Washington, D.C.—Today, Correct The Record President Brad Woodhouse released the following statement on Donald Trump’s press conference in Washington, D.C.:
“Donald Trump can never escape the fact that he is the founder and high priest of Birtherism,” said Brad Woodhouse, President of Correct The Record “Today’s event was a cynical and craven attempt to con the media, promote a hotel and quickly whitewash Trump’s record of racism. Trump assumes he can lie his way out of anything and that the media and the American people are stupid. It won’t work. No matter how many lies he tells, nothing can change the fact that Trump is responsible for mainstreaming deplorable conspiracy theories about our first African-American President. No one in our country has done more to inject bigotry and hatred into our politics. This is Trump’s ugly legacy—and he will live with it for the rest of his life.”
A REVIEW OF TRUMP’S LEADERSHIP OF THE BIRTHERISM MOVEMENT
2015: Trump Said He Did Not Know Where Obama Was Born, Did Not Know Why “He Wouldn’t Release His Records.”
July 2015: Trump said he didn’t know where President Obama was born: “I don’t know why he wouldn’t release his records.” “Anderson Cooper: No. I’m asking now, do you say that President Obama was born in the United States? Donald Trump: No. I don’t know. I really don’t know. I mean, I don’t know why he wouldn’t release his records. But you know, honestly, I don’t want to get in it. He came up with this thing, all of a sudden. Remember this one thing. I’m only going to get one thing because I’m about jobs, the economy, and I’m about the military and taking care of all that. And let me just say something. You know that Hillary Clinton was a birther. She wanted the records and fought like hell. People forget. Do you know, John McCain was a birther? Wanted those records. They couldn’t get the records. Hillary failed. John McCain failed. Trump was able to get them to give something. I don’t know what the hell it was, but it doesn’t matter because I am off that subject.” [“AC360,” CNN, 7/9/15]
2011: Trump Said He Was “Proud To Be A Birther”
March 2011: Trump: “I’m proud to be” a Birther. “I don’t feel heat; I think he’s got heat. Look, he cannot give a birth certificate. You can, I can, I got one yesterday, it took me a day, 24 hours, I got one. A lot of the so called birthers, these are great people, these are really great American people. These are hard working, unbelievable, salt of the earth people. I’m proud to be, I mean I’m very proud of it. I don’t like the term [birther]; I think it is a demeaning term to the people that believe that he should have a birth certificate, that some people believe he was not born in this country. And when people ask me that question I just can’t be sure because nobody knows.” [Laura Ingraham Show, 3/30/11]
2011: Trumped Hired A Team Of Detectives To Prove Obama Was Not A U.S. Citizen
Trump hired a team of detectives to prove Obama was not born in the United States. According to The New York Post, “WASHINGTON – Donald Trump has hired a team of detectives and dispatched them to Hawaii to prove one thing – that Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States and, therefore, is ineligible to be president. ‘I have people that actually have been studying it, and they cannot believe what they’re finding,’ Trump said yesterday on NBC’s ‘Today’ show. ‘I’m starting to think that he was not born here.’ Of course, the president has produced a state certificate of live birth, and Hawaii officials have certified his citizenship, but none of that has erased the doubts of so-called birthers.” [New York Post, 4/8/11]
Trump Falsely Claimed Obama Was Not A U.S. Citizen Because No One Knew Him Growing Up
February 2011: Trump on Obama: “The people that went to school with him, they never saw him, they don’t know who he is.” “Our current president came out of nowhere. Came out of nowhere. In fact, I’ll go a step further: the people that went to school with him, they never saw him, they don’t know who he is. It’s crazy.” [Donald Trump, CPAC, Washington, DC, 2/11/11]
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PolitiFact rated Trump’s claim about Obama’s college years “Pants on Fire.” [PolitiFact, 2/14/11]
Trump Falsely Claimed Obama’s Grandmother Said On Tape That Obama Was Born In Kenya
April 2011: Trump: “The grandmother in Kenya is on record saying he was born in Kenya.” “His grandmother in Kenya said, ‘Oh no, he was born in Kenya and I was there and I witnessed the birth.’ Now, she’s on tape and I think that tape’s going to be produced fairly soon …The grandmother in Kenya is on record saying he was born in Kenya.” [“Morning Joe,” MSNBC, 4/7/11]
Trump: “His grandmother in Kenya said he was born in Kenya and she was there and witnessed the birth.” [“Today Show,” NBC, 4/7/11]
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PolitiFact rated Trump’s claims about Obama’s grandmother “False.” [PolitiFact, 4/7/11]
Trump Falsely Claimed Obama Spent $2 Million In Legal Fees Trying To Prevent Release Of Birth Certificate
April 2011: Trump claimed Obama spent $2 million on legal fees to keep his birth certificate hidden. “”I just say very simply why doesn’t he show his birth certificate? Why has he spent over $2 million in legal fees to keep this quiet and to keep this silent?” [“State of the Union,” CNN, 4/10/11]
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PolitiFact rated Trump’s claim about Obama’s legal fees “False.” [PolitiFact, 4/12/11]