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Sara Swann
By Sara Swann July 26, 2023

Tafari Campbell: Obamas’ personal chef did not tweet before his death about Barack Obama’s arrest

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  • Tafari Campbell, a personal chef to the Obama family, was found dead July 24 after he drowned in a paddleboarding accident in Martha’s Vineyard. He was 45.

  • Social media posts claimed Campbell tweeted that he had information that would lead to former President Barack Obama’s arrest. But that tweet was fabricated.

Following the news that Tafari Campbell, a personal chef to the Obama family, had drowned while paddleboarding in Martha’s Vineyard, some social media users claimed there was something nefarious about his death.

The body of Campbell, 45, was found the morning of July 24 in Edgartown Great Pond after an hourslong search that began the night before, Massachusetts State Police said. Another paddleboarder who was on the pond with Campbell reported that Campbell went into the water and didn’t resurface.

Campbell worked as a sous chef in the Obama White House and was asked by the Obamas to stay on with them as their personal chef afterward.

Conspiracy theories have emerged with their own take, including this one that said Campbell supposedly sent a message more than two years ago that raises suspicions around his death.

A July 25 Instagram post showed a screenshot of a July 24 Truth Social post that purportedly showed Campbell had tweeted June 1, 2021, that he had "information that will lead to the arrest of (former President) Barrack Obama." (Obama’s first name, Barack, was misspelled in the post.) The Truth Social post said, "It’s all making sense now."

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This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

The post claims this tweet was shared by @TafariCambell, but that Twitter account does not exist. The name and username in the fabricated tweet also misspells Campbell’s last name.

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The Truth Social user who originally shared the claim said in response to comments on the post that "this is a meme lol."

Massachusetts State and Edgartown police are investigating the incident.

The Obamas were not at their Martha’s Vineyard home when the accident occurred, police said.

We rate the claim that Campbell wrote he had "information that will lead to the arrest of Barack Obama" Pants on Fire!

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Tafari Campbell: Obamas’ personal chef did not tweet before his death about Barack Obama’s arrest

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