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Double down? This was more like triple down.
The Donald was at it again, offering a full-throated defense of birtherism and birthers this morning on MSNBC’s The Daily Rundown with Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie.
Asked if he wants to be taken seriously, why he continues to defend the false conspiracy theory that President Obama was not born in the United States, Donald Trump said, “Well, I do think it’s a serious issue. ... I am embracing the issue. I’m proud of the issue.” He claimed it is “not that much of a conspiracy… it’s really not.”
Trump, who says he's considering a run as a Republican for president in 2012, went further, chastising the media for using the term “birthers,” calling it “derogatory” to lots of “intelligent” people.
He said if it were true that the president weren’t born in the United States it would be the “greatest scam in the history of this country” and that there’s “certainly a chance” he’s not born in the U.S. He claimed Obama “could have come in after birth and could have been registered for purposes of hospitalization” or even “welfare.” “Excuse me,” he said, “I’ve grown up watching some of the great thieves of the world… this is peanuts compared to what these people do.”
He deadpanned later: “We all agree he was born.”
NBC’s Pete Williams reported on the birth announcement that appeared in the Honolulu Advertiser in 1961. Trump dismissed that, claiming the notice was “three days later. … Lots of things could happen.”
He added that “no nurses, no doctors, nobody came forward.” And he said that about 50 percent of Republicans “think he wasn’t born in the country” – and they’re “intelligent” people.
He even went so far as to almost question if Chuck Todd’s children were born in the United States after Todd said that he has “certificates of live birth” from DC. He contended that Todd could go down to the hospital where they were born and get authorization to get a more official “birth certificate” from the Department of Health -- provided they were born in the U.S., “which I assume they were,” Trump said.
Trump was also asked if he’s prepared for the financial scrutiny that would come with running for president. Official candidates for president are required to file financial disclosure forms. Asked, in particular, about his companies that have filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Trump became defensive.
“I never went bankrupt,” Trump said, trying to draw a distinction between personal bankruptcy and putting a company into Chapter 11. “Many of the biggest people in this country, many times have filed Chapter 11s on various companies in order to reduce debts.” He added, “I’ve done an unbelievable job” and used the laws of the country to help his companies.
Asked then if the United States should file for bankruptcy, Trump said no. “I wouldn’t recommend that,” he said, because the United States has more leverage.
On Libya, Trump said he didn’t “know enough” about the rebels to arm them.
On his decision to run for president, he said, “I will make a decision sometime prior to June.
“We’ll all have a lot of fun together.”
Leave a Comment:
another GOP self promoter.... nothing to stand on so all they do is mislead and attack
This is about the biggest NON Issue ever. The former Republican Governor of Hawaii says the Birth Certificate is there. ABC News did an Expose' on it and says the Birth Certificate is there. All of this is Racism pure and simple. Newt Gingrich and Mike Huchabee both went on some prolonged speech about President Obama being affected by talking to his grandfather about Jomo Kenyatta and the Mau Mau Revolution in Kenya and how that built his view of the world. They are trying to instill the thought into peoples minds about Black Men violently overthrowing White Men from power. None of these charges has any merit and is nothing more than racism.
I can't imagine why you would think that this is a Non-Issue? There is NOTHING more important than a FRAUD in our WHITE HOUSE! What are you nuts? This guy could be anybody! How do we know where he truly came from? He could be George Soro's empty suit. How do we know? If you add everything up it's for sure that there are smoke 'n mirrors and that is IMPORTANT! Actually it's VITAL!
Waiting on your fact-finding links, annirich.
annairich
It's a non-issue because the birth certificate was released. If there are smoke and mirrors its with the conspiracy freaks. Hawaii got fed up with the nutcases so they refuse to get involved any further.
You sound really paranoid and a little scary.
Lets not forget this is TRUELY about the self promotion of Donald Trump the SLUM LORD.
Birth certificate is a non starter, except for stupid people.
YouJustSaidWhat: go do your own damn research. I did. Meanwhile read the little excerpt above.
You lefties slay me; you try and dismiss anyone and everyone who questions the authenticity of Obama. And that's fine. Hey, it's a free country still in spite of Obama. But you have to admit when a guy who obviously is a socialist throws people out of work on purpose (the Gulf drilling); passes a CONTROL mechanism such as HCR; embarrasses and weakens us all over the world; SPENDS until we have NO money............and then the little things; returns the bust of Winston Churchill for heaven's sake to the Queen;this guy is NOT for our best interests. And the very fact that his background is hidden, covered up, buried, sites scrubbed.....come on lefties, you can't be that deaf, dumb and BLIND!
