Donald Trump blames the birther movement on Hillary Clinton, again

By Fusion Staff  |  May 6, 2016 | 1:56pm
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This week, presumptive GOP candidate for president Donald Trump resurfaced some dirty rumors about Democratic candidate for president Hillary Clinton. Again.

Speaking to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Trump addressed Clinton’s criticizing his involvement in the birther movement—which claimed that President Barack Obama was not born in the U.S.—during a May 1 speech. Trump, an actual leader of the birther charge, tried to shift blame of the shameful attack on Obama’s citizenship to Clinton. “Do you know who started the birther movement?” he asked Blitzer.“Do you know who questioned his birth certificate, one of the first? Hillary Clinton. She’s the one that started it. She brought it up years before it was brought up by me.”

Trump has said this before—in 2015, and even before that.

There is, of course, no truth to the claim. The Washington Post explains that people who believe the theory point to a 2007 memo from Clinton’s campaign team, mulling whether to contrast her American roots to Obama’s international upbringing. That memo didn’t mention his citizenship, and her team abandoned the tactic.

Later, some Clinton supporters did send emails saying Obama is a Muslim and questioning his American heritage—but those weren’t linked to the Clinton campaign, and were disavowed by her. And Trump of all people should know supporters can be problematic.

Trump’s connection to the birther movement, on the other hand, is undeniable. Here is he battling with Blitzer over his anti-Obama stance in 2012.

How quickly we forget, Mr. Trump.

Danielle Wiener-Bronner is a news reporter.

 
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