Obama criticism is from parody account, not Marjorie Taylor Greene | Fact check
The claim: Marjorie Taylor Greene post saying ‘downfall of America’ started with Obama
A Sept. 13 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows what appears to be an exchange on X, formerly Twitter, involving Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
“Who else thinks the Downfall of America started with Barack Obama?” reads the text of the post attributed to Greene.
The Instagram post received more than 30,000 likes in a week.
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Our rating: False
Greene didn’t post that. The screenshot originated from an account that impersonates her and identifies itself as parody. The account has no connection to the congresswoman, a spokesperson said.
Post originated on Greene parody account
During two terms in Congress, Greene has staunchly aligned herself with former President Donald Trump and has been a vocal opponent of Democrats. The Democrat-led House in 2021 voted to remove her from two committees because of social media activity predating her time in Congress that includes sharing a debunked conspiracy theory that Obama, who is Christian, was secretly a Muslim and posting that “the stage was being set” to hang him.
Fact check: Video shows Greene questioning witness, not Merrick Garland crying
But the X post blaming Obama for the “downfall of America” didn’t come from her. There is no record of the screenshotted post on either of her official X feeds.
Rather, it was shared Aug. 20 by the account @MTGrepp, which uses the account name “Marjorie Taylor Greene Press Release (Parody).” The congresswoman has no ties to it, spokesperson Nick Dyer previously told USA TODAY.
The screenshotted post does not show the account's full name. Instead, the parody designation is truncated and replaced with ellipses. While its profile image bears a strong resemblance to that shown in Greene’s verified congressional account, it states in its bio that it is a parody.
The other account shown in the Instagram post's screenshot also is a parody account, this one spoofing the name of the Philadelphia landscaping business that was the unintended site of a 2020 Trump news conference. That account, which shared its response Aug. 21, makes clear in its bio that it is parody, but there is no indication of that in the screenshotted post.
The Instagram post is an example of what could be called "stolen satire," in which content originally written and presented as parody is captured and reposted in a way that makes it appear authentic. As a result, readers of the second-generation post are misled, which is what happened here.
USA TODAY previously debunked false claims that Greene shared a profane post attacking President Joe Biden and said a judge forced Trump to delete a social media post referencing the adult film actress at the center of his hush money trial.
USA TODAY reached out to the Instagram user who shared the image but did not immediately receive a response.
PolitiFact also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
Nick Dyer, May 10, Email exchange with USA TODAY
@MTGrepp (archive), Aug. 20, X post
@MTGrepp, accessed Sept. 20, X profile
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Obama post didn't come from Marjorie Taylor Greene | Fact check
