What makes this a serious issue is the fact that Mitt Romney has embraced the “Trump machine” wholeheartedly. Shouldn’t Romney distance himself from all things “birtherism”?
Think Progress
In recent days, Donald Trump has intensified his efforts to advance discredited birther conspiracy theories against President Barack Obama. But that hasn’t stopped presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney from making Trump a major focus of his campaign.
Today, Romney announced a major campaign event with Trump next week, at the reality TV star’s International Hotel in Las Vegas. Romney is also soliciting low dollar contributions to win a meal with Trump. The campaign has published this flyer:
Trump rose to prominence early in the GOP presidential primary, at one time leading in the polls, by promoting birther conspiracy theories against Obama. In April 2011, he said:
I have people that have been studying it and they cannot believe what they’re finding…it’s one of the greatest scams in the history of politics and in the history, period. You are not allowed to be a president if you’re not born in this country. Right now, I have real doubts.
Trump has not dropped the argument since. He has questioned the legitimacy of Obama’s long-form birth certificate. In the last few days he has tweeted the following:
I wonder if @BarackObama ever applied to Occidental, Columbia or Harvard as a foreign student. When can we see (cont) tl.gd/hh6ksr
Let’s take a closer look at that birth certificate. @BarackObama was described in 2003 as being “born in Kenya.” bit.ly/Klc9Uu
Donald J. TrumpTrump officially endorsed Romney at an event in February. He was used extensively in primary states to bash Romney’s opponents and in February recorded robocalls trashing Rick Santorumin Michigan. In March, Ann Romney called him an “honorary Buckeye” after Romney’s victory in Ohio.
There are now plans for Trump’s pro-Romney calls to go national.
Related articles
- Obama Birther Rumor Debunked As Literary Agent Clarifies Mistake (huffingtonpost.com)
- Does Anyone Care That the GOP Presidential Candidate Courts Birthers? (littlegreenfootballs.com)
- US election 2012: Barack Obama ‘birther’ conspiracy theory revived by Republicans (telegraph.co.uk)
- Despite a frustrated GOP, anti-Obama ‘birthers’ still persist (cnn.com)
- Hawaii turns tables on Arizona Secretary of State’s birther requests (kaystreet.wordpress.com)
- Crazy Talk: Why the ‘Birthers’ Still Don’t Believe Obama (fox8.com)
- Addressing Birthers: Turning the Tables and Outright Mockery (skepticalteacher.wordpress.com)
