Q: Did President Obama sign an executive order banning the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools?
A: No. That claim comes from a satirical story on a fake news website.
Obama Did Not Ban the Pledge
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Clinton’s 1975 Rape Case
Q: Did Hillary Clinton volunteer in 1975 to defend a rapist, who was found not guilty, and laugh about it in an interview in 1980?
A: Clinton defended an accused rapist, but she did not volunteer. He pleaded guilty to a lesser offense. She laughed when recalling unusual aspects of the case.
Does Obama Want a Higher Pension?
No. Obama requested an additional $588,000 in FY2017 to cover pensions and other costs for four former presidents plus “new spending for new former President Barack Obama.”
The Clinton Furniture Flap
Q: Did Bill and Hillary Clinton return furniture they took from the White House in 2001?
A: Yes. The Clintons returned more than $28,000 worth of items, which, they said, they thought were personal gifts given to them and not to the White House.
VA Funds and Syrian Refugees
Q: Did President Obama cut benefits for veterans by $2.6 billion to give the money to Syrian refugees?
A: No. The Department of Veterans Affairs transferred funds to close a $2.6 billion gap in a health care program. The transfer is unrelated to Syrian refugee aid.
Obama’s Funeral Attendance
Q: Is President Obama the only president not to attend funeral services for a sitting Supreme Court justice (Antonin Scalia) or a former first lady (Nancy Reagan)?
A: Obama is not the first president to miss the funeral of a sitting justice, and presidents rarely attend the funerals of former first ladies.
GMOs Didn’t Cause Zika Outbreak
Q: Did genetically modified mosquitoes cause the Zika outbreak?
A: No. In fact, GM mosquitoes may be able to help control the virus’ spread.
Debunking Obama’s Dubai Domicile
Q: Are the Obamas buying a vacation home in Dubai?
A: No. This rumor was circulated on a fake news website.
Dearborn’s Anti-ISIS Rally
Q: Was there a pro-ISIS rally in Dearborn, Michigan, on Dec. 5?
A: No. Actually, there was an anti-ISIS rally on Dec. 5 in Dearborn. False information about that rally was spread on social media.
Bogus Meme Targets Trump
Q: Did Donald Trump tell People magazine in 1998 that if he ever ran for president, he’d do it as a Republican because “they’re the dumbest group of voters in the country” and that he “could lie and they’d still eat it up”?
A: No, that’s a bogus meme.