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Ciara O'Rourke
By Ciara O'Rourke September 19, 2023

No, Donald Trump didn’t call Michelle Obama ‘Mike’ in a tweet

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It’s the story of the Twitter salvo that was never fired.

An image spreading on social media appears to show former first lady Michelle Obama tweeting Aug. 30, 2019: "Donald Trump is destroying this country!" 

In response, Trump appears to traffic in unfounded conspiracy theories that Obama is a transgender woman who was born "Michael Robinson." 

"Hello, Mike!" the supposed tweet says. "We are playing basketball tomorrow. Are you up for it? Barack can also come. We need a cheerleader!"

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An Instagram post sharing the image 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.)

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Searching X, the website formerly known as Twitter, we found no such tweets in either Obama’s or Trump’s feeds. We also found no news coverage or other credible sources reporting such an exchange. Previous tweets from Trump directed at the former first lady drew media attention, and a charge in which he questioned her birth name would certainly inspire multiple articles. But there are none. 

We rate claims this supposed tweet from Trump is authentic False.

 

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No, Donald Trump didn’t call Michelle Obama ‘Mike’ in a tweet

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