Fact Check

No, a Campus Young Republican Club Didn't Topple Obama Statue

A routine review of content labeled satire.

Published Dec. 20, 2020

MIAMI, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 02: Former President Barack Obama speaks in support of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden during a drive-in rally at the Florida International University on November 02, 2020 in Miami, Florida. Mr. Obama is campaigning for his former Vice President before the Nov. 3rd election (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Image Via Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Claim:
A campus Republican club in Oregon pulled down a statue of former President Barack Obama.

In November 2019, the Obamawatcher published an article positing that a campus Republican club at Bartlett College in Oregon had toppled a statue of former U.S. President Barack Obama:

Campus Young Republican Club Topples Obama Statue

In what some are calling an: “open act of rebellion,” the young conservative group at Oregon’s Bartlett College took it upon themselves this last weekend to pull down a copper statue of President Obama.

Campus police have arrested all members of the club, and are pressing full charges for vandalism, destruction of private property, and hate crimes.

This item was not a factual recounting of real-life events. The article originated with a website that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature, as follows:

Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site’s pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical.

Obamawatcher is part of the American's Last Line of Defense (LLOD) network of sites and social media accounts, which publishes fabricated articles on controversial topics calculated to arouse anger (and attract clicks and shares) from conservative, pro-Trump Americans.

For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.