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Behind the Bastards
Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts
There’s a reason the History Channel has produced hundreds of documentaries about Hitler but only a few about Dwight D. Eisenhower. Bad guys (and gals) are eternally fascinating. Behind the Bastards dives in past the Cliffs Notes of the worst humans in history and exposes the bizarre realities of their lives. Listeners will learn about the young adult novels that helped Hitler form his monstrous ideology, the founder of Blackwater’s insane quest to build his own Air Force, the bizarre lives of the sons and daughters of dictators and Saddam Hussein’s side career as a trashy romance novelist.
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True95% confidence7 sourcesOct 3, 2026Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to Congress.Said by 9AMultiple primary and tier1 sources, including the U.S. House history office, AP, and the National Archives, state that Shirley Chisholm was the first African-American (Black) woman elected to Congress, winning in November 1968 and taking office in 1969. The claim's wording matches the passage, which refers to the same Shirley Chisholm, and no source contradicts it.True92% confidence8 sourcesOct 3, 2026Jim Clyburn is 86 years old.Jim Clyburn (the 'Cliburn' in the post is a misspelling of the same person) was 86 on 2026-10-03. He was born July 21, 1940, and turned 86 that July, as reported by Vox, the Illinois public media transcript, and Dartmouth in September; he remains 86 as of the later Britannica and Referandom snapshots.True90% confidence7 sourcesOct 3, 2026The federal government has begun airing pro-Trump television ads paid for by US taxpayers.As of 2026-10-03, the federal government had already begun airing taxpayer-funded television ads promoting President Trump, with DHS/CBP funds of about $20 million and at least $2.5 million spent by early October per AdImpact. Later developments, including Trump's Oct. 5 pledge that his super PAC would pay going forward and the Oct. 30 court order to pull three ads, do not change the status on the claim's date, and the White House's public-service-announcement framing is a characterization dispute rather than a contradiction.True85% confidence7 sourcesOct 3, 2026The U.S. government is airing television ads that feature Donald Trump and text reading 'Largest tax cuts in history', 'Reigniting American manufacturing', and 'Defend law and order and police'.As of 2026-10-03, sources confirm the government-funded TV ads featuring Trump carried the on-screen text 'largest tax cuts in history,' 'reigniting American manufacturing,' and 'defend law and order and police.' The claim's wording is a faithful paraphrase of the post. A judge later ordered three other ads pulled (Oct. 11 restraining order, Oct. 30 ruling), but that change came after the claim date and does not affect the verdict.True90% confidence9 sourcesOct 3, 2026The California Supreme Court ruled that Sheriff Chad Bianco violated state election law by seizing 650,000 ballots for the Prop 50 special election on redistricting.Multiple tier-1 and tier-2 sources (AP, Governor's office, CBS LA, LA Times, SF Chronicle) report that on September 24, 2026 the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco violated state election law by seizing roughly 650,000 Proposition 50 ballots during his election fraud investigation. The claim's figure and core assertion match the sources, and the claim faithfully reflects the passage, which referred to the ruling as occurring 'last Thursday' relative to the October 3 post.True95% confidence7 sourcesOct 3, 2026Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen claimed they uncovered hundreds of thousands of non-citizens registered to vote.Multiple tier1 sources confirm that Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin publicly claimed in July 2026 that DHS had identified roughly 250,000 to 278,000 noncitizens registered to vote, so the claim that they claimed to have uncovered hundreds of thousands is supported. The sources also find those figures unsupported by evidence and disputed, but the claim is about the act of claiming, not the claims' accuracy.Reported in the post, not stated as its own.True80% confidence6 sourcesOct 3, 2026The Department of Homeland Security initially informed Nevada election officials that there were 15,903 non-citizens on the state's voter rolls.Multiple sources report that DHS told Nevada officials in July that as many as 15,903 noncitizens could be on its voter rolls, so the core claim about the initial notice holds. The sources also stress that the figure was described as preliminary or 'as many as' and was later cut to 185 and then disputed as zero, which the claim omits but does not contradict.Reported in the post, not stated as its own.True85% confidence8 sourcesOct 3, 2026On September 25, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to allow the Trump administration to use a Department of Homeland Security citizenship database to purge voter rolls.Multiple tier1 and primary sources confirm the Supreme Court's September 25, 2026 emergency order, decided 6-3 along ideological lines, allowing the Trump administration to use DHS's revamped SAVE citizenship database to check voter rolls. The 'purge' framing is supported by some outlets, but sources also note the NVRA bars broad purges within 90 days of an election, which limits the ruling's practical impact this year.True85% confidence7 sourcesOct 3, 2026Nevada state officials determined that the 185 individuals flagged by the Department of Homeland Security as non-citizens were actually U.S. citizens.Nevada election officials said their records showed all 185 people DHS flagged as noncitizens were U.S. citizens, and multiple reliable outlets report this. The claim matches the post's wording; the DOJ and DHS dispute whether Nevada's records amount to proof, but that disputes the evidence standard, not Nevada's determination.True95% confidence8 sourcesOct 3, 2026The Supreme Court granted a stay of a district court ruling that had blocked the Trump administration's implementation of the modified SAVE database for voter verification.The Supreme Court on September 25, 2026 granted the Trump administration's request to stay Judge Sooknanan's district court ruling that had blocked the revamped SAVE database, as reported by AP and Reuters. The claim matches the passage's wording, and the post's 'last week' timing is consistent with the September 25 order.True80% confidence7 sourcesOct 3, 2026Currently, 27 U.S. states use the SAVE system to verify voters.Government filings show 27 states using SAVE for voter verification as of early fall 2026, consistent with the claim as of 2026-10-03. Other sources give slightly different counts ("over 27" from USCIS, 28 registered per Ballotpedia), reflecting differences in whether states are registered versus actively using the tool.True85% confidence6 sourcesOct 3, 2026The Supreme Court ruled that the Department of Homeland Security is allowed to use confidential data from the Social Security Administration based on Section 1373 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act.The Supreme Court's September 25, 2026 emergency order stayed the lower-court block on the revamped SAVE database, with the majority reasoning that 8 U.S.C. §1373 of IIRIRA expressly authorizes DHS to receive citizenship-related information from agencies including SSA. The order is interim (a stay pending appeal that found plaintiffs likely to lose), not a final merits ruling, but the claimed core holding is accurately reported.Disputed in the post.