Obama Responds To Question On Donald Trump 'Feeding Fantasies' About Birthplace (VIDEO)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama says Republicans who are sowing doubts about whether he is American-born may gain politically in the short term by playing to their constituencies but will have trouble when the general election rolls around.

Obama says that's because most people are confident that he was born where he says he was – in Hawaii – and are more worried about gasoline prices and unemployment than conspiracy theories or birth certificates.

The president spoke Thursday in an interview with ABC News.

State officials long have certified that Obama was born in Hawaii. But Donald Trump, the real estate tycoon and possible GOP presidential candidate, has revived questions about Obama's place of birth.

Obama says Republican efforts to go after him in a politically expedient way create problems for them.

The comments were in response to a question from George Stephanopoulos about Obama's potential opponents in 2012:

George Stephanopoulos: I wonder how you size up your potential opponents? I mean all of us have been struck by Donald Trump rising to the top of the Republican field by feeding fantasies about your background. What do you make of that?

President Obama: Well you know, I think that over the last two and a half years there's been an effort to go at me in a way that is politically expedient in the short-term for Republicans. But creates, I think a problem for them when they want to actually run in a general election where most people feel pretty confident the President was born where he says he was, in Hawaii. (LAUGHS) He-- he doesn't have horns. We may disagree with him on some issues and we may wish that you know, the unemployment rate was coming down faster and we want him to know his plan on gas prices. But we're not really worrying about conspiracy theories or-- or birth certificates. And so-- I-- I think it presents a problem for them. But, look I right now have such a big day job that I am not yet focused on what's happening on the other side. There'll be a time where I'm-- I'm very focused on it.

Video of the interview below via ABC World News (the relevant section begins at 13:47):

Comments

[dkj2808]

11:45 AM on 04/17/2011

As an Australian I am a fan of the United States. Having said that, there are parts of the America and in particular its political discourse that just flabbergast and leave me worried about the direction the US is heading.

http://www.thesimpleton.com.au/politics/2011/4/15/separated-at-birthers.html

[neckozihp]

06:45 PM on 04/17/2011

Dkj2808, thank you for the link to this article, I enjoyed reading it.

In the Constitution, regarding presidential eligibility, the intent of our Founding Fathers was that the president have NO foreign influence or allegiance to another country.

The term 'natural born citizen', meant a future president must be born of two parents that were American citizens, that way there was no chance of foreign allegiance­. This just makes sense to me.

We must have a POTUS that has OUR NATION'S best interests at heart.
Some are concerned that the policies of our current POTUS, of more government control, and less individual freedom, are unlike American presidents of the past.

If one wishes to label these citizens "birthers"­, so be it. But many consider them to be "patriots"­, and their numbers are growing.

Obama is behaving evasively and is not being honest with the American people. In this interview he makes a joke of those who dare to ask to see his BC.

Obama is hiding something... Trump is bold, curious, and wealthy enough to investigat­e an issue that is of concern to him and a great many Americans

[Brian Gilmer]

08:47 PM on 04/18/2011

The language used in the US Constitution does not mean both parents need to be citizens. The proof is in that fact that no exceptions were made for early Presidents. There is no way the first 8 or 10 Presidents of the US could have met that criteria. The actual definition of citizenship was not established until the 14th Amendment. So clearly the drafters of the US Constitution did not consider the language "natural born citizen" to mean born of two citizens.

[TwinX]

08:31 AM on 04/18/2011

Nice article. I suspect most Americans would agree with most if not all of it.

I see one of our birther brethren have replied to you with a number of untruths (as is their wont).

The '2 parent citizen' notion s/he espouses is, quite frankly nonsense. President Obama had a significant public profile since his keynote speech at the DNC in 2004. His father's Kenyan nationality was well known then, and even more so after he announced his candidacy for the Presidency.

Throughout the course of the primaries and the general, no one hinted at the possibility that his father's nationality was a bar to President Obama's own NBC status. It was only *after* the election, and after the 'he was born in Kenya' lie failed to gain traction, that the birthers found what they believe to be their 'holy grail' - something ever Conservative Constitutional Scholar had failed to spot. *sighs*

Only a handful (perhaps 4) Lawyers (out of approx. 1.2 million) promote this notion, and none of them are Constitutional scholars. For some explanations accessible to lay persons

I recommend

http://www.thefogbow.com/birther-claims-debunked1/three-theories/two-citizen-parents/

[Aprama]

05:18 AM on 04/17/2011

Someone please tell me how does George Stephanopoulos still have a job. It's bad enough that he actually believes Trump is running for president. To see a once proud network acting so bush league is just a shame. Why is he wasting the President's time with a birther question. Stephanopoulos reminds me of a poor man's Anderson Cooper.

