Fact Check

Sarah Palin: We Abolished Slavery and Got Obama

Rumor: Sarah Palin said that abolishing slavery enabled President Obama's election and worried that immigration reform would lead to a Hispanic president.

Published March 3, 2015

Claim:

Claim:   Sarah Palin said that abolishing slavery enabled President Obama's election and worried that immigration reform would lead to a Hispanic president.


FALSE


Example:   [Collected via e-mail, March 2015]


I recently came across the attached. While I realize that Newslo
is a hybrid news/satire site, I'm interested in whether the quotes by
Palin are true. Surely someone in her position isn't so blatantly racist
and xenophobic.



 

Origins:   On 22 November 2014, the web site Newslo published an article titled "Sarah Palin: 'We Abolished Slavery and Got Obama; What's Next If We Change the Immigration Law — A Latin President?'" Content from the article was used to create a number of image memes such as the one above, enabling the spurious quote to become uncoupled from its context and spread more widely:



[I]n a recent interview with Newslo in her home in Wasilla, Alaska, Mrs. Palin expressed her anger regarding the current issue with the immigration law in a somewhat unexpected way: "I'm all for racial equality and I've never had a problem with anyone of another skin color. But, think about this for a second: slavery was abolished in America by 1865; a century and a half later, the US has an African-American president. Has anyone thought about what's going to happen in today's insanely fast-living world if we allow millions of Mexicans and other immigrants to grab a piece of the American dream?!"

Infuriated, she continued: "it boggles my mind how no one is thinking about the future consequences of our actions in the present! Are we seriously going to allow our children and grandchildren to be in a position where they're expected to vote for a Hispanic president?! In the middle of the United States?! Seriously?! Former President Woodrow Wilson would be turning in his grave if that was to happen!"


The quote continued circulating for several months on social media sites as if it were a real utterance issued by Palin, but the disclaimer page on Newslo explains that much of the site's content is fabricated:



Newslo is the first hybrid News/Satire platform on the web. Readers come to us for a unique brand of entertainment and information that is enhanced by features like our fact-button, which allows readers to find what is fact and what is satire.

While the site claims it occasionally publishes real news stories, popular entries include fake news articles such as "Ted Nugent Calls for Native Americans to 'Go Back Where They Came From'" and "Tennessee Outlaws Giving Birth to Mixed-Race Babies."

Last updated:   3 March 2015

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.