Posts share old video, falsely claiming Obama's birth certificate is fake | Fact check
Katie SmithThe claim: A recent news clip ‘exposed’ Obama’s ‘fraudulent’ birth certificate
A Feb. 20 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes a video of a news conference about a supposed investigation into a former president.
“Wow, the fact they are reporting this is unreal,” the social media user wrote. “Obama’s fraudulent Birth Certificate being exposed to the world.”
The post was shared more than 6,000 times in five days, and similar claims spread on Instagram and Threads.
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., also reposted the video on X, where it received about 75,000 likes in five days.
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Our rating: False
The video is from 2016 and doesn't prove former President Barack Obama’s birth certificate is fraudulent. The White House published a copy of Obama's original birth certificate in 2011, showing he was born in Hawaii and is a U.S. citizen.
‘Birtherism’ conspiracy theory is more than a decade old
Conspiracy theories about Obama began in 2004 with false claims that he was secretly Arab and Muslim, according to the Pew Research Center. Those theories evolved and gained traction after Obama, a Democratic Illinois senator at the time, announced his 2008 presidential bid.
Over the years, President Donald Trump became a leader in the so-called birtherism movement, which baselessly argued Obama was born outside the U.S. and, therefore, was ineligible to serve as president. Obama's campaign was successful, however, and he became the nation's first Black president in 2009.
The post's claims that the former president's birth certificate is “fraudulent” are based on a nearly decade-old video, which social media users have misrepresented as current news.
TV news outlet FOX 10 Phoenix posted the video to its YouTube channel on Dec. 15, 2016. It shows a news conference hosted by former Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who had lost his reelection bid one month prior. Arpaio told reporters that a copy of Obama’s original birth certificate was forged, a claim fact-checkers have repeatedly debunked.
Fact check: Post misconstrues video of Trump at Gabbard's swearing-in
At Obama’s request, the Hawaii State Health Department released a copy of his original birth certificate in April 2011. The document shows he was born Aug. 4, 1961, at Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Hawaii became a state in 1959, which means Obama was a U.S.-born citizen.
“I have seen the original records filed at the Department of Health and attest to the authenticity of the certified copies the department provided to the president that further prove the fact that he was born in Hawaii,” Hawaii Health Director Loretta Fuddy said in a news release at the time.
Obama also addressed the speculation at an April 2011 news conference, following several attempts to quash rumors about his citizenship.
“We’ve posted the certification that was given by the state of Hawaii on the internet for everybody to see,” Obama said at the time. “People have provided affidavits that they, in fact, have seen this birth certificate. And yet, this thing just keeps on going.”
USA TODAY has previously debunked claims that Obama’s birth certificate shows he was born in Kenya and that he had a Kenya-issued passport.
USA TODAY reached out to several users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
PolitiFact also debunked this claim.
Our fact-check sources
- Fox 10 Phoenix, Dec. 15, 2016, WOW: Sheriff Joe Arpaio Releases New Information on President Obama's Birth Certificate (FNN)
- National Archives, April 25, 2011, President Obama's Long Form Birth Certificate
- Neil Abercrombie, April 27, 2011, Hawai‘i Health Department Grants President Obama’s Request for Certified Copies of ‘Long Form’ Birth Certificate
- USA TODAY, Oct. 13, 2021, Fact check: Image claiming to show Barack Obama's birth certificate is fake
- The Obama White House YouTube channel, April 27, 2011, President Obama on His Birth Certificate & the Real Issues Facing America
- Pew Research Center, Nov. 20, 2008, False Rumors that Obama is a Muslim
- Politifact, Dec. 20, 2021, No, Barack Obama’s birth certificate isn’t a fake
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