Please check out this link to boycott all things Donald Trump: http://www­­.facebook­.­com/page­s/­Dump-Th­e-D­onald-­Boyc­ott-D­onald­-Tru­mp/194­567­8039125­16­

[Ron Weaver]

10:25 PM on 04/16/2011

Why don't they just come out and say what's really bothering them rather than all this birther nonsense.

[TruthSeeker71]

09:51 PM on 04/16/2011

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/04/7-birthers-birth-certifcates-even-faker-than-trumps_n_844503.html#s260966&title=Sarah_Palin

[Fidel Kabassu]

09:46 PM on 04/16/2011

Bring it on Republicans. Our President is ready. Cool, Calm and Collected. What a formidable candidate he is going to be. He's now experienced as President, which makes him even more invincible. Just like an American President should be.

[hatrickpenry]

07:23 PM on 04/16/2011

A little info on the newspaper announcements and more.

Excerpt:

Hawaii Revised Statute 338-17.8 allows the state Health Department to register the foreign birth of any child as a native Hawaiian birth if the parents of that child can be proven to the satisfaction and criteria of the Director of the Department of Health only, they were residence of Hawaii within one year of the birth, regardless of the location of the birth. This law then mandates that the vital records registrar must register the birth with the vital records office in coordination with an official, original Hawaiian birth record. This law originated during Hawaii's territorial era beginning with births in 1911 and was most recently revised in 1982 to allow the Health Department's director to assume autonomous authority over the evaluation of applicants.

“The Health Department director has complete autonomy in determining whether a foreign applicant qualifies for an original birth record under Hawaii's administrative rules," added Crosby

"Essentially, this means that former Health Department director, Chiyome Fukino single-handedly determined the eligibility of Obama to be President of the U.S."

full article:

http://thedailypen.blogspot.com/2011/04/final-report-obamas-birth-announcements.html

[amd02148]

10:42 PM on 04/16/2011

And? Is Barak Obama still president?

[hatrickpenry]

09:52 AM on 04/17/2011

Temporarily.

[readmoreandoften]

12:00 AM on 04/17/2011

What does this have to do with newspaper announcements? This is how those work: cub reporters go to the hospitals and pick up the birth listings from those hospitals. That's it. Newspapers don't do this anymore, generally, but that's how it was done then.

[TwinX]

06:11 AM on 04/17/2011

Nothing. This birther simply runs around thread here dropping that (incomplete) info in an effort to cast doubt. See my reply with this link

http://www.ocweekly.com/2009-06-18/news/orly-taitz/1/

[hatrickpenry]

09:58 AM on 04/17/2011

Didn't bother to read the article, did you? The process that was used in 1961 is explained in great detail.

[amd02148]

10:53 PM on 04/16/2011

We have another birther here, why are his records sealed? pjcafe you can view his birth certificate on-line, why do you need to see any law review articles that he wrote? if you're so concerned go the the Harvard Law Review and look under archives and view all of the articles you want to. Don't you think being an honor student at an Ivy league university is an accomplishment? Don't you think becoming a civil rights lawyer and professor is an accomplishment? face it birther, there is a black man in the White House and I know you think since "he's not one of us" there has to be some way he pulled a fast one, am I correct?

[guntotinganglion]

06:22 PM on 04/16/2011

I believe this entire obsessive/­compulsive exercise is (and was) moot from the start. There is NO QUESTION that Obama's mother was born a citizen of the United States. That alone provides Barack Obama with US citizenshi­p...end of story. If one parent is a US citizen, and has lived at least five years in the US prior to the baby's birth, the baby is a citizen. Clearly his mother meets this requirement....END OF STORY!!!

http://en.­wikipedia.­org/wiki/B­irthright_­citizenshi­p_in_the_U­nited_Stat­es#Statute­.2C_by_par­entage

Some people really need to get a life.

[Willard365]

01:46 PM on 04/18/2011

The reason the Birthers are so desperate to insinuate Obama is foreign-born is because in 1961 the rule about birthright citizenship was that Obama's mother needed at least 5 years of US residency after the age of 14 if he had been born outside of US. President Obama was born when his mother was 18, but he was born in Hawaii so you are correct the point is moot.

