FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show The Obama Family On Jeffrey Epstein’s Island?
An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows former President Barack Obama and his family on late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s private island.
Verdict: False
The blue-and-white striped building has been photoshopped into the image. There is no indication the photo was taken on Epstein’s private island.
Fact Check:
Epstein was found dead in his jail cell of an apparent suicide in August 2019 while awaiting trial for federal sex trafficking charges. He owned the private island Little Saint James in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he allegedly abused underaged girls, according to The Associated Press.
A small blue-striped building with an unknown purpose was built on Little Saint James under Epstein’s ownership, NBC News reported. A May 23 Facebook post shows what appears to be a screen grab of an Instagram post featuring an image of Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and their daughters with the blue-striped building visible in the background.
“Rare photo of Obama and family spotted vacationing at Epstein Island!” the Instagram post’s caption states. (RELATED: Image Claims Adam Schiff Visited Jeffrey Epstein’s Island 78 Times)
The blue-striped building appears to have been digitally added to the photo. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found the original photo posted by Michelle Obama on Instagram on Aug. 4, 2020 as part of a post celebrating her husband’s birthday. While Michelle Obama did not disclose the location of the photo, no buildings are visible in the original version.
Check Your Fact found no media reports of Barack or Michelle Obama ever visiting Little St. James. Neither of their names appear in the publicly available flight logs from Epstein’s private jet posted on Scribd, Gawker or the website Epstein’s Black Book.
Barack Obama briefly vacationed in the U.S. Virgin Islands when he was a presidential candidate in March 2008, The New York Times reported. An official at the U.S. Virgin Islands’ Government House confirmed that he was on the island of St. Thomas at the time, according to CBS News.
