Social Media
Social Media
stated on February 26, 2025 in social media posts:

“DOGE stopped an annual payment to Barack Obama for $2.6 million for ‘royalties associated with Obamacare.’”

Pants on Fire!

Old claim about Obamacare royalties resurfaces with DOGE angle. It’s still wrong.

By Loreben Tuquero
March 5, 2025

If your time is short

  • This claim originated from satire.

  • The creator of the satirical page posted a variation of this claim eight years ago.

See the sources for this fact-check

Several social media posts are touting what looks like a win from the Department of Government Efficiency against former President Barack Obama.

“DOGE stopped an annual payment to Barack Obama for $2.6 million for ‘royalties associated with Obamacare,’” the posts’ text read. “He’s been collecting it since 2010, for a total of $39 million taxpayer dollars.”

Screenshot of claim about Obamacare royalties, with POF graphic, 03-05-2025
Figure 1: Screenshot of claim about Obamacare royalties, with POF graphic, 03-05-2025

(Screenshot from Facebook)

These posts were 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.)

The claim also spread on X

This claim is rooted in satire, and is a variation of a claim that’s at least eight years old.

It originated from America’s Last Line of Defense, a satirical Facebook page operated by Christopher Blair, who also publishes stories on the Dunning-Kruger Times website. That website also published an article with the claim, including a fake quote from Obama.

“Everything on this website is fiction,” its “About Us” page reads.

Blair is a prolific satire writer, and his claims are frequently reshared without their satirical context. In April 2017, PolitiFact fact-checked a claim that originated from Blair’s former website called The Last Line of Defense, that said that the United States Treasury paid $411 million for “royalty payments for Obamacare.” We rated that Pants on Fire!

There’s no proof Obama is receiving royalties for Obamacare, which is formally named the Affordable Care Act. The claim that DOGE stopped annual payments to Obama for Obamacare royalties originated from satire. We rate it Pants on Fire!

Our Sources

Facebook post, Feb. 28, 2025

Facebook post, Feb. 26, 2025

Instagram post, Feb. 28, 2025

X post, Feb. 27, 2025

X post, March 2, 2025

X post, Feb. 26, 2025

Facebook post by America’s Last Line of Defense, Feb. 25, 2025

Dunning-Kruger-Times.com, About Us, accessed March 5, 2025

Dunning-Kruger-Times.com, DOGE Halts $2.6 Million Annual Payment to Obama for "Obamacare" Royalties, accessed March 5, 2025

PolitiFact, If you're fooled by fake news, this man probably wrote it, May 31, 2017

PolitiFact, Fake theory that Barack Obama hid millions of taxpayer dollars offshore started on parody site, April 14, 2017