Trump Doubles Down on Birther Claim

Via CNN:  TRENDING: Trump claims Obama birth certificate ‘missing’

"Well I’ve been told very recently, Anderson, that the birth certificate is missing," Trump told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Monday. "I’ve been told that it’s not there or it doesn’t exist. And if that’s the case it’s a big problem."

He further is clearly heading down populism road:

"I’d love for him to produce his birth certificate so that you can fight one-on-one," Trump said in an interview set to air Monday. "If you look at what he’s doing to fuel prices, you can do a great fight one-on-one, you don’t need this issue."

While it is a fair game to try and make political hay out of gas prices, the notion that Obama (or any president) is directly responsible for the price of oil is absurd.  Further, Trump is suggesting in such statements that were he president that he could do something about said prices.  This is equally absurd—but a lot of people will believe his claims about the birth certificate and oil prices (and will ignore the fact that he is pulling all of this out of thin air).

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, US Politics, , , ,
Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. JKB says:

    True, no president can control the oil commodity prices but they all like to pretend when it is going their way. Obama and several key members of his administration, however, are on the record as wanting to directly raise gas and other energy prices. So, responsible or not, the high gas prices are what he wanted and high gas prices are what we got. The only difference is the price isn’t bringing in a lot of taxes for them to squander tilting at windmills.

  2. Sheri B says:

    I still haven’t gotten over Trump’s assertion that as president, he could control fuel prices by talking tough to the oil producing countries.

    Originally, I was part of the crowd that believed he was doing all this because he needed the publicity for his businesses, but now I’m not so sure. This is a new level of strange…even for him. He couldn’t seriously believe this plan of attack is going to get him into the White House.

  3. jwest says:

    Obama just needs to explain to the American people that he’s not responsible for rising gas prices.

    Just like Jimmy Carter did.

  4. Mom of 4 says:

    I’m adopted. My “Certification of Birth” from PA has my name, date of birth, sex, file no., date filed (6/1/65…19 days after my birth), county of birth, and NOTHING else…not even my parents names. President Obama’s has more on his! It’s been good enough to get me a drivers license and US Passport, but it’s not good enough for Donald Trump. Good thing I’m not running for President!

    I would like one of the people who have a problem with President Obama’s birth certificate to help me out. Am I not a “natural born” citizen? I have not idea where I was born (other than PA), if it was a hospital or not, no foot prints, nothing. If my birth certificate is okay with you, why is President Obama’s not?

    Just for the record, I do lean liberal in most social issues, but also feel that one should have to “make an effort” before I’ll help them. I also feel that I have to balance my own budget, so the government should too. I also think that Obama could handle some things better, but as of right now, he is the lesser of all of the evils. Alan Simpson would get my vote.

  5. Janis Gore says:

    Dayum. How many ways is this vulgar SOB gonna work to get on my bad side?

  6. Ben says:

    My son was just born in November in Massachusetts. I just got his birth certificate (“Certificate of Birth”) a few weeks ago. It has the city of his birth, the date and my and wife’s names. And that’s it. No mention of which hospital, who the doctor was, no footprints. Period. I specifically asked the clerk if there was a more detailed birth certificate that I should have. She told me that’s all they give out now, and that it’s all he’ll need for any documentation of his citizenship.

  7. reid says:

    Ben: Did the clerk wink when she was saying that, and did she emphasize “he’ll”? God forbid he grow up to be a Democrat or black!