Trump supporters struggle to sideline 'birther' issue

[webfact]

Trump supporters struggle to sideline 'birther' issue

By LAURIE KELLMAN

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's most prominent supporters insisted Sunday that he's put the burden of "birtherism" behind him with his concession that President Barack Obama was born in the United States. But like their candidate, they tried to blame Hillary Clinton's campaign and rejected any notion that Trump's political identity is founded on five years of peddling the false rumor that Obama was born elsewhere.

"It's over," said Trump's running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

 

But saying Trump's admission of the error was behind him — as two sitting governors and several other Trump supporters did across the Sunday talks shows— doesn't necessarily make it true. The issue is nearly certain to come up during Trump and Clinton's first debate, Sept. 26.

 

The episode reflects Trump's penchant for spreading unsubstantiated claims when he stands to gain from them and his refusal to apologize or take responsibility when he's been wrong. That operating style did not stop the billionaire developer from vanquishing 16 Republican challengers and capturing the GOP nomination. But in a one-on-one battle with Clinton, it can add up to a character questions with three debates and mere weeks to go before the Nov. 8 elections.

 

Recent polls suggest Trump may have benefited in recent weeks by his own newfound discipline and Clinton's missteps. She called half of Trump's supporters "deplorables" — then apologized for saying "half" — only to fall ill with pneumonia and wobble during an abrupt exit from this year's 9/11 memorial ceremony. For hours, Clinton's campaign obfuscated about what was wrong with her. It was the worst stretch of her campaign, and during it, a newly confident Trump for the first time in several weeks began to veer off his written remarks.

 

After scripted well wishes for her recovery, he returned to questioning her stamina as she prepared to resume campaigning last week. "You think Hillary would be able to stand up here for an hour and do this?" he asked at a rally. "I don't think so."

 

And on Friday, he made his usual sarcastic call for Hillary Clinton's Secret Service agents to be stripped of their firearms, then added an aside to his rally remarks: "Let's see what happens to her."

 

An uproar ensued over what Clinton supporters said was Trump's newest suggestion of violence against her. On Sunday, Pence called that interpretation "absolute nonsense," adding on ABC that Trump was only suggesting Clinton has been protected by gun-toting security guards for decades. Pence said Trump's point was that "she'd change her attitude about the right to keep and bear arms" if she didn't have a security detail. In fact, Clinton has not challenged the constitutional right to bear arms, despite calling for some stronger gun control measures.

 

Clinton's campaign on Sunday largely let Trump's stands-ins on TV splash around in the morass of "birtherism" while it grappled with her critical challenge: winning young voters who don't trust her and whose support has waned in recent weeks. Running mate Tim Kaine argued there are five "litmus test" issues that show the former secretary of state, not Trump, stands with millennials. The issues, he said, are climate science, women's health, LGBT equality, immigration and college affordability.

 

But Trump's high-profile supporters weren't focused on issues. One by one, they argued Trump didn't start the birther fable, that he's the victim of a biased media and that people don't care about the birther issue, anyway.

 

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who's heading up Trump's transition team and has long said Obama was born in the U.S., insisted on CNN that "the birther issue is a done issue."

 

He blamed a Clinton aide for saying that Clinton herself pushed questions about Obama's birthplace during the 2008 Democratic presidential primary. But that aide, Clinton's 2008 campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle, told CNN that a volunteer county coordinator in Iowa forwarded an email that promoted the debunked theory. She said she apologized to Obama's campaign chief, made clear "this is not coming from us" and Clinton dismissed the coordinator when she learned about the matter.

 

Meantime there's plenty of evidence that Trump, beginning in 2011, became the chief promoter of "birtherism" as he considered running for president in 2012.

Christie asserted Trump had not pushed the issue: "It wasn't like he was talking about it on a regular basis."

 

But in August 2012, in just one example of Trump bringing the subject up, he tweeted: "An 'extremely credible source' has called my office and told me that @BarackObama's birth certificate is a fraud."

