Obama's father's passport circulates online and reignites 'birther' conspiracy

The "birther" conspiracy theory or "birtherism claims," false allegations around Obama's birthplace

(Reuters) - A British passport listing a Kenyan province as the holder’s place of birth belongs to Barack Hussein Obama, father of former U.S. President Barack Obama. Images of the document, however, have been misrepresented online with social media users falsely claiming it shows the former president’s passport.

Also known as the “birther” conspiracy theory or “birtherism claims,” false allegations around Barack Obama’s birthplace have been circulating for years, promoted by people who challenged his eligibility to be president ( here , here ). As a result of the controversy, Obama publicly released his Hawaiian birth certificate on two occasions: a shorter version in 2008 (www.bit.ly/2UVsf6p) and a more detailed one in 2011 (reut.rs/412eh2u).

The passport document garnered traction online after Malik Obama, Barack Obama’s half-brother and a vocal critic of his, tweeted four photographs of the passport on April 13 (here). 

“Malik Obama is dropping docs proving Barack Obama was born in Nairobi, Kenya and was thus a FAKE and ILLEGITIMATE President,” reads a post retweeted over 8,000 times as of the writing of this article ( archive.ph/akbPJ)

But the photographs tweeted by Malik Obama do not depict the passport of the 44th president of the United States, who was born in 1961.

One photo names “Mr. Barack Hussein Obama” and the place of birth is listed as “Alego, Nyanza Province,” while the date of birth is shown as June 18th, 1934.

The passport includes a photograph of the “bearer” of the document that resembles other images of Barack Obama Sr. viewable (here)

“It’s my father’s passport,” Malik Obama told Reuters via email, adding that collection and auction organization University Archives in Connecticut is currently in possession of the document.

Contacted by Reuters, John Reznikoff, founder of University Archives described the document in the photos as “a genuine passport of the president’s father.”

Photos of the document appeared in a 2012 book authored by Malik Obama entitled “Barack Obama Sr.: The Rise and Life of a True African Scholar” (see pages 384 to 389) (here). The captions identify the document as: “Barack Obama-Barack Obama Sr. -British Passport.”

VERDICT

False. Photos depict the passport of former U.S. President Barack Obama’s father.