Stand up for the facts!

Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.

More Info

I would like to contribute

$
Facebook posts
Facebook posts
stated on September 1, 2023 in a Facebook post:

“Barack Obama’s late chef’s wife comes out to expose Obama family.”

False
By Ciara O'Rourke
September 6, 2023

Tafari Campbell’s widow didn’t expose the Obama family, contrary to social media claims

If your time is short

  • This video offers no evidence that the wife of the late Tafari Campbell, personal chef to the Obama family, "exposed" the Obama family in any way or blamed them for her husband’s death. We also found no evidence to support the claim.

See the sources for this fact-check

Tafari Campbell, who was the Obama family’s personal chef, drowned accidentally more than a month ago. But conspiracy theories and rumors linger online that cast aspersions on the former president. 

“Barack Obama’s late chef’s wife comes out to expose Obama family,” a video caption on a Sept. 1 Facebook post says. 

But the video doesn’t address a supposed “exposure.” In fact, it doesn’t mention Campbell or his wife at all.

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

Rather than elaborating on the allegation that Campbell’s widow recently exposed the Obama family, the video’s narrator delves into an old debunked claim that the late comedian, Joan Rivers, was killed after she made comments about former President Barack Obama’s sexuality and former first lady Michelle Obama’s gender identity. 

Neither Obama was home when Campbell was seen July 23 struggling in the water while paddleboarding near the family’s Martha Vineyard’s summer home off the Massachusetts coast. 

The Massachusetts chief medical examiner ruled Campbell’s drowning death accidental. 

We found no evidence or news reports that Campbell’s wife has exposed the family in any way or blamed the Obamas for her late husband’s death. 

On the Instagram account of her baking and catering business, she wrote July 25: “My heart is broken. My life and our family’s life is forever changed. Please pray for our families as I deal with the loss of my husband.”

We rate this post False.

 

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

More by Ciara O'Rourke
Viral image
stated on April 2, 2025 in a Facebook post:
“White hats to investigate Wisconsin Supreme Court election.”
False
Facebook posts
stated on March 28, 2025 in a Facebook post:
Photo shows a missing police officer in “extreme danger.”
Pants on Fire!
Facebook posts
stated on March 28, 2025 in a Facebook post:
Images show damage from an “earthquake in Thailand.”
False

Tafari Campbell’s widow didn’t expose the Obama family, contrary to social media claims

Jon Ossoff
stated on June 27, 2026 in a campaign speech:









Donald Trump
stated on June 23, 2026 in a speech in Macungie, Pennsylvania:

David Jolly
stated on June 11, 2026 in a speech:

Marsha Blackburn
stated on June 19, 2026 in an X post:





Steve Robinson
stated on June 5, 2026 in Fox News “The Ingraham Angle”:

Josh Hokit
stated on June 14, 2026 in a UFC event at the White House:


Donald Trump
stated on May 22, 2026 in remarks in Suffern, New York: