed the mark. Lee said he’d support limiting abortion to the first trimester — something the GOP law largely does. Cooper’s claim was partially accurate but leaves out important context.

We rated it: Half True.