Former President Barack Obama is well known for the blatant lies he repeated during his time in office.
Many even dubbed him as the “Liar in Chief” due to his continued mistruths.
And he just got caught in another major lie, and this one is sure to come back to bite him.
While speaking to a cardiology conference in Washington, D.C., former President Barack Obama was quoted saying:
“If you ask me the thing that broke my heart, particularly when now I see there have been, and I’ve gotta update this, […] 18 shootings in schools this year… this year!”
But as it turns out, the figure in his statement is dead wrong.
The claim of there being 18 school shootings after the Parkland, Florida shooting was pushed by the gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety.
The problem with the figure is that it is false.
Of the 18 shootings sourced, many of them did not cause any injury or fatalities.
One of the “school shootings” sourced didn’t even occur in a school, and another was a suicide where the shooter only targeted himself.
The numbers sourced were so erroneous that even the Washington Post was forced to admit they were wrong after using the figure in an article.
Even Everytown for Gun Safety eventually altered their claim.
As reported by Breitbart:
“Former President Barack Obama repeated the false claim of “18 shootings in schools this year” while speaking to a cardiology conference Monday night in Washington, DC.
The Washington Examiner quoted Obama saying, “If you ask me the thing that broke my heart, particularly when now I see there have been, and I’ve gotta update this, […] 18 shootings in schools this year… this year!”
The claim of 18 school shootings this year was widely pushed in the immediate aftermath of the February 14 attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. However, it was quickly proven false by Breitbart News, the Washington Post, and others.
On February 14, the day of the attack, Breitbart News reported that the source for the claim of 18 shootings was Michael Bloomberg-funded Everytown for Gun Safety. Moreover, Breitbart News showed that one of the alleged 18 incidents did not even occur in a school, another was a suicide in which the victim targeted himself only, and eight more were incidents in which there were no injuries or fatalities.
The next day, the Washington Post responded to the claim of 18 school shootings as well, describing the claim as “horrifying but … wrong.” The Post demonstrated that Everytown had taken a wide conglomeration of events–suicides, accidental discharges, fights at college parties, etc.–and put them all together under the moniker of school shootings.
Everytown responded by altering its claim of 18 school shootings, yet Obama used his March 6 speech to claim there have been “18 shootings in schools this year.”
Do you think Obama should take back his false claim?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
