Barack Obama

Did Michelle Obama register to vote as a man in 1994 in Illinois? No, that's not true: A public information officer at the Illinois State Board of Elections told Lead Stories that this claim is inaccurate. The document that is supposedly the former first lady's voter registration record did not come from the Board as an article falsely claims, and…

Did the IRS just begin buying ammunition during President Joe Biden's time in office? No, that's not true: The IRS started buying ammunition, firearms and equipment for its law enforcement divisions more than 100 years ago. It's standard for federal agencies that have many federal law enforcement officers to buy ammunition, firearms and equipment. The claim appeared in an article…

Did President Joe Biden, George Soros and former President Barack Obama talk about fulfilling the conspiracy theory of tyrannically taking over the world, otherwise known as the New World Order? No, that's not true: The quotes are legitimate, but they are used out of context. The claim appeared in a Facebook post on April 27, 2022. However, its origin seems…

Is former President Barack Obama a Muslim? No, that's not true: He has spoken frequently about being a Christian, not a Muslim. He gave speeches about his Christian faith before and during his eight-year presidency. The site that posted the image and claimed Obama's religion is Sunni Muslim usually shares memes, jokes and military-related posts. The claim appeared in a…

Did the militant group ISIS not exist before Barack Obama became president of the United States in 2009? No, that's not true: Since 2006 ISIS has existed, according to a former member of the National Security Council and according to The Wilson Center, a nonpartisan policy forum in Washington, D.C. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on…

Was David Axelrod, a political consultant and former White House official for former President Barack Obama, arrested by the military? No, that's not true: There is no evidence for this. Axelrod tweeted from his verified Twitter account one day after his supposed arrest. The only source for this claim is Real Raw News, a self-described satirical site, according to a…

Did Special Counsel John Durham's court filings say the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016 paid to have servers in Trump Tower and in the White House infiltrated in hopes of establishing a link between Russian operatives and Donald J. Trump? No, that's not true: neither the new filing nor the indictment Durham filed in 2021 about events in 2016 say…

Do these photos document masonic handshakes -- called "grips" -- being made by Freemasons? No, that's not true: Scholars and the grand secretary of the Grand Lodge of New York say these are not masonic grips and neither former President George W. Bush nor former President Barack Obama are Freemasons. The post implies the people in the photographs are Masons…

Is this an authentic photo of Steve Bannon? No, that's not true: This photo has been altered. The original photo was taken by photographer Mark Wilson for Getty Images on April 20, 2017. The photo has been edited to change the overall contrast and color saturation to add blemishes, bloody mouth and stained shirt. The image search engine TinEye shows…

Was Sasha Obama, daughter of former President Barack Obama, arrested in connection with a million-dollar shoplifting ring? No, that's not true: the website where the claim originated is a part of a satirical network of websites that publishes fictitious stories about liberal or Democratic public figures. For good measure, the satire site hot-linked the word "source" to a Russian phrase…