Fact check: Barack Obama tweet about Donald Trump's Twitter ban is fake

The claim: Former President Barack Obama jokingly tweeted about President Donald Trump's Twitter ban

President Donald Trump's permanent suspension from Twitter sent shock waves through the internet, bringing forth a mix of reactions from lawmakers, celebrities and beyond.

While former President Barack Obama has not publicly commented on Trump's ban from the social media platform, one Facebook post claims to show his reaction.

"Man do I love having this Twitter account, the ability to connect to so many millions of people, to express my feelings and views, to know that all major media outlets and world leaders are reading these words, that they are recorded for posterity. How awesome is that?" reads a purported screenshot of a tweet from Obama.

The screenshot, which has over 1,000 shares, was shared by the Facebook page Boycott All Things Trump with the caption, "#ForeverPresident Barack Obama trolls the orange user not to be found."

The post claims the tweet was shared on Jan. 9 at 6:52 a.m., with 2,000 likes and 250 retweets. The tweet appears to have a blue checkmark and the profile image matches the one seen on Obama's official Twitter profile. However, there is no evidence that the tweet is authentic.

The Facebook page does not have a way to be contacted.

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No evidence of tweet

USA TODAY found no reports of the purported tweet; it does not appear on Obama's Twitter timeline and the 44th president has not released any statement regarding Trump’s ban from the platform.

As of Jan. 11, Obama's latest tweets appear to be on Jan. 8 on the response of Capitol police to the violence that took place in Washington, D.C.

An archived page from the Internet Archive Wayback Machine of Obama's official Twitter page on Jan. 9, the day the post claims the tweet was posted, also shows no such post.

USA TODAY reached out to Obama's office for comment.

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Michelle Obama called for Trump to be permanently banned

Prior to Trump's ban from Twitter, former first lady Michelle Obama criticized social media platforms for doing little to stop Trump throughout his term and called for a permanent suspension, USA TODAY reported.

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“Now is the time for Silicon Valley companies to stop enabling this monstrous behavior –and go even further than they have already by permanently banning this man from their platforms and putting in place policies to prevent their technology from being used by the nation’s leaders to fuel insurrection,” Michelle Obama said on Jan. 7 in a statement posted to Twitter.

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Our rating: False

The claim that former President Barack Obama released a tweet making fun of President Donald Trump's Twitter ban is FALSE, based on our research. The tweet is fabricated as there is no evidence of the tweet on Obama's timeline and archived versions of his page. Obama has not commented on Trump's permanent suspension from the platform.

Our fact-check sources:

• Barack Obama, accessed Jan. 11, Twitter page

• Barack Obama, Jan. 8, tweet

• Internet Archive Wayback Machine, Jan. 9, Barack Obama Twitter page

• USA TODAY, Jan. 7, Michelle Obama calls for Trump to be 'permanently' banned as pressure mounts on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube

• Michelle Obama, Jan. 7, Twitter statement

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Barack Obama tweet on Donald Trump's Twitter ban is fake