Description: Viral images
Circulating since: 2009
Status: False / Misrepresented
Analysis: The images are real, but the captions accompanying them are false and misrepresent what actually occurred in each instance.
The photo on the left, credited to AP photographer Sergey Ponomarev, was taken on July 9, 2009 during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unkown Soldier in Moscow, Russia. As news video of the event clearly shows, however, the picture wasn't snapped during the playing of the Russian national anthem, but rather during the U.S. national anthem (the moment occurs at 1:20 minutes into the video).
As to the photo on the right, it was indeed taken at Arlington National Cemetery in 2009, but not on Veterans Day as claimed. As I've demonstrated previously, the actual event was Memorial Day, May 25, 2009. More to the point, the photo wasn't snapped during the playing of the U.S. national anthem as implied above. Rather, video footage shows that Obama had just been introduced and the band was playing "Hail to the Chief" at the exact moment shown. Had the president saluted, he would have been saluting himself.
What's ironic about the partisan narrative these viral images are meant to support — the notion that Barack Obama "refuses" to salute the U.S. flag or anthem and is therefore "unpatriotic" and "hates his country" — is that there's exactly one, and only one, documented instance of the president failing to place his hand over his heart on such an occasion. Do the facts matter? In this case, apparently not.
See also:
• Obama's Left-Handed Flag Salute
• Obama Explains 'Refusal' to Salute the Flag
• Michelle Obama: 'All This for a Damn Flag?'
• Obama Removes U.S. Flag from Air Force One?
• Obama 'Redesigns' the Flag with His Campaign Logo
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Sources and further reading:
Obama Behind the Scenes: Wreath Laying Ceremony
Xfinity.com, 6 July 2009Video: Obama Begins Russian Visit
No Comment TV, YouTube, 6 July 2009Obama's Veterans Day Non-Salute
About.com: Urban Legends, 22 May 2012
Last updated 10/22/12
