Instead, he tried to pin blame for “birtherism” on his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, whom he accused, without evidence, of starting the movement that questions Obama’s nationality and right to be president. Obama’s] birth certificate. Hillary is a birther”, he said then, adding that she “was unable to get [Mr.
Advertisement
Obama said Friday that he “never had any doubt” he was born in the US.
The Republican candidate spoke against a backdrop of veterans in a sprawling ballroom at his new Washington hotel.
After years of fuelling conspiracy theories, Republican White House nominee Donald Trump admitted that President Barack Obama is an American citizen in a much-hyped and nationally televised event Friday.
Mr Trump has said repeatedly during the campaign that he no longer talks about the “birther” issue while refusing to retract his previous comments.
“He’s feeding into the worst impulses, the bigotry and bias that lurks in our country”.
With just 10 words on Friday morning, Donald Trump aimed to reverse his long-held position on President Obama’s birthplace after years of skepticism and questioning.
When a Washington Post reporter asked him Wednesday whether he believed Obama was born in Hawaii, Trump declined to answer. “I just don’t want to answer it yet”, Trump told the newspaper. “I don’t think the voters have really focused yet”.
“I’m shocked that a question like that has come up at a time when we have so many other things to do”.
Clinton seized on Trump’s refusal during a speech Thursday night before the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. “And my hope would be that the presidential election reflects more serious issues than that”. “It’s about degrading the American dream for all African-Americans”, said Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI). She said Trump was trying “to delegitimise our first black president”.
While Miller’s statement suggests that Trump has believed the president was born in the us since seeing his birth certificate, the candidate has repeatedly stoked the issue in the years since.
Obama released his birth certificate in 2011 – something Trump’s campaign took credit for in a statement on Thursday.
“Trump’s actions today were disgraceful”, Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said.
Trump has been slowly chipping away at Clinton’s narrow lead as the November race draws closer.
After years of seeding and stoking baseless right-wing conspiracy theories about Barack Obama’s birth, Donald Trump has finally acknowledged the president was born in the United States.
In reaction in to Trump’s admission, House Minority Leader Harry Reid said, “Trump is an exaggerator”.
Less than two hours later Clinton slammed Trump for not saying that Obama was born in the US. In August 2012, he was pushing the issue on Twitter.
“An “extremely credible source” has called my office and told me that (at) BarackObama’s birth certificate is a fraud“, he wrote.
The issue has not been a factor in the campaign for the November 8 presidential election, but it resurfaced in recent days, taking the focus of Trump’s campaign away from topics such as immigration, trade and the economy, which he has been using to hit Clinton. Users are calling him a “coward” among other things.
Advertisement
Earlier in the week, Trump aides suggested that Friday’s event would be a news conference; the description was later changed to “campaign event”, and Trump did not take questions.
