FACT CHECK: Did Barack Obama Say ‘I Walk With My Husband Michael And Hold Hands’?
A video shared on Facebook purportedly shows former President Barack Obama saying “I walk with my husband Michael and hold hands,” allegedly incorrectly referring to his wife, Michelle.
Verdict: Misleading
This video was taken out of context. The full speech shows that Obama is reading off a letter sent to him by a woman who was able to walk again due to affordable health care.
Fact Check:
Obama is expected to campaign for Democratic Party candidates in key battleground states ahead of the upcoming midterm elections, according to USA Today. The former president will attend campaign events in Nevada, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin, the outlet reported.
The Facebook video claims to show Obama saying, “I walk with my husband Michael and hold hands.”
“It’s like a whole new world for me,” he continues. “Just walking and holding hands. Something one of our fellow Americans for years could not do.”
“I told y’all Michelle was Michael lmaooooo,” text superimposed on the video reads. (RELATED: Does This Image Show Barack And Michelle Obama Posing In Front Of A Christmas Tree?)
This video is taken out of context. The transcript from the speech reveals that Obama was reading a letter from a woman named Debra Lea Oren, who used a wheelchair due to osteoarthritis. Through treatment with affordable health care, she was able to walk again and hold hands with her husband.
The video of the speech can also be found on YouTube. At the 22:59 mark, Obama says, “Debra couldn’t be here today but she recently wrote to me and she said, ‘I walk with my husband Michael and hold hands.'”
Michelle is referred to once during the speech by the former president, recalling a situation where his daughter, Sasha, had meningitis shortly after birth. At no point in the speech is Barack’s wife referred to by a different name.
Misinformation has spread before that former First Lady Michelle Obama’s real name is Michael. Check Your Fact previously debunked a claim that Michelle Obama’s mother died and referred to her daughter as “Michael Robinson Obama” in the will.