 

As recently as January, Trump sounded skeptical on whether he now believed the president was a natural-born citizen eligible under the Constitution to be president.

 

"Who knows? Who cares right now? We're talking about something else, OK?" Trump said in a CNN interview. "I mean, I have my own theory on Obama." On Friday, he finally acknowledged: "President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period."

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-09-19

[Ulysses G.]

Trump did NOT start the birther issue. Hillary Clinton supporters are the ones fanning the flames 3 years before Trump even mentioned it.  She has some gall blaming him.

[CaptHaddock]

1 hour ago, Ulysses G. said:

Trump did NOT start the birther issue. Hillary Clinton supporters are the ones fanning the flames 3 years before Trump even mentioned it.  She has some gall blaming him.

 

Right.  Trump didn't start it, but he did keep lying about it for years after everyone else knew it was a racist fraud.  It's hard to conceive of a more cynical politician than Trump for whom his follower, the press, his customers, his contractors are all just suckers.  I can well understand that there is a large segment of American society which has not done well in the last 30 years and is feeling desperate.  The idea that someone like Trump could or would do anything to help them is beyond ridiculous. 

[chumpy]

Trump is making American people look so bad,most people with half a brain are just shaking their heads with disbelief,the man is definitely not making America great again around the world.America has some of the smartest people in the world but obviously also some of the most ignorant and gullible ones.And then you've got the American Republican  upper class rich who have sold their souls to trump because they will get lower taxes from him(which category do you belong to Ulysses G?),a very big shame on them.it's very scary what's going on.To think what will happen if this guy becomes the most powerful man in the world.

[tifino]

 

I always thought he was born in Kenya...

 

 

... must be another of those Mandela Effects?

 

 

it's pretty easy to twist things when you don't have a Birth Certificate

 

Edited September 19, 2016 by tifino

[attrayant]

3 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

Trump did NOT start the birther issue. Hillary Clinton supporters are the ones fanning the flames 3 years before Trump even mentioned it.  She has some gall blaming him.

 

Even that liberal rag Breitbart is calling you a liar.  A campain staffer forwarded an email about "lack of American roots" (which is NOT birtherism), and was promptly fired for it.  Meanwhile, in recent years Clinton has repeatedly blasted it while Trump and his knuckle-dragging supporters have done their best to keep it alive.

 

Quote

Doyle went on to relate how she personally called Obama campaign manager David Plouffe to apologize, and he accepted. Blitzer then asked her about the Mark Penn memorandum, in which the campaign’s strategist proposed exploiting Obama’s “lack of American roots.” Doyle asserted, and Blitzer agreed, that the memo had nothing to do with Birtherism.

 

Just a casual glance at the news listings for this topic shows all outlets - FactCheck, Politifact, FOX,  calling Trump on this BS.  Only the looniest websites (and you, of course) are trying to keep this turd afloat.

 

Seriously, the "BUT SHE STARTED IT" defense is the response of a 5 year-old.  

 

[spidermike007]

2 hours ago, CaptHaddock said:

 

Right.  Trump didn't start it, but he did keep lying about it for years after everyone else knew it was a racist fraud.  It's hard to conceive of a more cynical politician than Trump for whom his follower, the press, his customers, his contractors are all just suckers.  I can well understand that there is a large segment of American society which has not done well in the last 30 years and is feeling desperate.  The idea that someone like Trump could or would do anything to help them is beyond ridiculous. 

 

 

You really nailed it with your comment. To even for one second consider the possibility that Trump cares one iota for the common man, is a stretch of the imagination that requires a tremendous leap of faith. He has spent his entire life tearing down the common man. He has stolen millions upon millions of dollars from small businessmen, and walked away Scot free. There are currently 3,500 lawsuits he is involved in. How many people do you know that are being sued by thousands of people? And in over 1,000 of those suits  he is the plaintiff. The man is insane. He is a psychopath, who has no regard whatsoever for common people, and the very notion that his devotees believe he will lead them to the promised land is beyond my ability to comprehend. 

