Obama hits back at 'birthers' with statement

US president to make statement reaffirming fact he was born in United States to head off continuing 'birther' row

9.48am ET: Obama is now speaking at the White House.

"This isssue has been going on for two and a half years now, I think it started during the campaign," says Obama, looking relaxed.

He says he's been "amused and puzzled" by how long the rumours have persisted, despite many investigations and the release of the shorter version of his birth certificate. "And yet this thing just keeps on going."

9.44am ET: Trump is still going, and reporters are pressing him on whether he is actually a serious candidate. Trump laughs it off.

Conspiracy theory: the White House released the birth certificate today in order to give Trump a boost? "He's starting to make Sarah Palin sound intelligent," observes one of my colleagues.

9.36am ET: Donald Trump is currently giving a press conference being shown live on Fox News and as usual Trump is full of himself on the subject of Obama's birth certificate.

Since he launched his pseudo-non-campaign for the Republican nomination, Trump has been banging on about Obama's birth. Now he's being smug.

"Today I'm very proud of myself because I've accomplished something that nobody else was able to accomplish," says Trump, never happier than when a television camera is upon him.

But he is still trying to make hay out of the subject: "I want to look at it and I hope it's true," says Trump. "I am really honoured to have played such a big role... I'm really proud, I'm really honoured."

2.32pm BST / 9.32am ET: I'm going to hand over now to my colleague Richard Adams in Washington for coverage of the statement.

2.31pm BST / 9.21am ET: This CNN report explains a bit about why this issue has become so important that Obama feels he h! as had t o take this step.

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.

The US 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.

Sceptics contend, among other things, that Obama was born in his father's home country of Kenya.

2.28pm BST / 9.28am ET: I've added the full image of the birth certificate to the top of this blogpost. Refresh the page to see it.

2.23pm BST / 9.23am ET: Here is the copy of the long-form birth certificate the White House released today.

2.15pm BST / 9.15am ET: Barack Obama's presidency has been consistently dogged by questions from the US right about whether or not he is an American citizen. The president was born in Hawaii, but questions about his birth reached a new pitch when businessman and reality TV star Donald Trump raised them again as he mulled over running for president.

Today the White House has released the "long-form" version of Obama's birth certificate and the president is to make a live statement shortly. The birth certificate says Obama was born in the state of Hawaii, which makes him eligible to hold the office of president. Obama had earlier released a standard short form, but requested copies of his original birth certificate from Hawaii officials this week.


guardian.co.uk Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


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