Obama: ‘You can fact-check that, PolitiFact’

Today at the White House, President Barack Obama issued PolitiFact a challenge.

Hosting members of the 2013 WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx in the White House’s East Room, Obama told the crowd that the last time the team came to the White House — in 2012, after the Lynx’s first championship season — he predicted that they would be back before he left office.

“I just want to mention that I was right,” Obama joked. “You can fact check that, PolitiFact.”

Gauntlet dropped. Was he right?

We checked and, well — we’ll give credit where credit’s due.

On Sept. 18, 2012, the Lynx visited the White House and Obama said this:

“They’ve picked up right where they left off –- on top of the Western Conference by a wide margin. Coach (Cheryl Reeve) just told me that they’ve now secured home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. With three games to go, best record in the league. They’re leading the league in points, rebounds, assists. So you get the idea — they’re pretty good. And I have a feeling that we might end up seeing them back here before too long.”

As it happened, the Lynx fell to the Indiana Fever in the 2012 finals (and the Fever received a White House invite). But the Lynx won a second title in 2013, ultimately affirming Obama’s prediction.

So, this is a win-win. Obama gets to glow in his factual accuracy, and we get to confirm that he knows our name.