 

Having said that, Hillary is a terrible candidate and a crook. So, I get why people are clinging to the false notion that he is the redeemer. It is just a notion that is beyond silly.

 

As far as the birther issue goes, he is just going to have to deal with it. He spent alot of time insisting on defending this lie, and now he is having to deal with the problems he created. The very notion of taking responsibility for his actions and comments, does not seem to be something he is capable of. 

Edited September 19, 2016 by spidermike007

[Ulysses G.]

26 minutes ago, attrayant said:

 

Even that liberal rag Breitbart is calling you a liar.

 

 

Time to learn to read. Your link says no such thing. It says that a Hillary staffer forwarded an email promoting an article and that Obama allowed his literary agent to claim he had been born in Kenya on promotional material. It does not mention the photo of Obama in Muslim gear that her campaign people spread around.

 

However, my quote that you included says nothing about this. It says that Hillary's supporters were the ones spreading the rumor and that is an indisputable FACT that no one is denying.

 

Why are you making up fabrications about something that your own post and your own link disproves?

Edited September 19, 2016 by Ulysses G.

[attrayant]

Ah, so you feel vindicated because Breitbart is full of lies and you're just passing them on, right?

 

Here's what it says:

 

Quote

a Clinton campaign staffer had, in fact, circulated the Birther conspiracy theory

 

Here's what you said:

 

Quote

Hillary Clinton supporters are the ones fanning the flames 3 years before Trump even mentioned it

 

Supporters?  Plural?  ONE campaign staffer forwarded an email.  Oh, I see.  You said supporters, not staffers.  That means all you need to do is find a handful of people anywhere in the country who espoused the claim and then you can make a mud pie out of that to throw at Hillary.  Isn't that nice.

 

And is there any particular reason your period of denial cuts off at three years?  I suppose everything Trump has said WRT birtherism since 2011 is just fine with you.

 

Let's level the playing field.  In the past 5-6 years birtherism claims have come directly from Trump.  Yet all you can find on the other side are "supporters".  How about what Hillary has said WRT the birther issue?  You ought to be comparing what Trump has been saying to what Hillary (not some of her supporters) has been saying.  Got anything?

 

[Pinot]

4 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

Trump did NOT start the birther issue. Hillary Clinton supporters are the ones fanning the flames 3 years before Trump even mentioned it.  She has some gall blaming him.

 

As usual, repeating lies, hoping against hope to make it true. We call that dance, the "Trumpeteer Two Step," all lies...all the time, cha cha cha. 

 

Nobody with any credibility is backing you up on this, U. You're out there in bizarro Wingnuttia with this one. How's the weather? Raining here this morning here. 

 

People need to start using the word LIAR much more often. The talking heads on the networks need to cut mics, and berate the LIARS until they walk off the set. Then they need to apologize to their audience for allowing human garbage to talk on their network.

 

Interviewers need to say "That's not true, that's just made up".

 

Beliefs aren't facts. As much as you want a lie to be a fact, it's a lie. 

 

REGARDLESS of who started it (irrelevent but your statement is a lie), who repeated what Trump said, or who may or may not have believed it...TRUMP,  and TRUMP alone made it an issue in order to slander Barack Obama. Trump was the original birther. He got his stripes repeating that bullshit. 

 

I would like to see the names of Democrats who said Obama wasn't born in the country. Till then, I will think you and your ilk are just lying. Again.

 

 

[Srikcir]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Now that Donald Trump's most prominent supporters insisted Sunday that he's put the burden of "birtherism" behind him with his concession that President Barack Obama was born in the United States.

Next is the truth about Trump's New York State campaign co-chairman Varl Paladino who insisted last month that President Barack Obama is a Muslim. 

[attrayant]

4 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

She has some gall blaming him.

 

One more thing, since we're calling out the liars today.  What exactly are you accusing Hillary of blaming Trump of doing?  Before I tell you that you're wrong, I want everyone to be clear on what you're wrong about.

