An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows a protester holding a sign that mathematically links former President Barack Obama to COVID-19.

“Silly Trumpsters!” reads the caption. “Learn to add before you create your sign.”

Verdict: False

The words “Barack Hussein Obama = COVID” have been superimposed over the sign’s original message “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.”

Fact Check: 

Featured in the image is a woman wearing an American flag tank top and holding a protest sign. The sign bears the words “Barack Hussein Obama = COVID” with the letters of the former president’s full name purportedly adding up to the “19” in COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Through a reverse image search, the Daily Caller found the original image on the Orange County Register website. Taken by the Orange County Register’s Jeff Gritchen, the photo actually shows the female protester holding a sign with the words “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.” The woman was participating in a protest against coronavirus closures in Huntington Beach, California, on April 17, according to the caption.

The words “Barack Hussein Obama = COVID” have been superimposed into the photo. It’s also worth noting that the number of letters in Obama’s full name adds up to 18, not 19 as the doctored image suggests. (RELATED: Does Tonic Water And Zinc Kill COVID-19?)

Protests against stay-at-home orders and other coronavirus mitigation guidelines have taken place in several states, including Michigan, Wisconsin and California. Some of the Facebook pages that organize such protests have become hotbeds for misinformation related to the new coronavirus, according to The Associated Press.