| Trump Is Trying to Rewrite His History of Birtherism. This Is What Really Happened. |
| Written by <a href="index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=17940"><span class="small">Judd Legum, ThinkProgress</span></a> |
| Saturday, 17 September 2016 14:27 |
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Legum writes: "Since 2011, Donald Trump has been the most prominent spokesperson for birtherism - the racist conspiracy theory that Barack Obama is not a U.S. citizen."
Trump Is Trying to Rewrite His History of Birtherism. This Is What Really Happened.17 September 16
‘We have to keep the suspense going’
Trump’s embrace of birtherism is what propelled him to political prominence, making him a hero to the far-right seeking to drive their fringe views into the mainstream. “[H]e could have been born in Kenya and gone over to the United States. Everybody wants to be a U.S. citizen, and his grandparents put an ad in saying he was born in the United States because of all the benefits you get from being born in the United States,” Trump told a national audience on CNN in April 2011. But now, his campaign is desperately trying to backtrack?—?saying that, beginning in 2011, Trump came to believe that Obama was born in the United States.
But there’s a problem. Just hours earlier, Trump told the Washington Post to ignore comments from his campaign about his views on birtherism. Trump told the reporter to disregard the fact that his campaign manager had previously said he believes Obama was born in the United States. When asked whether his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, was accurate when she said recently that he now believes Obama was born in this country, Trump responded: “It’s okay. She’s allowed to speak what she thinks. I want to focus on jobs. I want to focus on other things.” Now, Trump is now expected to echo his campaign statement at a press conference on Friday at his new hotel in Washington, D.C.?—?appearing to believe that finally recognizing that Obama is a U.S. citizen will absolve him.
The media seems to be open to this. On Friday morning, George Stephanopoulos said Trump could “end it by simply saying, ‘Yes, the president was born in the United States, I was wrong.’” Which brings us to the second problem with the statement: the idea that after Obama released his “long form” birth certificate in April 2011, Trump was convinced that he was born in the United States. This is objectively false. For the last five years, Trump has perpetuated this racist conspiracy theory. He has openly questioned the validity of Obama’s birth certificate and gleefully perpetuated the myth that Obama was not born in the country, using it to his political advantage. Trump also appears poised, as his campaign statement does, to pin the birther conspiracy theory on Hillary Clinton. This claim has also been definitively debunked. A last-minute conversion does not erase this ugly history. April 2011: In a press conference the day Obama’s “long-form” birth certificate was released, Trump questioned its authenticity During a press conference in New Hampshire on April 27, 2011, Trump said it was “rather amazing that, all of a sudden, it materializes.” He said experts would have to evaluate its authenticity.
October 2011: Trump questions the validity of Obama’s birth certificate, says “many people say it is not real” Trump was interviewed by Piers Morgan on CNN on October 27, 2011.
May 2012: Trump says “a lot of people do not think it was an authentic certificate” Trump was interviewed by Wolf Blitzer on CNN on May 29, 2012.
May 2012: Trump says that “I’ve never really changed” on birtherism Trump was interviewed on CNBC on May 29, 2012.
June 2012: Trump says there is evidence that Obama was “born in Kenya” Trump was interviewed on CNBC on June 5, 2012. TRUMP: “Well, no. He is entitled to his view, and I think that’s great. Look, I made the key note speech in North Carolina this weekend. The biggest applause was when the issue of birth place was brought up. It was standing, and the people went crazy. There are a lot of people that look at the numbers, and look at the facts that disagree. They have the right to disagree. That’s what this country is all about. President Obama wrote himself in his book that he, as you know, that was going to be published. The publisher put it out, a statement that he was born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia.” August 2012: Trump tweets that Obama’s birth certificate is a fraud
August 2012: Republicans should “take the offensive” on “birther issue”
September 2012: “Wake Up America!… Obama’s Birth Certificate Is Fake”
October 2012: Trump says he has “no idea” where Obama was born Trump was interviewed by Bill O’Reilly on October 26, 2012.
August 2013: Trump says “nobody” really knows where Obama was born Trump was interviewed by ABC’s Jon Karl on August 11, 2013.
December 2013: Trump suggests official who verified Obama’s birth certificate was murdered
May 2014: Trump says that “a lot of people” don’t think Obama’s birth certificate was real Trump was interviewed by TV4 Ireland on May 14, 2014.
September 2014: Trump encourages hackers to check Obama’s “place of birth”
August 2015: Trump says “I don’t know” where Obama was born “I don’t know. I really don’t know. I don’t know why he wouldn’t release his records,” Trump told CNN on July 7, 2015. January 2016: Trump said he will write a book about his theories on Obama’s birthplace Trump was interviewed by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on January 6, 2016.
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ince 2011, Donald Trump has been the most prominent spokesperson for birtherism?—?the racist conspiracy theory that Barack Obama is not a U.S. citizen.