 

Are you saying she's blaming him for starting the birther conspiracy?

[Ulysses G.]

19 minutes ago, attrayant said:

 

What exactly are you accusing Hillary of blaming Trump of doing?  

 

 Blaming Trump for something that HER supporters started. Trump jumped on the bandwagon 3 years later. 

[helpisgood]

Did Trump start it or did Clinton?  Who cares!

 

We already know that it was a silly accusation meant as a dog whistle to pander for the racist vote. 

 

And, we are already well aware of Trump's and Clinton's character flaws. 

 

This whole issue is an embarrassment for American politics. 

[Ulysses G.]

34 minutes ago, Pinot said:

 

As usual, repeating lies, hoping against hope to make it true. 

 

 

The LIE is that Hillary's supporters were not spreading the rumor THREE YEARS before Trump jumped on board.

[attrayant]

11 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

 

Trump jumped on the bandwagon 3 years later. 

 

You and Hillary have got some gall blaming him for that.

 

And "jump on the bandwagon" makes it sound like he's in an insignificant supporting role.  Trump BECAME the bandwagon and has been leading it strong since then.

[uptoyoumyfriend]

Trump's a commie, he's gonna sell us to the ruskies

[Pimay1]

Obama Was the Original Birther

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/09/obama_was_the_original_birther.html

 

 

[lifeincnx]

6 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

Trump did NOT start the birther issue. Hillary Clinton supporters are the ones fanning the flames 3 years before Trump even mentioned it.  She has some gall blaming him.

Keep trying to push that blatant LIE, and Hillary was spot on in nailing Trump for perpetuating it. The whole birtherism crap started back in 2004, by Ill. political candidate Andy Martin, as he tried to paint Obama as Muslim and questioned his origins. Sound familiar? Yes, some HRC supporters did float it in 2008, but neither Clinton nor her campaign went ANYWHERE near it, ever.  It quickly became a non-issue.

 

Then Came Trump (unfortunately not Bronson).

Trump latched on to the birther conspiracy as his centerpiece and even after the birth certificate came out he continued to push lie after lie, for more than FIVE years. Heck, he makes Alex Jones at Infowars look like a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. Trump's coded attack, which he continues until last Friday, was NO Kenyan-born man should ever allowed to be President, even if the man was born in the U.S. The Trump campaign knew they had to put this away fast to help gain African-American voters. But gossamer-skinned sociopath Trump, who can never admit a wrong without hanging it on someone else, compounded one lie with another in his cheesy "Period." statement.

 

Face it, Trump has been playing the race card for a very long time and just lost.

Now watch the wingnuts, par for the course,  shoot the messenger...
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/birther-movement-founder-trump-clinton-228304#ixzz4KfyTkRKN
 

[maximillian]

1 hour ago, uptoyoumyfriend said:

Trump's a commie, he's gonna sell us to the ruskies

 

You'd better sell Trump to the "ruskies". And Hillary as well.

[PTC]

1 hour ago, Ulysses G. said:

 

 Blaming Trump for something that HER supporters started. Trump jumped on the bandwagon 3 years later. 

 

I guess it is your experience that if you repeat a LIE often enough, then it will stick.

 

One volunteer in Hillary's 2008 campaign sent an email. She was dismissed. The Campaign publicly distanced itself from that person and the allegation, the LIE.

 

You claim that the HRC 'supporters' started the false accusation. You accuse others of LYING when they confront your falsehoods.

 

"...the discovery of an archived copy of a 27 June 2004 article from the web version of the Kenyan-based Sunday Standard newspaper. The article was a reproduction of an Associated Press (AP) wire story which dealt with the withdrawal of Republican candidate Jack Ryan from the race for a seat representing Illinois in the U.S. Senate, paving the way for the Democratic contender, Barack Obama, to win the election. Why this article was of particular interest to birthers was its lead-in sentence, which referred to Barack Obama as "Kenyan-born.""

