Trump rides issue of president’s birth
GOP poll puts him at No. 2
“Why doesn’t he show his birth certificate? The fact is, if he wasn’t born in this country, he shouldn’t be the president of the United States,” Donald Trump, the billionaire developer, said in a CNN interview that aired Sunday. The Constitution requires that the president be a “natural-born citizen.” (Associated Press)-
The Washington Times
Would-be 2012 Republican nominee Donald Trump is riding doubts about President Obama’s birth certificate to the front of the party’s presidential contender field, the latest sign that the long-standing fringe controversy is going mainstream.
The New York real estate magnate and reality show star, fresh off a Wall Street Journal poll that shows him tied for second among Republican voters as their choice for the presidential nominee, jumped back into the “birther” controversy Sunday.
“Why doesn’t he show his birth certificate? The fact is, if he wasn’t born in this country, he shouldn’t be the president of the United States,” the billionaire developer said in a CNN interview that aired Sunday. The Constitution requires that the president be a “natural-born citizen.”
“It’s a very sad thing, because the people - the birthers - they got labeled and they got labeled so negatively and even the word ‘birther’ is a negative word. If you come out and … even question, the press goes wild. They get angry at the question,” he said.
Far from backing away, Mr. Trump seems to be embracing the birther controversy and relishing the confrontations with reporters. He has responded in print to critics and blitzed talk radio, morning shows and news programs to talk about birth certificates. Mr. Trump also has said he had sent private detectives to Hawaii to investigate the president’s birth.
Since Mr. Trump embraced the issue of Mr. Obama’s birth - or alternatively why he hasn’t released the state of Hawaii’s “long-form” birth certificate - he has gone from nowhere to the top tier of possible 2012 Republican candidates.
In the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll released last week, Mr. Trump and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee are tied for second with 17 percent each among Republican primary voters behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s 22 percent.
Pushing the birth issue may have helped Mr. Trump break out of the crowded field of potential 2012 standard-bearers, but it’s not something the White House is taking too seriously.
David Plouffe, Mr. Obama’s 2008 campaign manager and a top adviser, called the spate of Trump comments and appearances a “sideshow.”
“There’s zero chance that Donald Trump would ever be hired by the American people,” he said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” taking a jab at Mr. Trump’s signature phrase on his reality show “The Apprentice.”
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An election for President and Commander in Chief of the Military must strive to be above reproach. Our public institutions must give the public confidence that a presidential candidate has complied with the election process that is prescribed by our Constitution and laws. It is only after a presidential candidate satisfies the rules of such a process that he/she can expect members of the public, regardless of their party affiliations, to give him/her the respect that the Office of President so much deserves.
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