President Obama hasn’t launched the first salvo in the war on Christmas, and he hasn’t issued a command that will block Christmas cards sent service members stationed over seas.
The false report of Obama launching a war on Christmas started with a fake news website called “Fox News The FB Page.” The website — which is not affiliated with the actual F0x News — reported that the White House decided to block delivery of Christmas cards to service members because the holiday greetings would “upset Muslims in host countries.” The story continues:
Per executive order,all overseas military mail will be monitored for references to Christmas, Jesus Christ, or pork products which are known to offend Muslims.
An Army Veteran who reached out to Fox News said Pentagon leadership is “hypersensitive to anyone who says they feel like their rights are being violated.”
“It’s extremely frustrating,” the soldier said. “The U.S. Military is living in fear of radical Muslims.”
The soldier, who asked not to be identified because he feared being disciplined or assaulted my Muslims, said many people are furious over the censorship
“If soldiers cannot speak the name of God, let alone Christ, what are we fighting for?” he asked. “I’ve towed the company line for years but this has pushed me too far to sit quietly while personal liberties are trampled upon.”
The site itself is no longer active, but a version of the fake story is still visible, posted newspaper-style, on a PDF of a site calling itself “All-American Banner”:
Another fact-checking site, Hoax-Slayer, noted a screen capture designed to impersonate an actual Fox News broadcast:
Anytime you hear a rumor about an executive order being issued by Obama (or any other future president), double check it on this official White House page. Every executive order that Obama has ever issued is listed there.
In this case, Obama’s executive order that “launched the first salvo in the war on Christmas” doesn’t appear on the list, and it was never actually issued.
Update December 4 2020 2:45 p.m. PST: This article has been revamped and updated. You can review the original here. We would also like to reconfirm that Obama never issued this type of executive order prior to leaving office.