As if this story really needed to be checked into.
Someone sent on email to PolitiFact pointing their attention to another story going around the Internet claiming that President Obama was running for a third term. PolitiFact apparently had the manpower, and checked into the story.
The article with a Washington dateline began, “President Barack Obama shocked the country this morning with news that he is running for a third term.”
It went on to quote Obama at a press conference saying,”‘I can’t abandon the American people now when they need me more than ever. We’ve come this far as a nation, now is not the time to do something different. This is the change you wanted and this is the change you’re getting.”
The article then quoted Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., telling CNN that he opposes Obama’s decision. “This defies everything the Constitution stands for,” Paul is quoted as saying. “We can not let this man have a third term.”
The problem facing Obama, according to the article, is the 22nd Amendment, which prevents presidents from running for more than two terms. It was ratified in 1951.
However, the article suggests that Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., has “recently introduced” a measure to abolish the 22nd Amendment — which is “exactly the kind of news that makes an Obama 2016 Presidential run possible.”
The article closes with a comment from Paul Horner, purportedly an administration spokesman.
“Obama is guaranteed to win in 2016 and then we’ll all be able to enjoy this great man for another four years,” the article quotes “Horner” as saying. “Things could not get any better for the American people. I’m so stoked!”
So is Obama really going to get around the Constitution to run for a third term?
Nope.
In fact, people passing along this story by email appear not to have noticed that it comes from a satire site called the National Report.
The site’s tongue-in-cheek disclaimer says, in part, that “the views expressed by writers on this site are theirs alone and are not reflective of the fine journalistic and editorial integrity of National Report.” The urban-legend investigation site Snopes.com has archived an even clearer disclaimer that has since been removed. The former disclaimer said, “National Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within National Report are fiction, and presumably fake news. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental.”