Sorry, that's not how a debate works. You need to cite sources.
Trump mainly known for the phrase "You're Fired" wants to run for President during a time of high unemployment. Then he jumps on this birther non-sense that has been proved to be false. My only real question ... is this guy for real or just making fun of republicans? I think he will hold a press conference to declare his candidacy and say, "Ha fooled you all, told you I can get people to believe or buy anything. I'm a natural salesman."
who proved it to be false???
Waiting on your fact-finding links, annirich.
annirich, It's okay the truth will come out, you have to remember most people are sheep!
Uh oh...I just saw the two new documents that The Donald released to prove he is a citizen. One is called a Certification of Birth and the other is called a Certificate of Birth. Nothing that says "Birth Certificate". Guess that means he's not really a citizen. Guess the Repubs will have to find another douchy reality star to run on the ticket. Oh...nevermind...they have Sarah Palin.
So is Trump saying Obama doesn't have a "certificate of birth"? Trump said "you can't get a drivers license, a marriage license without a certificate of birth"....President Obama has those things....I don't understand what he's talking about!
Cameron,If you wish, I have no problem showing showing my birth certificate. Mine was produced at the request of my Grandmother when my father was drafted into the Army in WWII. I, along with my siblings, was born at home in a very rural area. No verification of the facts of my birth was made, according to my grandmother. So, in Obama's and my case, either of the certification of births could be manipulated. I enlisted in the military at eighteen years old, and applied to work in the intelligence field. During the background check we had to produce further proof of my birth. After a long search, we did, thank God, find an old family bible that had the details of my birth, which was taken as proof of my citizenship by the government. I worked for many years with NSA, and a very little with the CIA, since my field was communication intelligence gathering. Obama is the president, so at this point, his birthplace isn't that important. What is important, is his credibility, which, seems to me, would implore Obama to open his records for his own sake. It will not surprise me if his birthplace is not the USA, nor would it surprise me if he was proven to be a proper american citizen. Obama holds the cards to prove it one way or another.
Obama's birth records, school records and people that knew him in Hawaii all came forward. So what else needs to be done????
HJA, that is a bald-faced lie, nothing is known about Obama's school records, he sealed them.
Before all this stupidity he is coming out with I had thought Trump might prove to be an interesting candidate, but he's chosen to join the crowd of misinformers to take the discussion and focus away from the real issues. Anyone who tries to get the thinking public to look aside is practising the most basic of magical tricks.
Their game is like this: I want to do such and such, but as long as you're looking at what I'm doing you won't let me. Sooooooooooo, how about you look over here at this stupid issue just long enough for me to do my deed. Aha, gotcha!
I think we fell for this bullscheit in the last election. Now we're reaping the consequences of our gullibility.
Am I right? Or am I wrong? Looks to me like I'm right.
And for Lost Planet, there have been several times my links were not allowed. Wonder why? Maybe newsvine doesn't like new yorker? Maybe newsvine has a strict daddy? me dunno
I don`t know where Obama was born, maybe he was born in the US, but maybe not....nobody can say for sure.
The only thing we do know for sure is that he spent more than $ 2 million in legal fees, just to prevent anyone access to his original, hospital-generated, long form birth certificate.
Laurean...prove it.
Please provide a source for that information.
I guess I was born before they had a long form birth certificate. How long is it?
cite your source?
Trump has no intention of running for president. This is just another one of his publicity stunts. The funny thing is that he is making a mockery out of the Republican Party in the process.
Thermen - I agree. I am a conservative Democrat and have a great deal of respect for true conservative principles and Republicans who practice conservatism. However, Representative Bachmann, Governor Palin, Donald Trump, Newt Gingrich, and even Mike Huckabee, have disgraced the Republican Party.
Annirich...annirich...hello? I'm STILL waiting for a link, anything, about where you came up with the incredible allegation that Bill Ayers wrote Obama's autobiography. No, I'm not researching it myself, because I leave it to people who print such outrageous BS to show where they got it. Try backing this up before printing one more factoid. I dare you.
Don't pay any attention to annierich. It is a troll.
Merman: Yikes! Do you mean a creature that waits under bridges for unsuspecting travelers, or does troll mean something else? I'm a little behind on current terminology. Thanks.
Obamba is one hell of a jigsaw puzzle for the American people. Americans are seeking answers. But it seems not even the rocket scientists can solve the problem. So what do we do next? Obamba is like the illegal aliens. They all have problems showing their papers. This is even funnier. Seems like a hot topic for the coming elections. Americans never had a headache like this.
