White House releases Obama's birth certificate
(CNN) - President Obama released his original birth certificate Wednesday, saying the controversy surrounding the issue had become a "sideshow."
“We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We’ve got better stuff to do," said Obama.
The surprise release follows recent and sustained remarks by businessman Donald Trump, among others, that raised doubts as to whether the president was born in the United States.
“Over the last two and half years, I have watched with amusement. I have been puzzled with the degree with which this thing just kept going,” Obama told reporters Wednesday.
Responding to the development, Trump said, "I have accomplished something nobody else has accomplished."
"I want to look at it, but I hope it’s true," he told reporters in New Hampshire. "He should have done it a long time ago. I am really honored to have played such a big role in hopefully getting rid of this issue."
Earlier Wednesday, White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said the debate has been "really bad for the Republican Party."
The so-called "birther" debate is "good politics" but "bad for the country," said Pfeiffer.
In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper Monday, Trump repeated his doubts and said he had been told the certificate was "missing."
A new CNN investigation revealed earlier this week what most analysts have been saying since the "birther" controversy erupted during the 2008 presidential campaign: Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961.
While the president has made light of the controversy, the question remained political red meat for some of his critics. A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll showed that nearly 75% of Americans believe Obama was definitely or probably born in the United States. More than four in 10 Republicans, however, believe he probably or definitely was not born in America.
See Obama's Certification of Live Birth
The U.S. Constitution says only "natural born" citizens can become president - a vague clause that some members of the birther movement contend disqualifies Obama because, they insist, he was born outside the United States.
Skeptics contend, among other things, that Obama was born in his father's home country of Kenya.
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It's about time Obama did what he was told to do. That's all Trump or any citizen has asked, that he show his real birth certificate. Now we can examine it and try to figure out why he stalled for so long. Now maybe he will also release his grades and papers from college.
just watch. they are gonna say it's fake.
Well lets see it!
I'll believe it when I see it and only then!
Sooooo, where is it and why did it take 2 years? Did it take that long to create one that looks official? I want an independent carbon dating of the paper and ink. I don't trust the clown as far as I can toss him.
It will not matter..now the claim is" it's a forgery"
I wish they did not release it...
Give Trump credit. He was able to make happen what no one else could, getting Obama to finally release his birth certificate. Go Donald!
It's about time. Wonder where he got it. Outsorced from China?
Finally. What was the big secret??? Now maybe he can get this country back in order. What a waste.
So... ... ... Where is it? Released to whom?
And the birthers move on to questioning Obama's primary school grades...." He just doesn't look like he was good at spelling as an 8 yr. old...He can't be president – No president has ever looked like him".
GOP YOU are doing this to yourself. The smartest thing you ever could have done was reign in the Birthers, but you encouraged it. You OWN it.
Took them long enough to make one up!
Oh I am so confused. I thought that the State of Hawaii was prohibited by law from releasing the long form to ANYONE. We have been told that even the president couldn't get it. So they were lying to us???? Again??? Shocking.
It won't matter. The birthers believe that Obama was born in Kenya more strongly than an Evangelical Chirstian believes Mary was a Virgin, more than a Hindu believes having a burger and fries is horrific, and even more than a Muslim Fundy believes that 17 Virgin (camels?) await them after self-destructing. The facts have nothing to do with the "reality" between the ears of the birthers.
Good for him. It's about time.
WHY? Do not give in to these wackos.
For someone who was going to bring the country together, by not releasing his B.C. earlier was a bad decision on his part. He let the issue fester for political purposes. For pledging to be the most transparent presidential administration he has released little to none of his life's records.
Finally maybe now we can put this sour issue behind us.
It's just a shame that he has to show this. No other president has ever had to do this. I am white but I have to think this is racially motivated. Unfortunately this will just cause the "crazies" to find something else. Maybe they will decide his mother was sent to Hawaii as part of an elaborate plot. You just can not reason with irrational people who want to hate regardless of facts.
This will be the greatest advertisement ever for the capabilities of Photoshop.
I'm surrounded by birthers. Trust me, this release will NOT make this issue go away. They'll only say it's a forgery, and I'll have to nod and sigh my way through more rants about elaborate End Times conspiracies.
LOL While patiently laying in wait, BO reeled in a number of loons from the GOP and Tea Party, including doofus Donald Trump. Now BO gets the delight in springing the trap. It serves the suckers right.
So what your saying is he finally got a good enough fake doctored for release?
It's about time! Nothing like a petulant game of keep-away by the bullies in the schoolyard to exact a response.
OK... so where is it?
only took 3 years to see a simple document on this fool *sigh*