He was abandoning Amur-ika on the 4th of July and going to Parisian fundraiser.
Of course the story's a lie.
Jonathan Chait traces the lie through the right-wing noise machine:
Here's a fun game of conservative media telephone. The Hollywood Reporter reported last week that Americans living in Europe will have an Independence Day fund-raiser for the Obama campaign. Ben Shapiro at Breitbart.com turned that into an item implying, without saying, that Obama himself would be in Europe on the Fourth of JulyHere's what Shapiro wrote:
Apparently tiring of US soil as a source of campaign dollars, the Obama campaign is headed overseas -- with its celebrity friends in tow. The European Obama campaign starts next week in Paris on July 4 with a reception organized by various fundraising heavy-hitters. Independence Day fundraisers in Paris – now that’s a flag-waving campaign.And then:
That also may be the only place Obama can still find cheering throngs.Which Andrew McCarty over at National Review Online misread the Shapiro's "reporting" into a rhetorical question linking back to Breitbart:
How will Obama be spending American Independence Day this week?The answer, of course, he was going to be in Paris for a 4th of July fundraiser!
Wrong, as I said. Shapiro posted his original ambiguity on June 29. ALSO posted on June 29 was this from the AP:
The Obamas plan to celebrate Independence Day with military families at the White House with a barbeque, concert and view of the fireworks from the South Lawn.So a simple Google search would have disinfected the lie before it happened. But, remember, this is Karl Rove and co. Of course the truth didn't stop them from spreading a lie.
Churchill was right when he said that "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."
Especially with the right wing noise machine.
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