Fact Check

Photo Doesn't Show Crowd Giving Obama the Nazi Salute

A photograph of a crowd with their hands raised in front of Obama was circulated with misleading information.

Published March 8, 2016

 (Wikipedia)
Image Via Wikipedia
Claim:
A photograph shows a crowd with their hands raised pledging allegiance to President Obama.

Shortly after Donald Trump asked his supporters on to raise their hands and pledge that they would vote for him in the 2016 Presidential election (drawing comparisons to Nazi Germany), an image purportedly showing President Obama making a similar request from a crowd began circulating online.

While the image is real, it does not show President Obama asking his supporters to pledge allegiance to him. This photograph was taken in Columbus, Ohio in November 2008, and shows a crowd raising their hands after Obama asked how many people in the audience made less than $250,000 per year:

People raise their hands as Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il) asks the audience how many of them make less then $250,000 dollars a year, as he speaks during a campaign rally at Ohio State House November 2, 2008 in Columbus, Ohio. Obama continues to campaign against Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) as Election Day draws near.

A video on PBS showed President Obama asking the audience to raise their hands if they made less than $250,000:

obama hands

Let me just see a show of hands. How many people make less than $250,000 a year? Raise your hands.

All right, now, I want you to be very clear here. Here are the facts. There was another report in the New York Times this morning that laid out the fact that I give much more relief to middle-income people and also that I will not raise taxes for anybody making under $250,000 a year, not your capital gains tax, not your payroll tax, not your income tax, no taxes.

The middle class doesn't need a tax hike. I want to give you a tax cut. So don't be confused by what John McCain says. My tax rates will be lower than they were under Ronald Reagan.

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.

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