Fact check: Claim Obama is moving to Kenya started as April Fools' Day joke

BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAY
Updated ·2 min read
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The claim: Obama is resettling in Kenya in June

An April 5 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes a screenshot of a headline that asserts former President Barack Obama is leaving the country.

"Former U.S. President Obama to relocate to Kenya in June," reads the headline.

One version of the claim was shared more than 100 times on Facebook before it was deleted. An iteration of it was also shared more than 800 times on Twitter.

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Our rating: False

The claim was originally made by a Kenyan newspaper as an April Fools' Day joke. Obama has not announced any plans to move to Kenya.

Obama was first US president to visit Kenya, but is not set to move there

Obama, whose father was born in Kenya, has not announced any plans to move to Kenya on his website or social media pages, or in any credible media reports.

The headline featured in the Facebook post was published April 1 by The Standard, a Kenyan newspaper. It asserts, among other things, that Obama was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as "Special Envoy for US Diplomacy" and that he would be filming a documentary alongside Morgan Freeman and David Attenborough during his stay.

Only at the bottom of the article does the outlet offer an important caveat to the claims.

“Disclaimer: This was an April Fools Day Story,” it reads. “GOTCHA!!!”

Fact check: False claim that the Obama Foundation stored classified documents in a warehouse

The American Foreign Service Association website does not list a position for a Special Envoy for U.S. Diplomacy, though it does have a Special Representative for Subnational Diplomacy post.

Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Kenya in July 2015. In remarks given in Nairobi, the country's capital, Obama described his first visit as an important step in understanding his heritage.

“I traveled to Alego, the village where my family was from,” he said. “I saw the graves of my father and my grandfather. And I learned things about their lives that I could have never learned through books.”

Obama also described the goals shared by both the U.S. and Kenya and touted the benefits of the two nations' partnership.

Former president Barack Obama, shown on Nov. 8, 2021.
Former president Barack Obama, shown on Nov. 8, 2021.

USA TODAY reached out to users who shared the claim for comment.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Claim Obama is moving to Kenya was April Fools' Day joke