This issue goes far beyond eligibility and documentation to hold employment in the United States: As long as every Amtrak passenger is asked this kind of question in Havre Montana and other similar federal and state checkpoints, why shouldn’t every Representative, Senator, President, and other federal official be asked the same question and produce acceptable documentation at every checkpoint?
 ...this is what you get with "free speech"....and the ability to respond to words spoken freely....
Used to think that Donald Trump must be an intelligent person, now, not so much!Â
It looks like Trump is poised to provide a show the likes of which that this country hasn't seen since Ross Perot's traveling vaudville revue.
Catzen, and Ross Perot was correct about that great sucking sound being jobs leaving this country. You might want to try another analogy, that one sux.
It's like the Stephen Hawking's story of the crazy lady who told him the world was flat. He asked her if it's flat then what is under it? She told him the earth was balanced on the back of a turtle. He thought he had her and said well then what is under the turtle? She laughed and laughed and said it's turles all the way down! It doesn't matter if Obama has produced a copy of his birth certificate that has been verified by the State of Hawaii, Court rulings, a republican governor, independent journalists, newspaper clips from the time of his birth etc. The facts are not important ... remember it is turtles all the way down!!!
It's hard to believe that Donald Trump could turn out to be so ignorant and immoral after all--he has to be smarter than this. He must think that by joining the extreme ignoramuses he will get elected. Well, he should gather some other top echelon idiot birthers on his big-ass jet, fly to Hawaii, and go look/touch/photograph that actual certified birth certificate for themselves. A Republican governor certified it. But these people choose to be so ignorant that even Christ could come down and declare the verified birth certificate to be genuine--and they would all STILL deny it. Go for it, Donald. I used to like and respect you. I thought you were a very smart man. Are you still decent enough to go yourself to Hawaii and then admit that you were wrong? I doubt it now. You've added a sorry footnote to your legacy for future generations . . . to purposely lump yourself with mass stupidity solely to (hopefully) win an election.
Bezoar-3052808
GREAT POST.
I'll say this: If Obama is not legal to be President then Trump has the money and can get to the bottom of this conspiracy. What Trump is asking for is proof and I can't blame him, he's a true US citizen.
Trump is not a US citizen! I have not seen his Birth Certificate and he only produced a certificate of birth which is clearly a forgery! What is Trump hiding??? Who is he and where is he from???
This guy just crossed the line to.. "political joke" ! No one will now take his foolishness seriously ! On the radio he was just referred to as "hay stack " ...his hair is now as big a joke as he is !
The "Donald" is simply hyping his brand. What other issue puts him in the media eye? He brings this up and gets interviewed and then interviewed again, yet has no opinion on the rebels in Libya. He is as vacuous as Sarah Palin but savvy enough to know, what keeps the money flowing. He won't run for President because it will hurt his brand, when he loses. The Republican Governor of Hawaii has validated the President's birth certificate, already and Neal Abercrombie has stated, he knows of the birth because, he was there. If you have ever lived in Hawaii, Neal is one of its most trusted citizens and a man who has worked his way up through integrity and effort. If you watch his show, you know he is a cut throat businessman, who cares only about promoting himself and his opinion.
Well, I used to enjoy watching yuppies devour each other on Apprentice, but the Donald has just lost a viewer with this birther nonsense.
@ Windy Citizen
I'll never watch another episode either.
....good, you two are too stupid to watch Trump's show......stick to shows that don't try your IQ,...... like Jersey Shore, your speed.......
NYC - I have never wanted to watch either show. They both are geared toward people with low I.Q.s.
THAT's an intelligent show? oh man... and here i was watching the news. i feel like such an idiot!
I am a registered Independent voter and it amazes me how this group of Republicans have no concept of how I believe the majority of open minded voters in this country view this slow suicide they are committing.
They are working hard to ensure that they firm up their portion of the white vote which will only amount to about 40% of the electorate; that is not how you win a majority in an election.
Algernon
You are dead on!! I don't think Repubs. are in touch with reality. I am not sure they understand "teabaggers" and assorted " conversatives" are a small part of voter population. Until one of the parties moves toward the middle, we will see the changing of the guard at each election. Wonder if Repubs. in WI or OH really believe they have a chance to get re-elected? Wow w as that one mis-read.
Emil
If Obama wants to dispel the rumors, he should produce the certificate. Either it doesn't exist or it contains information, like him being a Muslim. Either way, as long as he hides this document, he deserves all the speculation and questioning he gets.
