Fact Check

Was President Obama Caught Making Offensive Comments on a 'Hot Mic'?

A story about President Obama, a hot mic, and offensive comments at a Martin Luther King Day event was fake news.

Published Jan. 18, 2017

 (Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock.com)
Image Via Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock.com
Claim:
President Obama was captured on a "hot mic" making offensive comments to Al Sharpton at a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day event.

On 16 January 2017, the Last Line of Defense web site published an article reporting that President Obama was caught making offensive comments to the Rev. Al Sharpton when he believed his microphone was no longer transmitting:

[Obama's King] “tribute couldn’t possibly have been more canned or heartless. After the address, while the crowd was less than eagerly clapping, Obama shook hands with a man we’ve become all-too familiar with, Reverend Al Sharpton, not realizing his mic was still live. The sound man cut out the last few words when he figured out what was going on, but before that, a large number of people in the crowd heard Obama say to Sharpton:

“These crackers got no idea what it’s like to feel the struggle. Speakin’ of, how you gonna keep all your n*ggas in line while whitey Trump rules the roost?”.

There was no truth to this story, which was fabricated by The Last Line of Defense (The Resistance), a fake news site whose disclaimer notes:

The Resistance may include information from sources that may or may not be reliable and facts that don’t necessarily exist. All articles should be considered satirical and any and all quotes attributed to actual people complete and total baloney. Pictures that represent actual people should be considered altered and not in any way real.

Kim LaCapria is a former writer for Snopes.