[guntotinganglion]

05:49 PM on 04/16/2011

I believe this entire idiotic, obsessive/compulsive (and deeply racist) exercise is moot from the start. There is NO QUESTION that Obama's mother was born a citizen of the United States. That alone provides Barack Obama with US citizenship...end of story.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthright_citizenship_in_the_United_States#Statute.2C_by_parentage

Some people really need to get a life.

[piperflyer]

05:34 PM on 04/16/2011

In the interview, Obama stumbles. He is lying.

[d45]

06:29 PM on 04/16/2011

Oh really? Thank's Dr. Phil.

[neckozihp]

05:24 PM on 04/17/2011

Watch Obama's eyes and lack of eye contact. He "stumbles" through his answer to George. It doesn't take a Dr. Phil to notice the evasive way Obama addresses the BC issue.

[TruthJustice4America]

06:31 PM on 04/16/2011

By your standards then George Bush never uttered a true thing in all eight years.

[ElenaOfJersey]

11:27 PM on 04/16/2011

Well...

[MerryW]

03:59 PM on 04/16/2011

The Republicans have nothing to say about improving the Nations lives so they are committed to personal gain and snake oil salesmanship. If you have nothing good to say about yourself or your program make up something bad about the other guy. Hype sells even if it is a lie about birth certification. And people love to encourage crazy liars, it makes the liars bolder and more fun to watch; but, sometimes they start to believe it too. That is why high standards of education should be encouraged. Since the crazies got where they are by their antics they do not value education or the democratic process of taking care of all for the good of all. The spotlight is working for them and they personally are the "be all" of their world. The intelligent Republicans ( I am sure there are some hiding somewhere) best be trying to save their party or jump ship before it becomes the full blown cult it is working on.
We need an intelligent fact based two party system for checks and balances, stability and progress. The Republican party in action now has done nothing to help the Nation. Their destructive agenda absolutely makes no sense. Could some of them observe from the quiet of the House balcony and see the mess they are in. They are like a newly formed gang destroying their whole neighborhood and calling it a win.

[amd02148]

10:58 PM on 04/16/2011

Just smoke and mirrors, get the clueless voters to wonder about President Obama's birth certificate, make it sound like a conspiracy and you will have so many fools jump on the band wagon demanding "we want to see your birth certificate" that they forget all about the jobs and the improvment in the economy that the GOP promised.

[MerryW]

11:22 PM on 04/16/2011

Yes , saddly true. The Republicans have no solution for that but they have an alternate... "hey, let me tell you about this horrible non fact...."

[dgsanangelo]

04:02 PM on 04/16/2011

If you did actually serve your country, you need to get with the VA and get your medications adjusted.

[TruthJustice4America]

06:32 PM on 04/16/2011

Good grief. Get a grip -- and a grammar lesson or two.

[Cards423]

01:37 PM on 04/16/2011

The birther thing is a total distraction. The Repubs have nothing to offer except to gut government and lower taxes for the rich. Offering up the birther thing is simply an effort by them to distract people form the paucity of substance in their party.

[Janice Doe]

12:59 PM on 04/16/2011

For once I agree with Rove, why would he placate these birthers when he can ride this crazy train all the way to 2012...........

[KillerWolf777]

10:19 AM on 04/16/2011

I give the President plenty of flack for being weak on certain policies, but this Birther thing is something he made light of that is one of those things he should take the initiative on and just kill. Not saying Presenting his birth certificate, he has already done that, and his logical supporters have shown how just flat out crazy some of these accusations really are, and that you have to have some pretty serious paranoia and grasp of basic thinking to buy into it. But the President himself needs to just ask the conversation not be taken seriously by the media for cheap ratings, and that any questions about the birth certificate will be taken as seriously as people saying he is from Krypton.

[TwinX]

10:48 AM on 04/16/2011

I don't think any President should do that.

President Bush didn't do it and neither should President Obama. It'd seem like they were begging for mercy/thin skinned etc etc. (IMO)

I would appreciate it if a few Republicans in rock solid seats would stand up and make an unequivocable statement though, like Linda Lingle did, and I certainly appreciated the recent comments of the former director of Health in Hawaii (a Republican appointee) who emphatically revisited her previous statements on the matter.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42519951/ns/politics-more_politics

[MerryW]

11:25 PM on 04/16/2011

TwinX I firmly agree.

[ahumbleopinion]

11:49 PM on 04/16/2011

It would not matter what he said about it. The birthers live in an alternate universe where facts are optional. They believe what they want to believe and any efforts to present facts to the contrary is just a waste of breath.