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthers/ap.asp

 

The article continues...

 

However, the Associated Press made no such reference; the identification of Barack Obama as "Kenyan-born" was added to the Sunday Standard's version of the AP story

 

The linked reference contains the original AP article.

 

So you take a 12 year old report from a Kenyan newspaper that falsely claimed Obama was born in Kenya by misrepresenting an AP news article and blame this on Hillary Clinton because a disgraced and dismissed volunteer emailed some kind of reference to this false report.

 

What's more...

 

"According to scholars, the birther line of attack against Barack Obama began during his successful 2004 campaign in Illinois for the US Sentate. The attachs were started by Andy Martin, a perpetual candidate in the state who accused Obama of secretly adhereing to Islam."

Race and Racism in the United States ed Charles Gallagher p 127

 

Multiple sources disproving the lie that Hillary Clinton or her 2008 Campaign had anything to do with Birtherism. Five years of perpetuation of a LIE by Trump. Calling out LIERS on this issue requires no chutzpah, just common sense.

[Scotwight]

3 minutes ago, PTC said:

Multiple sources disproving the lie that Hillary Clinton or her 2008 Campaign had anything to do with Birtherism. Five years of perpetuation of a LIE by Trump. Calling out LIERS on this issue requires no chutzpah, just common sense.

 

2 Clinton supporters in ’08 reportedly shared Obama ‘birther’ story

 

“During that meeting, Mr. Blumenthal and I met together in my office and he strongly urged me to investigate the exact place of President Obama’s birth, which he suggested was in Kenya. We assigned a reporter to go to Kenya, and that reporter determined that the allegation was false.

 

“At the time of Mr. Blumenthal’s conversation with me, there had been a few news articles published in various outlets reporting on rumors about Obama’s birthplace. While Mr. Blumenthal offered no concrete proof of Obama’s Kenyan birth, I felt that, as journalists, we had a responsibility to determine whether or not those rumors were true

 

Blumenthal, who worked in the White House with President Bill Clinton and later was employed by the Clinton Foundation

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article102354777.html

 

 

 

[abrahamzvi]

3 hours ago, tifino said:

 

I always thought he was born in Kenya...

 

 

... must be another of those Mandela Effects?

 

 

it's pretty easy to twist things when you don't have a Birth Certificate

 

Don't President Obama have a Birth Certificate?! He produced one, which even Trump now says is legal!

[PTC]

2 minutes ago, Scotwight said:

2 Clinton supporters in ’08 reportedly shared Obama ‘birther’ story

 

“During that meeting, Mr. Blumenthal and I met together in my office and he strongly urged me to investigate the exact place of President Obama’s birth, which he suggested was in Kenya. We assigned a reporter to go to Kenya, and that reporter determined that the allegation was false.

 

“At the time of Mr. Blumenthal’s conversation with me, there had been a few news articles published in various outlets reporting on rumors about Obama’s birthplace. While Mr. Blumenthal offered no concrete proof of Obama’s Kenyan birth, I felt that, as journalists, we had a responsibility to determine whether or not those rumors were true

 

Blumenthal, who worked in the White House with President Bill Clinton and later was employed by the Clinton Foundation

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article102354777.html

 

 

 

 

One supporter sent an email. Once the Campaign learned of this, that person was dismissed and the Campaign publicly rejected any substance to or involvement in the Birther allegation. There is evidence for this and it is referenced in the McClatchy article.

 

Blumenthal denied the accusation by James Asher and Asher provides no evidence.

 

Focusing on the 2008 timeline ignores what was happening in 2004 but I can understand why that is inconvenient for those who operate by innuendo and insinuation.

[elgordo38]

7 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

Trump did NOT start the birther issue. Hillary Clinton supporters are the ones fanning the flames 3 years before Trump even mentioned it.  She has some gall blaming him.

Memo to Fox/faux news. Dear Foxsters please stop all the Bengazi and HC email crap it has been going on long enough we are sick and tired of it. Quit fanning the flames. 

