Maybe when you're as wealthy and successful as Donald Trump, you don’t engage in menial chores such as surfing the Internet.
That’s one explanation for the potential presidential candidate's refusal to let go of the “birther” issue. One quick Google search provides a detailed investigation, photos, and proof of authenticity to assuage Trump's skepticism over President Obama's birth certificate — the alleged lack of which has led to a widespread and false belief that he's not a natural-born American citizen, as the Constitution requires all presidents to be.
Trump’s most recent statement is a video blog post on YouTube meant to preview his Wednesday-evening guest appearance on Fox News's The O’Reilly Factor. In it, Trump assures viewers that “birtherism” will not be his primary talking point, although he spends approximately 55 seconds of the less than two-minute post arguing the issue.
“Unfortunately so much of the ‘birther’ issue — and I hate the word ‘birther’ because it’s demeaning to all the great people that think that this man, our president, should have a birth certificate — but the ‘birther’ issue really has resonated,” Trump says. “It’s all over the place now. He doesn’t have a birth certificate.”
In fact, 10 photos of Obama's birth certificate, including extreme close-up profile shots that show the raised dots on the notary seal, exist on the website of FactCheck.org. The nonpartisan organization ran a thorough investigation in 2008 when Internet rumors questioning then-candidate Obama's citizenship first surfaced. The website's photos verify the certificate’s raised seal and stamp from Hawaii state registrar Alvin T. Onaka — “all the elements the State Department requires for proving citizenship to obtain a U.S. passport.”
“I don’t know what motivates people who insist on doubt here,” said Brooks Jackson, director of FactCheck.org, who went on to say that Obama’s U.S. citizenship had been proven “beyond any reasonable doubt.… But it’s natural human tendency to believe what you want to believe and ignore any evidence that would make you change your mind.
“Some people believe in UFO cults, and there’s a whole group who thinks George W. Bush was behind 9/11; you’re not going to convince them otherwise,” Jackson continued. “Trump has obviously decided — and he’s certainly succeeded — that he’ll get more ink saying this than something else, because if there’s one thing Donald Trump loves, it’s attention.”
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