A link shared on Facebook claims former President Barack Obama’s daughters, Malia and Sasha, were caught on camera burning an American flag during a protest in Washington, D.C.

Facebook/Screenshot

Verdict: False

There is no evidence to support the claim. It appears to come from an article published on a satire website.

Fact Check:

The Obama family is sometimes a target for misinformation online and, in this case, Facebook users have been sharing an article dubiously claiming Obama’s daughters were “caught on camera burning US Flag at DC Protest.” The link being shared leads to a photo of Obama and his daughters, as well as another link that directs users to the full article.

“In a show of anti-American sentiment which will surprise precisely nobody, Sasha and Malia Obama were allegedly caught on camera burning a us (sic) flag during a protest in Washington, DC,” reads part of the June 15 article. “Kneeling across the road from the White House, they were seen wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts and singing ‘Amazing Grace’ while holding hands with other protestors.”

There is, however, no evidence that Sasha and Malia Obama burned an American flag at a recent protest against racial injustice and police brutality in D.C. Had they done so, it would have been picked up by major media outlets, yet none have done so. (RELATED: Did The Obama Foundation Tweet An Image Of George Floyd Before His Death?)

The headline and article appear to lift nearly word-for-word from an article published on Bustatroll.org, a parody news website that describes itself as part of a network that publishes “parody, satire, and tomfoolery.” Bustatroll.org includes several disclaimers about the satirical nature of its content on its website, but neither the Facebook post nor the linked article issue a similar warning that the story is fictional, portraying it as real.