There was no room for interpretation in his claim, which takes that speculation away from a media hoping to continue asking him about his beliefs on the subject.
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During Friday’s speech, the first lady laid into Trump’s temperament, calling the real-estate magnate “erratic” and “threatening”, and telling the audience that “a president can’t just pop off”. “Barack Obama was born in America, plain and simple”.
Yet Trump latched onto it.
LISA DESJARDINS: When the White House made the president’s birth certificate public two weeks later, Trump questioned if the document was real.
“This issue is bigger than the politicians, election and the press”. The cable news networks cleared time to broadcast the anticipated Trump humiliation live. He let it linger, until this week – when the issue finally reached a breaking point.
Trump’s statement comes after Clinton on Friday assailed her opponent for refusing to answer whether Obama was born in the us, saying Trump owes Obama “and the American people an apology” for his role in the “birther” movement.
Trump has been one of the leading voices in the controversy since 2011 that many view as an attempt to delegitimize the presidency of the nation’s first black president.
The next day, Trump, speaking from his new property in Washington DC, reiterates his belief that Clinton started the birther movement, but concedes President Obama was born in the United States. “His campaign was founded on this outrageous lie”, Clinton said. The organization said there is also no “direct tie” to the campaign and Clinton has denied being behind the rumors. “And that is especially true for young people like all of you”, she said, noting that voters under the age of 30 provided the margin of victory for Obama in the swing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and Virginia in 2012.
Trump has gained ground on Clinton in national opinion polls after revamping his campaign staff in August and taking steps to give a more polished performance on the campaign trail. His wife Michelle spoke at a rally Friday and addressed the issue. “Well, I’m not that shocked actually – it’s fairly typical”, he said shortly before a meeting.
“I’ll answer the question at the right time”, Trump said September 15. There are 57 days until the election.
The answer to her question came hours later when campaign spokesman Jason Miller issued a statement that suggested the question had been settled five years ago – by Trump.
In a statement, Clinton’s campaign manager Robby Mook called Trump’s actions “disgraceful”. That origin story can’t be unwritten. “He can’t just take it back”, the campaign shot back in a series of tweets.
He then walked off the stage and ended the event. But he told Stephanopoulos he thinks the statement from the campaign was enough and this should be the end of the conversation.
“I want him to show his birth certificate”.
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Clinton was quick to respond, saying that Trump’s news conference about Obama’s birthplace was a “disgrace”, and her Republican rival had expressed “zero regret” for years of “pushing a racist conspiracy theory”.