That's the spirit! Ask the POTUS, who has a few other things on his plate at the moment, to waste his time disproving all the BS out there. Might as well answer crank calls at his Oval Office desk.
And when he's done with that, can he get to the task of confirming whether or not Brad and Angie are getting a divorce? I keeping hearing they are and then they aren't...it's very frustrating.
Not to mention Do UFO's Exist????? Sammy Hagar says they do!!! We need proof!!!! That could explain where Trump came from!!!!!
Why does this myth continue? How many times have courts thrown out these "birther" cases due to their frivolous nature? Wasn't Orly Taitz fined for these lawsuits? Additionally, if there was any evidence to support this claim, Candidate Clinton and her husband would have discovered it.
President Obama has produced the legal document that proves that he is a natural born United States citizen. The "long form" is not necessary to prove natural born citizenship. I have a certificate of live birth from Ohio. Additionally, I've never seen my "orginal" certificate of live birth. Rather, I have a photocopy embossed with the seal of the Department of Vital Statistics. I suspect, if I asked for the original, I would discover that it was long gone.
My husband has a "Certification of Birth" from New York. It does not even have his parents' names on it. It simply states that my husband was born in City, New York, on date. Two of my children were born in Indiana, and have "Birth Certicates," which contain a bit more information than my husband's. My other child has a "Birth Certificate," which was issued in Illinois. It contains about the same amount of information. My two grandchildren were born in a different county in Illinois, and both have a "Certificate of Live Birth."
Donald Trump is arrogant. That is evident from the interview.
1. Trump, who says he's considering a run as a Republican for president in 2012, went further, chastising the media for using the term “birthers,” calling it “derogatory” to lots of “intelligent” people.
I know many intelligent Republicans, none of whom believe that President Obama is not a natural born citizen. So, while "birthers" may be a derogatory term, it is deserved. Additionally, are the names that people call President Obama not derogatory?
2. NBC’s Pete Williams reported on the birth announcement that appeared in the Honolulu Advertiser in 1961. Trump dismissed that, claiming the notice was “three days later. … Lots of things could happen.”
It usually takes longer than three days for the hospital to forward the information to the press.
3. And he said that about 50 percent of Republicans “think he wasn’t born in the country” – and they’re “intelligent” people.
Again, no one is debating that many Republicans are intelligent. As I stated above, none of my friends, who are Republicans, believe this myth. Furthermore, this myth has been repeated over and over and over. Some people, after hearing it enough, will begin to believe it. Complicating the issue is Newt Gingrich's and Mike Huckabee's nuanced racism flaming the fire of this myth. By stating the President Obama's "Kenyan upbringing" influenced his "anti-colonialistic" worldview, they are inferring that we should watch out for the "big, black man rising up against his white oppressors."
Obama lies,
The Birth Certificate dilemma is your own issue. It has an official state stamped seal from the State of Hawaii on it. It's already been shown to the world.If the Stamp of Seal on the Birth Certificate is a fraud, why haven't those making the accusation like yourself sued the State of Hawaii for fraud??? Yes...that right...you're debate is with the state of Hawaii if the premise becomes based on the fact the Birth Certificate is a fraud. You Birther's are stupid.....and your stupid assertions will get him reelected in 2012. I want to thank you.
The real proof that this is all a political hatchet job is that John McCain was not born in the USA (he was born in a Panama hospital - not on the military base (there was no hospital on the base). But there was no uproar about this.
So - the birthers are only concerned about citizenship for the Democrats. In other words - they are using this as an attack.
While technically McCain was not a natural born citizen the Senate in a resolution stated as far as the US Government is concerned he is a natural born citizen. Every single Democratic Senator supported this because not one of them is a crazy birther. This is another reason this is all silly non-sense. Even in an alternative reality where Obama was not born in the US the laws on natural born citizenship have been interpreted in such a broad way he could still be a natural born citizen.
This issue goes far beyond eligibility and documentation to hold employment in the United States: some get a job without it and others are locked out. As long as every Amtrak passenger is asked to prove citizenship in Havre, Montana, and other similar federal and state checkpoints, why shouldn’t every Representative, Senator, President, and other federal official be asked the same question and produce acceptable documentation at every redundant checkpoint? What and how much are enough?
Yupper......seems logical to me.
I have been as far north as Maine, as far south as Florida, and as far west as Arizona and I have never once been stopped at a checkpoint where I had to prove I was a citizen. Once in New Mexico I was asked if I was a US citizen and I said yes and they waved me a long. Guess the blond hair blue eyes counts an ID now adays in the southwest. What the hell is going on in Montana?!