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Donald Trump Again Won’t Acknowledge Obama Was Born in U.S. Donald Trump Again Won’t Acknowledge Obama Was Born in U.S.
(about 1 hour later)
WASHINGTON — Donald J. Trump refused again on Thursday to acknowledge that President Obama was born in the United States, reviving an issue that the Republican presidential nominee has played down since announcing his campaign last year. WASHINGTON — Donald J. Trump has refused again to acknowledge that President Obama was born in the United States, reviving the so-called birther issue that the Republican presidential nominee has played down since announcing his campaign last year.
With his comments, made in an interview with The Washington Post, Mr. Trump continued to sow doubts about the citizenship of the first black president even as the Trump campaign is trying to reach out to minorities ahead of the general election. The resurfacing of Mr. Trump’s doubts about Mr. Obama’s birthplace — in an interview with The Washington Post that was published on Thursday — comes less than two months before the general election and as he has been working more aggressively to court minority voters.
“I’ll answer that question at the right time,” Mr. Trump told The Post when asked whether he believed the president was born in Hawaii. “I just don’t want to answer it yet.” Late Thursday, in an effort at damage control, a Trump spokesman issued a statement saying that “Mr. Trump believes that President Obama was born in the United States.”
Hours later, in an effort at damage control, a Trump spokesman issued a statement saying that “Mr. Trump believes that President Obama was born in the United States.” But the statement, by Jason Miller, a senior communications adviser, goes on to falsely blame Hillary Clinton for starting rumors about Mr. Obama’s birth in the 2008 campaign, and it then called her “weak” for not getting the question answered.
Yet in his interview with The Post, Mr. Trump made it clear that his campaign staff does not always speak for him. He was asked specifically about comments by his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, who has acknowledged that Mr. Obama was born in Hawaii and has said that Mr. Trump privately agrees. The statement actually credits Mr. Trump for settling the issue, saying — again falsely — that he “obtained” Mr. Obama’s birth certificate, which the president released in 2011.
“Mr. Trump did a great service to the President and the country by bringing closure to the issue that Hillary Clinton and her team first raised,” Mr. Miller’s statement said.
But in The Post interview, Mr. Trump said something entirely different when asked about Mr. Obama’s birthplace.
“I’ll answer that question at the right time,” Mr. Trump said. “I just don’t want to answer it yet.”
Mr. Trump, who spearheaded the birther movement, has repeatedly refused to bend on the issue, which deeply inflames black voters who take pride in Mr. Obama. Mr. Trump’s aides are trying to make the issue go away before the presidential debates begin this month.
But in his interview with The Post, Mr. Trump made it clear that his campaign staff does not always speak for him. He was asked specifically about comments by his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, who has acknowledged that Mr. Obama was born in Hawaii and has said that Mr. Trump privately agrees.
“It’s O.K.,” he said of Ms. Conway on Thursday. “She’s allowed to speak what she thinks. I want to focus on jobs. I want to focus on other things.”“It’s O.K.,” he said of Ms. Conway on Thursday. “She’s allowed to speak what she thinks. I want to focus on jobs. I want to focus on other things.”
He will also most likely face questions about the times that he continued to express doubt about the president’s birthplace after the release of his birth certificate.
In 2012, Mr. Trump suggested that the documentation that Mr. Obama provided might have been fraudulent, saying in a Twitter message that “an ‘extremely credible source’ has called me and told me that @BarackObama’s birth certificate is a fraud.”
Hillary Clinton was quick to respond in a blistering speech, asking an audience in Washington on Thursday night, “When will he stop this ugliness, this bigotry.”Hillary Clinton was quick to respond in a blistering speech, asking an audience in Washington on Thursday night, “When will he stop this ugliness, this bigotry.”
“He was asked one more time, where was President Obama born? And he still wouldn’t say Hawaii,” Mrs. Clinton said in an address to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. “This man wants to be our next president?" ”He was asked one more time, where was President Obama born? And he still wouldn’t say Hawaii,” Mrs. Clinton said in an address to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. “This man wants to be our next president?"
Until Thursday, Mr. Trump had distanced himself from the so-called birther movement that he once spearheaded, but he has never acknowledged that Mr. Obama was born in Hawaii. Mr. Trump’s running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, has also been unequivocal about Mr. Obama birthplace. Asked about it last week by NBC News, he said, “I believe that Barack Obama was born in Hawaii” and added, “I accept his birthplace.”
Mr. Trump’s running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, has also been unequivocal when asked about Mr. Obama birthplace. Asked about it last week by NBC News, he said, “I believe that Barack Obama was born in Hawaii” and added, “I accept his birthplace.”
For Mr. Trump, the revival of “birtherism” is the latest sign that he does not intend to make a drastic pivot to attract a broader swath of voters, including members of minority groups who have been deeply skeptical of his campaign.
Mrs. Clinton made a similar point Thursday night. “Now, he has tried to reset himself and his campaign many times,” she said. “This is the best he can do, this is who he is.”
Earlier Thursday, Mr. Trump criticized an African-American pastor who interrupted him during a campaign speech at her church in Flint, Mich., on Wednesday, saying she was a “nervous mess” with a political agenda.
During his visit to Bethel United Methodist Church on Wednesday, Mr. Trump gave a speech in which he criticized Mrs. Clinton as a failure. As he spoke, the church pastor, the Rev. Faith Green Timmons, walked over and said, “Mr. Trump, I invited you here to thank us,” not to “make a political speech.”
Mr. Trump addressed the awkward exchange in an interview on Fox News on Thursday, suggesting that Pastor Timmons had a political agenda.
“Everyone plays their games, it doesn’t bother me,” Mr. Trump said.