Donald Trump gave the shortest and perhaps most cowardly and disgusting press conference of the entire campaign this morning at the Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C., falsely claiming that Hillary Clinton started the “birther” controversy which he stoked for years.
Trump then fled the stage as reporters tried to ask questions.
Said Trump:
“Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the ‘birther’ controversy. I finished. I finished it. You know what I mean. President Barack Obama was born in the United States. Period. Now we all want to get back to making America strong and great again.”
Donald Trump: "President Barack Obama was born in the United States. Period." https://t.co/1e54EY3AHL
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 16, 2016
Trump’s claim has been thoroughly debunked.
Read Politifact’s post HERE.
Writes the Washington Post: “There’s no evidence to support Trump’s repeated claim that Clinton “started” the birther movement and was one of the first to question Obama’s birth certificate. He could blame the actions of Clinton’s supporters during the 2008 primary or say the rumor has some Democratic roots. But there’s no evidence that she or her campaign questioned his birth certificate or his citizenship. Further, the campaign denounced isolated instances of Clinton’s staffers questioning whether Obama was Muslim.”
A few reactions from Trump’s presser:
A white man concluding that a black man is legitimate is the textbook definition of racism and white supremacy https://t.co/N7xkSRYSet
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) September 16, 2016
On MSNBC, @RepJeffries called Trump a “racial arsonist.” That’s about as perfect a term as I’ve heard.
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) September 16, 2016
Sorry Trump, doesn’t work that way. You’re a racist. The birther campaign was racist. You led it. This does nothing but enflame more.
— Michelangelo Signorile (@MSignorile) September 16, 2016
“It’s hard to imagine this is anything other than a political Rick roll.” — Jake Tapper just now after CNN cut away from Trump.
— Matt Viser (@mviser) September 16, 2016
Well done, @realDonaldTrump. You just replaced Birtherism with Birth-Of-Birtherism-Ism. #Dipshit
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) September 16, 2016
https://twitter.com/aravosis/status/776811331357900800
