Mediaboss Marketing

CLAIM: Former President Barack Obama is relocating to Kenya.

APS ASSESSMENT: False. The claim originated from an April Fools Day article that was originally published by The Standard, a major newspaper in Kenya. Obama has made no such announcement.

THE FACTS: Rumors that Obama is moving to the east African country began spreading on social media after users shared the satirical April 1 article as real. Posts making this claim had collectively received tens of thousands of likes and shares as of Thursday.

One Instagram post included a screenshot of the headline on a similar satirical post, but not the final line of the article reading Happy April Fools Day!

On Twitter, others shared only the claim, without linking to the satirical posts. Several of the posts referenced the false birther claim that Obama was born in Kenya and not the U.S., alleging the supposed news was proof that it was true.

Some went a step further to claim that Obamas supposed move to Kenya was spurred by the trial of Prakazrel Pras Michel a founding member of 1990s hip-hop group The Fugees who is accused of funneling money from a fugitive Malaysian financer through straw donors to Obamas 2012 reelection campaign. Movie star Leonardo DiCaprio testified as part of the trial on Monday.

But the claim that Obama is moving to Kenya is baseless. It originated from a satirical article originally published by The Standard on April Fools Day this year. The article alleges that Obama is resettling in Kenya for at least a year as Special Envoy for US Diplomacy, but then ends by saying: Disclaimer: This was an April Fools Day Story.

Neither Obama, the Biden administration nor Congress has made any announcement to this effect.

___

This is part of APs effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.

More here:
Claim about Obama moving to Kenya stems from satirical article - The Associated Press