Posts shared on Facebook show images of former U.S. president Barack Obama standing with his hands clasped in front of him while those around him are either holding their right hands over their hearts or up in a salute. Implying that Obama chose not to make these gestures, this claim is partly false. Though the former president did not have his hand over his heart during the U.S. national anthem in one image, the other image shows him standing during “Hail to the Chief” after having held his hand over his heart during the national anthem at the same event.
Examples of such posts can be found here and here .
A likely reference to former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and others’ decision to kneel during the U.S. national anthem in protest at racial injustice ( here ), the text on the images of Obama says, “THIS is where the disrespect started and grew from.” U.S. musician and conservative activist Ted Nugent shared the post with his 3.8 million Facebook followers on Oct. 22 ( here ).
The top photo shows Obama on the campaign trail in 2007 at the Iowa Democratic Steak Fry. A Reuters photo taken around the same moment as the image in the posts ( here ) has the caption “Democratic Presidential candidates and U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) (L), Bill Richardson (C), Governor of New Mexico and U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) stand for the National Anthem during the 30th annual Harkin Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa, September 16, 2007.” The woman behind Clinton in the version shared on Facebook is Ruth Harkin, wife of then-senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, a Snopes fact check published on Oct. 27, 2007 says. ( here ).
C-SPAN footage of the event, available here , shows Obama without his hand over his heart during a rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” that begins around the 39:41 timestamp and ends around the 41:16 timestamp.
As noted here in a Nov. 2007 fact check by Politifact, the photo, along with claims about the then-presidential candidate’s lack of patriotism, circulated in an e-mail chain several weeks after the Iowa event.
In response to the e-mail chain, Obama reportedly said, “My grandfather taught me how to say the Pledge of Allegiance when I was 2," at campaign stop in Burlington, Iowa. "During the Pledge of Allegiance, you put your hand over your heart. During the national anthem you sing.” ( here ) At the 40:54 timestamp in the C-SPAN video, Obama appears to be singing or mouthing the words to the “Star Spangled Banner” ( here ).
A Nov. 2, 2007 fact check article published in the Washington Post ( here ) quoted campaign spokesperson Bill Burton as saying that Obama sometimes does and sometimes does not put his hand over his heart during the national anthem. “In no way was he making any sort of statement, and any suggestion to the contrary is ridiculous," Burton said.
The second image in the posts comes from a May 2009 Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery’s Memorial Amphitheater, articles published that November by FactCheck.org ( here ) and Snopes ( here ) found. C-SPAN footage of the ceremony, conducted at the Tomb of the Unknowns, is available here .
As shown in the C-SPAN clip, Obama had his hand over his heart for the entirety of the national anthem, beginning at the 1:19 mark and ending at the 2:32 mark. The moment shown in the Facebook image begins around the 11:30 timestamp, when an announcer says, “Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States.” As “Hail to the Chief” plays, Obama walks out. On stage, U.S Army personnel along with Michael “Mike” G. Mullen, the chair of his joint chiefs of staff, salute President Obama as their commander in chief.
Various images Obama with his hand over his heart during the national anthem are available here , here , and here .
VERDICT
Partly false. While both images shown in the post are authentic, only one was taken of Obama while the national anthem played. The other was taken during a rendition of “Hail to the Chief” as Obama himself was being saluted.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work reuters.com/fact-check/about/ .
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October 26, 2020 at 09:30PM
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Fact check: Image shows Obama after holding his hand over his heart during the national anthem - Reuters
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