Michelle Obama wore a ‘Vote’ necklace at the 2020 DNC. An altered image claims something else

Former first lady Michelle Obama delivered a primetime address during the 2024 Democratic National Convention dressed in a navy suit that featured a jacket with a high neck. 

No necklace was visible, and yet social media users have shared an image that purportedly shows one. 

"Michelle Obama’s necklace from DNC speech goes instantly viral," read the text that appeared over an image of Obama shared in a Sept. 2 Instagram post. The picture includes a zoomed-in photo that seems to show Obama wearing a gold necklace that reads "Mike." 

"Confirmed!" a Sept. 2 Instagram post sharing the image said, using the hashtags #lgbt and #mike.

It 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, Instagram and Threads.)

There’s no confirmation here. This post alludes to a baseless conspiracy theory that Obama is a transgender woman who was named Michael at birth.

The image in the post is not from the 2024 convention, where she wore navy and had her hair up.

The image is from Obama’s 2020 convention speech, delivered remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That day, she wore brown and had her hair down. Her necklace drew attention at the time, but that’s because it said "Vote." 

The image in this post was altered. 

We rate claims Obama wore a necklace that said "Mike" during her 2024 — or 2020 — convention speech Pants on Fire!