Respecting the Smears: Anti-Obama Folklore Anticipates Fake News

From allegations that he wouldn’t sing the national anthem to accusations that he ordered the spread of the Ebola virus, Barack Obama was plagued by fake news throughout his candidacies and two terms as president of the United States. Neither journalists covering his presidency nor his own campaign staff persistently or publicly debunked these claims. This tolerance for the circulation of spurious accusations may have contributed to the proliferation of fake news in 2016 and 2017.