A 2015 photo of Barack Obama and a young girl inside the White House has become viral since September. Many social media posts, turned "memes," have since suggested that the former U.S. President was acting inappropriately. Several others even deemed him a "pedovore" as he had his face turned into the young girl's neck based on the image.
But, as the memes continue to become viral in various platforms, USA Today fact-checked the posts, as well as the allegations. It turns out, the young girl in the photo is Obama's niece, Savita Ng.
The publication reported that Ng is the daughter of the former American leader's half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng. White House photographer Pete Souza took the shot when the family visited Barack Obama on December 4, 2015.
A Flickr account, which carries the name Obama White House, features the said photo in its collection. It, also, comes with a caption, noting that the then-U.S. President is snuggling with his niece, Savita Ng, after his sister and the rest of the family "dropped by the Oval Office."
Aside from the photo in question, the collection on the same account, also, has an "older picture" of Obama and Savita when she was still a toddler. Likewise, the caption identified her as the former U.S. President's niece.
Reuters released its own fact-check report earlier in June. It argues the same thing about the photo, featuring Obama and Ng.
But, aside from this, the publication, also, included the photos of Barack Obama and George Clooney when they were in Italy. This comes after some of the images from the outing were "used to build" up the "pedovore conspiracy theory," involving the former American leader and the Hollywood actor.
The main photograph, however, is just "one of the many" shots taken by paparazzi during the trip. As clarified, the boat that they were on in Lake Como had many people in it, including the members of the former First Family.
Just Jared, one of the publications that covered the trip, previously reported some of the details of the outing. Barack Obama, alongside Michelle Obama and their two daughters, hung out with George and Amal Clooney in Lake Como on June 23, 2019, adding that the latter pair has a home nearby Cernobbio.
Following all the debunking of the allegations, the reputed publications that did a fact check on the posts revealed that they tried to get a comment from the netizens who posted the photos. It is believed that these posts are the ones that sparked the rumors. However, it has since appeared that no updates are available.
