President Trump Sent Michelle Obama a Bill She’ll Never Repay-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
President Trump sent Michelle Obama a bill for $11 billion to cover all the personal expenses she should have covered herself during her eight years in the White House.
The Truth:
A self-described fake news website is behind false reports that President Trump sent Michelle Obama a bill that she’ll never be able to repay in her lifetime.
The story appeared at Last Line of Defense under the headlined, “Trump Just Sent Michelle Obama A Bill She’ll Never Be Able To Pay In Her Lifetime,” in early May 2017. The story, which has been widely circulated on social media, begins:
Michelle Obama will go down in history as the First Lady who spent more money than any other. In addition to her 214 personal assistants, 32 gardeners, 11 dog walkers and her own mother on the government payroll as a “day care provider,” Michelle also purchased $11 million worth of new furniture, an airplane, four yachts and two limousines with taxpayer money.
What’s worse is that after she left, she decided she should be able to keep all of that stuff, even though technically it belongs to the American people. After an audit by the White House budget office, President Trump ordered that Michelle Obama be sent a bill for everything she should have paid for by herself but used government money instead.
The bill, which totals $11 billion, is more than the Obama family will likely be able to afford in their lifetime. The tab includes $10 billion for vacations and the balance in food, clothing, liquor and cigarettes that should have been paid for out of their own pockets. The planes, boats and cars have been repossessed but they still have to pay for their use, wear and tear and fuel consumption.
Many readers took the story at its word and believed that President Trump had actually sent Michelle Obama a bill for $11 billion — but that’s not the case. Last Line of Defense states in its disclaimer that it publishes “facts that don’t necessarily exist” and relies on information from “sources that may or may not be reliable”:
DISCLAIMER: The Resistance may include information from sources that may or may not be reliable and facts that don’t necessarily exist. All articles should be considered satirical and any and all quotes attributed to actual people complete and total baloney. Pictures that represent actual people should be considered altered and not in any way real.
Aside from the fact that Last Line of Defense is an admitted fake news website, this report builds on earlier rumors that Michelle Obama has spent far more lavishly and has a larger staff than previous first ladies. We’ve investigated those claims and found them to be false. Click here for our full investigation.