Posted on Dec 10, 2015
No, a college ID does not show Barack Obama was a foreign student at Columbia University
20.7K
212
120
24
23
1
Before this inevitably makes its way here through some individuals who will believe it I figured I'd pre-empt it.
No, a college ID does not show Barack Obama was a foreign student at Columbia University
Other Internet debunkers have looked at this before (Snopes, for one), but we wanted to take our own look.
It may not surprise you that it’s a sham.
Sorting out Soetoro
There was a time when Obama used the last name "Soetoro." Obama used Soetoro, the last name of his stepfather, while he was growing up in Indonesia. At age 10, Obama moved back to Hawaii, his birthplace, and stopped using that last name.
After two years at Occidental College in California, 20-year-old Barack Obama transferred to Columbia University in New York in 1981.
There are no records that suggest Obama ever went by his childhood alias while attending Columbia. In 1983, the university’s weekly magazine published an essay written by Obama. The byline reads "Barack Obama."
ID issues
Whoever took the time to make this image apparently didn’t take the extra time to change the number on the card. After the card made the initial rounds, Snopes revealed the card number belonged to another student, who appears to be caught up in this simply because he posted his card to the web in 1998.
The picture of Obama on the fake ID is definitely not of the president as a young college student. It looks like the photo was taken in 1999, when Obama was in his late 30s and a state senator in Illinois.
What’s more convincing is Columbia University didn’t even start using digital ID cards until 1996 — 13 years after Obama graduated.
"This is a fake," said Roger Hornsby, a spokesman for the university, to PolitiFact. "We didn't even have such IDs then."
Finally, Obama’s ID would not have said "foreign student," and not just because Obama was born in Hawaii. Hornsby said Columbia doesn’t even label student IDs like that.
Our ruling
A Facebook post makes ridiculous claims about a Columbia University ID that shows Obama was a foreign student who went by the alias "Barry Soetoro."
The post wants you to believe Obama isn’t really an American citizen. But the ID, and the birther narrative behind it, is not valid.
Obama stopped using his stepfather’s last name when he was 10. Columbia University didn’t even start using these types of IDs until the mid 1990s, long after Obama graduated.
The ID is a pretty bad Photoshop job. We rate the claim Pants on Fire!
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/dec/09/facebook-posts/facebook-posts-still-claim-obama-wasnt-born-us/
No, a college ID does not show Barack Obama was a foreign student at Columbia University
Other Internet debunkers have looked at this before (Snopes, for one), but we wanted to take our own look.
It may not surprise you that it’s a sham.
Sorting out Soetoro
There was a time when Obama used the last name "Soetoro." Obama used Soetoro, the last name of his stepfather, while he was growing up in Indonesia. At age 10, Obama moved back to Hawaii, his birthplace, and stopped using that last name.
After two years at Occidental College in California, 20-year-old Barack Obama transferred to Columbia University in New York in 1981.
There are no records that suggest Obama ever went by his childhood alias while attending Columbia. In 1983, the university’s weekly magazine published an essay written by Obama. The byline reads "Barack Obama."
ID issues
Whoever took the time to make this image apparently didn’t take the extra time to change the number on the card. After the card made the initial rounds, Snopes revealed the card number belonged to another student, who appears to be caught up in this simply because he posted his card to the web in 1998.
The picture of Obama on the fake ID is definitely not of the president as a young college student. It looks like the photo was taken in 1999, when Obama was in his late 30s and a state senator in Illinois.
What’s more convincing is Columbia University didn’t even start using digital ID cards until 1996 — 13 years after Obama graduated.
"This is a fake," said Roger Hornsby, a spokesman for the university, to PolitiFact. "We didn't even have such IDs then."
Finally, Obama’s ID would not have said "foreign student," and not just because Obama was born in Hawaii. Hornsby said Columbia doesn’t even label student IDs like that.
Our ruling
A Facebook post makes ridiculous claims about a Columbia University ID that shows Obama was a foreign student who went by the alias "Barry Soetoro."
The post wants you to believe Obama isn’t really an American citizen. But the ID, and the birther narrative behind it, is not valid.
Obama stopped using his stepfather’s last name when he was 10. Columbia University didn’t even start using these types of IDs until the mid 1990s, long after Obama graduated.
The ID is a pretty bad Photoshop job. We rate the claim Pants on Fire!
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/dec/09/facebook-posts/facebook-posts-still-claim-obama-wasnt-born-us/
Barack Obama
Conspiracy Theories
Columbia University
Republicans
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 25
12
12
0
I just have one question. If bush's college transcripts were made available to the general public, why can't BO's? There is one way to defeat the birther issue, produce the records and put the conspiracy theory out to pasture.
Executive Order 13489 -- Presidential Records
Executive Order 13489 -- Presidential Records
(12)
(0)
SFC Joseph Weber
I thought the birther issue was resolved. If there was a video of President Obama being born in Hawaii and Jesus appeared and confirmed there would still be the tin hats who would say it's all fake.
(2)
(0)
Cpl (Join to see)
BS, show the papers and the conspiracy will be put to bed. I'll even appear front and center to state the facts. And that is the issue, there is no facts, just conjecture.
(2)
(0)
SSG Steven Gotz
Seeing as how there was a birth announcement in the newspaper in Hawaii, and they would have no reason to post it if he was not just born there, documentation be damned, he was born in Hawaii.
(1)
(0)
12
12
0
CPT Ahmed Faried Anything can be forged nowadays. The real question is, why is information on Obama's background so limited? That is new for American politicians.
(12)
(0)
Capt Richard Block
Don't be surprised if someday we learn that Barack Obama is not an American citizen, is a modern-day Manchurian Candidate, is like the character in the movie "Wag the Dog," never graduated from Columbia U., never even attended Harvard Law School, and that he spent many years in the Soviet Union where he was intensely trained for the role of President in order to start the dismantling process of the United States. And, he learned his lessons well.
(1)
(0)
MSgt (Join to see)
Yet Trump won't release his tax returns, school records, and all of his financial dealings are shady with foreign banks. Hypocrisy at its finest. Lol
(1)
(0)
11
11
0
Did you see this?
A literary agent’s promotional brochure from two decades ago declares Barack Obama was “born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii”
A literary agent’s promotional brochure from two decades ago declares Barack Obama was “born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii”
(11)
(0)
CPT Larry Booth
The people who believe Obama was born in Kenya will never believe otherwise because they are too lazy to research unbiased fact checking organizations like Snopes. Or they just don't want to know the truth.
(0)
(0)
SFC Michael Peterson
CPT Larry Booth - Snopes is unbiased??? Now.THAT’S FUNNY!!! I bet you think Huffington Post is too.
(0)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google