Did Obama Have Journalist Brenda Lee Forcibly Removed from Air Force One?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Wed Nov 21, 2018, 02:16 PM - Edit history (1)

You'll see this one showing up.

{edit:} If anyone's interested, I can send the raw text for this post in a private mail. That way you won't have to right-click to copy the link address. I don't know if that will work, but it's worth a try.

Fact Check
Fauxtography

Did Obama Have Journalist Brenda Lee Forcibly Removed from Air Force One?

Claim
Brenda Lee was forcibly removed from Air Force One by order of President Obama due to her pro-life views.

Rating
False

As President Trump and his administration were criticized in November 2018 for their controversial decision to suspend CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, a number of Trump’s defenders engaged in a round of whataboutism and claimed that President Obama had treated the media in a similar (or worse) fashion. The following image, for instance, was shared with the claim that it depicted a reporter named Brenda Lee being forcibly removed from Air Force One by order of President Obama due to her pro-life beliefs:

Remember this during Obama’s criminal administration? This is Brenda Lee, a journalist from the Georgia Informer being physically removed from Air Force One in 2009 by Obama’s order. She didn’t grab anyone like Jim Acosta did. Brenda was removed for being pro-life. Brenda permanently lost her WH press credentials.

Although the photograph was genuine, the accompanying caption contained multiple factual errors:

• Brenda Lee was not on board Air Force One (as such, she could not have been “removed” from the presidential plane).
• Lee was not removed from the press area at LAX by “Obama’s order.” President Obama wasn’t even at the airport at the time of the incident.
• Lee didn’t grab someone “like Jim Acosta did,” as video shows that Acosta didn’t grab anyone.
• Lee was not removed for being “pro-life”; she was removed for refusing to heed instructions from security personnel.
• We found no reports documenting that Lee “permanently lost her White House press credentials.” We also could not confirm that Lee had ever received press credentials from the White House to begin with.

This photograph was taken on 28 May 2009 at Los Angeles International Airport and captured Brenda Lee, a self-proclaimed Catholic priestess and columnist for the Georgia Informer, being removed from an area near Air Force One by airport security. NBC Los Angeles reported at the time that Lee was trying to get a letter to President Obama about gay marriage but refused to cooperate with the security detail or a White House staffer who offered to take the letter to Obama. She was eventually removed from the press area by security while President Obama was elsewhere:

{snip}

[Sneederbunk]

1. I will never listen to Rockin Around the Christmas Tree without thinking.

[maxsolomon]

2. Another obvious lie we have to waste our time refuting.

Lie, halfway around the world, Truth, pants on. Ad nauseum.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. Not anymore. One click, and you're done.

Well, for the first time. But then there's the second time. And the third time. And the fourth time. And the....

I saw the claim posted this morning in one of those "oh, yeah, well what about...?" tweets.

[maxsolomon]

7. We're at a point where linking to the Truth is futile

the object is to provide the Trumpist hoi polloi with counter-accusations to throw back in our hypocritical faces when we dare express outrage.

teaching Putin's techniques to your (well, my) racist Aunt.

[SeattleVet]

13. You got that right!

If I used this article to show that the crap they're passing around is false, the very first comment I would get would be along the line of, "Well, that's from Snopes, a well-known leftie, Soros-funded site run by liberals."

I usually try to go out of my way a bit and either use the references that Snopes links to, or find the info on another site (Hoax Slayer hasn't been 'tainted' in their minds, yet). Giving a trumpette a Snopes link will never change (what passes for) their minds.

[The Liberal Lion]

10. This was my thought too.

The next one was fuck republicans!

[NewJeffCT]

12. it's amazing how persistent the lies are, though

I bet this will still be making the rounds in RW circles for several more years at least.

[gratuitous]

3. I look forward to seeing this ricochet around social media in the coming weeks

The response, should you need one, is, "Literally NOTHING about this post is true." Bookmark this post if you think you need to provide further details. I generally just give everyone the benefit of the truth and leave the "Yuh huh!" bullshit to the flounders.

[DFW]

4. Another anti-abortion rights fanatic falsely claiming to be "pro-life."

When these nut cases oppose the death penalty, tithe 20% of their income to cancer research, and stop eating meat and fish, THEN they can start telling me they are "pro-life." Not before.

[yardwork]

11. In this case, that wasn't even the mission.

Apparently she wanted to deliver an anti-gay message to Obama.

Literally nothing in the story is true.

[area51]

14. When the misogynists (aka "pro-lifers") start fighting for health care as a basic human right,

they'll be on the way to deserving the term "pro-life".

[C_U_L8R]

6. I'm so sick of whatabout bullshit from Republicans

Really, they need to find another gimmick... this whatabout crap is done to death.

[pdsimdars]

8. Great to get the facts first and be prepared for the onslought. Thanks

[greenman3610]

9. "Catholic Priestess" is your clue

[Honeycombe8]

15. Without knowing "facts," I know for a fact that Obama would never have someone removed from AF1....

for having pro-life views. That's ridiculous.

[evilhime]

16. The actual article

http://www.indianapolisrecorder.com/news/features/article_52bcb103-5268-5643-9e28-14a4b5633721.html this is the article fromthe incident . . . President Obama wasn't even there yet.