Barack Obama

Did Michelle Obama wear a gold necklace with the letters "MIKE" in 2020? No, that's not true: The former first lady's gold necklace had the four letters "VOTE" on it at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Publicly available images of Obama wearing the VOTE necklace are easily found on the internet. Multiple news outlets covered the necklace she wore and…

Do memorandums by President Joe Biden prove he is transferring his presidential power to others in advance of his death? No, that's not true: The delegation of powers to lower-level officials is a common practice in the federal government. There are dozens of examples during the Biden, Trump and Obama administrations where each president delegated limited "functions and authorities" to…

Did Joe Biden say in June 2024 that he might resign the presidency for medical reasons? No, that's not true: There are no credible reports or official statements indicating that President Biden recently made such a remark. A video in which Biden said, "...I will develop some disease and say I have to resign," is from 2020 and referred to…

Does a combination of former President Barack Obama's portrait and its mirrored version produce an image of a goat-like figure? No, that's not true: The image was digitally manipulated. The altered picture was shared by an account with a long history of spreading false claims. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X, formerly known as Twitter, by…

Does a photo on social media show former President Donald Trump's May 23, 2024, political rally in the Bronx? No, that's not true: The image does not depict the New York City borough. Instead, it shows a 2008 campaign event in St. Louis by then-presidential nominee Barack Obama, which news reports at the time said drew 90,000 people. The claim…

Did a jeering crowd chant "Fuck Joe Biden" at the president as he was leaving church with his granddaughter on Mother's Day? No, that's not true: The audio on this video clip has been edited to add the sound of an aggressive crowd chanting. In the original C-SPAN video there is no sound of a chanting crowd. One reporter called…

Is Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed in March 2024, in the Netflix movie "Leave the World Behind"? No, that's not true: Publicly available footage from the movie shows that the film contains no images or footage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed after being struck by a cargo ship. The social media post that makes this…

Are images of former first lady Michelle Obama with a bulge under her dress real? No, that's not true: The images used in a social media post that show bulges are altered and one zoomed in picture does not actually show a bulge. Lead Stories located the original photos which do not show bulges. The claim appeared in a post…

Is a picture of Malia and Sasha Obama with Anita Blanchard and Martin Nesbitt an authentic photo of the Obama daughters with their "real parents," as a social media post claims? No, that's not true: It's a composite made up of separate pictures of the Obama daughters and Anita Blanchard and Martin Nesbitt. Blanchard and Nesbitt are close friends of…

Did Mel Gibson release a video of satanic rituals taking place on "Jeffrey Epstein's island"? No, that's not true: "He has nothing to do with this and has no knowledge of it," Gibson's publicist told Lead Stories about a social media post making this claim. There is no evidence given in the post that such a video even exists. The…