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Liz Cheney Defends Birthers On Larry King (VIDEO)

The Huffington Post   First Posted: 08/22/09 06:12 AM ET Updated: 05/25/11 02:40 PM ET

The Obama "birther" movement has sucked in a few Republican congressmen. But Tuesday night the conspiracy theorists who think our president isn't a citizen got a major boost from none other than Elizabeth Cheney, former State Department official and vice-presidential daughter.

Birthers took hits on television earlier in the day, after a YouTube video of one such extremist confronting Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) at a public event. CNN's Rick Sanchez spent a whole segment debunking the fantasy, and MSNBC's Chris Matthews confronted a congressman sponsoring a bill that "would require future presidential candidates to provide a copy of their original birth certificate."

Cheney was apparently unmoved. Appearing on "Larry King," she dismissed the Castle video and suggested that people have reason to question Obama's national loyalty.

"I think the Democrats have got more crazies than the Republicans do," Cheney said. "But setting that aside, one of the reasons you see people so concerned about this, I think this issue is, people are uncomfortable with having for the first time ever, I think, a president who seems so reluctant to defend the nation overseas ..."

Asked directly by King if she actually thought Obama was born in Kenya, Cheney responded, "No, I'm not saying that." But then she kept going. "I'm saying that people are fundamentally uncomfortable and fundamentally I think increasingly uncomfortable with an American president who seems to be afraid to defend America, stand up for what we believe in."

Fellow guest James Carville seemed momentarily flabbergasted. "These poor pathetic people are believing stuff just like Ms. Cheney tonight," he concluded. "She refuses to say this is ludicrous because she wants these people to believe this."

Watch:

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UPDATE: Cheney later reaffirmed to Politico that "I don't have any question about Barack Obama's right to be President of the United States." As Salon's Joan Walsh says, "By refusing to denounce the Birthers on CNN, then issuing a mealy-mouthed statement that she doesn't question Obama's right to be president, Cheney has it both ways: She curries favor with the Birthers and but affirms her basic sanity (if not integrity) to the Beltway media."

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The Obama "birther" movement has sucked in a few Republican congressmen. But Tuesday night the conspiracy theorists who think our president isn't a citizen got a major boost from none other than Eliza...
The Obama "birther" movement has sucked in a few Republican congressmen. But Tuesday night the conspiracy theorists who think our president isn't a citizen got a major boost from none other than Eliza...
 
 
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07:53 PM on 08/07/2009
Can she make herself look any more insane?
08:07 PM on 08/10/2009
Yes with every moment she is not only insane but extremely evil. exorcism anyone????
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07:53 AM on 07/26/2009
rich entitlement / they think they own the place (America ) .
~
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americanalien
Veteran Commenter
02:33 AM on 07/26/2009
Why do e.vil men like D.i.ck Cheney bother to have kids?
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MWChris
07:02 PM on 07/25/2009
Now Liz, why would you talk about your cousin like that....
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03:50 PM on 07/25/2009
Nice, smirk, Cheney.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
donnabella
someday, my prints will come . . .
02:25 PM on 07/25/2009
this is truly the worst case of mass hysteria i've ever seen . . . birthers are not only delusional and paranoid, they're very scary people - with guns . . .
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
Oonagh
Old sins have long shadows
01:04 PM on 07/25/2009
Chaney is like Liddy ..... dolts, they are just looking to support their audience, the bottom feeders .
12:53 PM on 07/25/2009
I can't believe people are still discussing this! Was really hoping it would die on November 4. Not to feed the crazies, but has anyone pointed out that even IF Obama were born in Kenya (which in itself is ludicrous) he would STILL be a U.S. citizen, because his mother is a US citizen? (In the U.S., citizenship for children born to U.S. citizens abroad in foreign countries is traced through matrilineal lines). Any way you slice it, if Obama's mother is a citizen, he is a citizen. Unless the right-wing nut jobs are now going to start a new conspiracy theory that his mother is not actually his mother...
11:43 AM on 07/25/2009
She'll jump onto any bandwagon to try and make Obama look bad. She just can't handle the facts about her own father. I couldn't care less about anything she says - it doesn't make the facts go away. It's really quite sad when you can't believe that your parent actually has what it takes to be evil. Do you really think she knows all of the dirty things he has done? The day will come when he is prosecuted for his war crimes. Nothing good about him will go down in history. What a sad father/daughter relationship. What she says brings out the people who want to believe the worst. And when Obama's adminstration is over and we are better off than we were when it started, I wonder what these people will say then? That it was luck? Tha someone else actually changed things? The proof will be in the pudding. Or maybe they will latch on to the changes the republicans fought against - instead of the changes that were accomplished.
09:55 AM on 07/25/2009
Is there any way to sterilize the Cheney family to ensure we have no more of their descendants poisoning this nation?
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DimBulb2
08:06 PM on 07/25/2009
too late
shes a fast breeder
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americanalien
Veteran Commenter
02:28 AM on 07/26/2009
LoL, I would love for that to happen.
07:08 AM on 07/25/2009
If people had made sh*t like that up about her father, she's be screaming like a banshee.
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03:51 PM on 07/25/2009
I don't think anyone could make up stuff fast enough to keep up with the stuff he really did, and that we are now suffering from worldwide.
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traumabob
Sardonic Pseudo-intellectual Unabashed Liberal
06:41 AM on 07/25/2009
As usual, this apple fell close to the tree.
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11:34 AM on 07/25/2009
"Road Apples". . . . . .don't have far to fall.
05:36 AM on 07/25/2009
I noticed that her hatred of and animosity toward President Obama makes it impossible for her to even say his name, repeatedlly referring him as "this president" throughout the entire interview. She might not have foreseen the number of enteries on this blog in reaction to her support of a sleazy campaign aimed at maligning the president of the United States. I bet a lot of her fans, including daddy, should be proud that Liz has grown up to be a prototype republican who can look people in the eye and even claim that the sun shines in the west. Of course -- as if we did not ehave nough of her father's dismal fialure to content with -- not only does she get invited to countless interviews, she is also asked whether or not she is planning to run for office. That way she could have an official title to join the rest of the lunatics in the GOP and be actively engaged in sabotaging progress.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
LemonMeringue
Happy Birthday, Steve Jobs - Feb. 24th
08:44 AM on 07/25/2009
The Obama administration is only a momentary setback for the Cheney cabal. In fact it was probably welcomed to hand the country over during the economic crisis they created.

The Cheneys and their pals will be back to hurt America again. The only way to stop them is to enforce the laws and the Constitution.

Investigate. Prosecute. And throw the guilty in jail and throw away the key. Do it for America.
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jjgg5
03:33 AM on 07/25/2009
Mental illnesses do cluster in families.
02:03 AM on 07/25/2009
Piece of sh*t, just like her dad & mom.
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11:42 AM on 07/25/2009
Please, watch your foul language !!!. . . .Liz ("Prarie Pancake") Cheney . . . has feelings too.. .