claim: A photograph shows President Obama and George Soros laughing together.
origin: A photograph purportedly showing former President Barack Obama being chummy with George Soros is frequently shared on social media by individuals peddling various (and unfounded) conspiracy theories about the billionaire investor. For example, an image was postedÂ on Twitter in August 2017 by political commentator Dinesh Dâ€™Souza along with a message labeling Soros a Nazi collaborator: The original photograph was takenÂ atÂ a campaign rally onÂ 28 JanuaryÂ 2008 at American University and showed then-candidate Barack Obama with Senator Ted Kennedy. At some point, Sorosâ€™s head was superimposed over Kennedyâ€™s to make it appear as if Obama was conspiring with the billionaire, who has become aÂ boogeymanÂ to some segments of the American right wing. Hereâ€™s the genuine photograph (left) and the doctored image (right): The photograph was poorly digitally manipulated, and does not actually show Obama with Soros. The first clue is the lighting: the shadows on Obamaâ€™s face (for example, beneath his earlobe) do not match the shadows on Sorosâ€™s face. Soros, too, is slightly out of focus, whereas Obama is in perfect focus. You can even see a bit of Kennedyâ€™s hair where Sorosâ€™s head was superimposed over it, which Dâ€™Souza conveniently cropped out of the image in his tweet. As for the claim that Soros was a â€œNazi collaboratorâ€, we investigated that rumor in November 2016 and found it to be false.Â