Signed

One of the Fox and Friends

A Fox news contributor (unpaid please send some money)

[Scotwight]

59 minutes ago, PTC said:

 

One supporter sent an email. Once the Campaign learned of this, that person was dismissed and the Campaign publicly rejected any substance to or involvement in the Birther allegation. There is evidence for this and it is referenced in the McClatchy article.

 

Blumenthal denied the accusation by James Asher and Asher provides no evidence.

 

Focusing on the 2008 timeline ignores what was happening in 2004 but I can understand why that is inconvenient for those who operate by innuendo and insinuation.

Attacking the messenger does not work when the messenger is - McClatchy's newspapers have won 52 Pulitzer Prizes over their histories, including 11 Gold Medals for Public Service.  Since 1857. You think they have been operating by innuendo and insinuation since 1857 and getting all those Pulitzer Prizes?  

 

McClatchy ran the story below.  Try commenting on the story rather than the foolish endeavor of besmirching one of the most authoritative  news sources in the USA.    

 

ELECTIONS 2016

 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2016 7:29 PM

2 Clinton supporters in ’08 reportedly shared Obama ‘birther’ story

 

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article102354777.html

[PTC]

4 minutes ago, Scotwight said:

Attacking the messenger does not work when the messenger is - McClatchy's newspapers have won 52 Pulitzer Prizes over their histories, including 11 Gold Medals for Public Service.  Since 1857. You think they have been operating by innuendo and insinuation since 1857 and getting all those Pulitzer Prizes?  

 

McClatchy ran the story below.  Try commenting on the story rather than the foolish endeavor of besmirching one of the most authoritative  news sources in the USA.    

 

ELECTIONS 2016

 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2016 7:29 PM

2 Clinton supporters in ’08 reportedly shared Obama ‘birther’ story

 

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article102354777.html

 

So what? Are you being deliberately obtuse to try to continue diverting from the issue. You reaffirm the title of this thread.

 

Who cares how many awards won by McClatchy when no-one is attacking them. I am saying that James Asher has not presented any evidence to substantiate his claim. There is evidence to substantiate the actions of the HRC campaign volunteer and the actions of the Campaign in response.

 

You are the one getting all puffed up about the precious reputation of this organization.

 

But again, an attempted diversion from the issue. You certainly are representative of the OP. This is what happens when you try to smear by innuendo and insinuation.

 

Trump says HRC started this. Trump supporters said HRC started this. HRC did not start this. It was started in 2004. It was perpetuated by Trump and his supporters from 2011 - 2016. Alleged conversations are evidence of nothing, particularly when there is no evidence to substantiate them.

 

Keep struggling on.

[DM07]

We are seriously discussing this?

[thaihome]

22 minutes ago, Scotwight said:

Attacking the messenger does not work when the messenger is - McClatchy's newspapers have won 52 Pulitzer Prizes over their histories, including 11 Gold Medals for Public Service.  Since 1857. You think they have been operating by innuendo and insinuation since 1857 and getting all those Pulitzer Prizes?  

 

McClatchy ran the story below.  Try commenting on the story rather than the foolish endeavor of besmirching one of the most authoritative  news sources in the USA.    

 

ELECTIONS 2016

 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2016 7:29 PM

2 Clinton supporters in ’08 reportedly shared Obama ‘birther’ story

 

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article102354777.html

 

You cut off off (without showing by an ellipse that you had done so)  your original quote of the article that included Blumenthal's denial the conversation took place.

 

Blumenthal, who worked in the White House with President Bill Clinton and later was employed by the Clinton Foundation,

could not be reached Friday but said in an email to The Boston Globe, “This is false. Period.” 

 

Selective quoting, without acknowledgment, is a sure sign of bias posting. Has nothing to do with the McClatchy bias, since they reported the claim and the denial. You did not include the denial.

TH 

 

[dunroaming]

This is just bickering for the sake of it.  Both sides need to just move on because none of it matters.