Yesterday several news outlets reported that Barack Obama refused to fist bump a child on a tour of a ministry service in Zanesville, Ohio. Take a look here and here and here.

A pool report of his tour distributed to reporters concluded:

As he left, a boy tried to give him a fist bump. Obama said no.

“If I start that …” his voice trailed off.

Of course the assumption was that the presumptive Democratic nominee refused the bump because he didn’t want to garner the attention the seemingly innocuous action received when he and his wife shared a fist bump upon his securing the Democratic nomination. In the set up of a segment that aired on FOX News analyzing body language, an anchor said, “A fist bump? A pound? A terrorist fist jab? The gesture everyone seems to interpret differently.” [FOX issued an apology for the remarks the next day.]

But today, an Obama advisor told traveling press that the candidate did not recall such an exchange taking place. ABC News, which was the TV pool yesterday, checked the tape, and sure enough the senator’s memory was accurate. Here is what really happened as Obama left the classroom filled with kids:

Child: Can you sign my hand?

Obama: If I start that… plus Mom might not be happy when she comes home.  She’ll be like, “What is the dirt on your hand?” See ya.

Not even then Governor George W. Bush’s flash of the middle finger on a satellite feed get this much attention.