The White House released President Barack Obama’s original birth certificate Wednesday to shut down the false, far-fetched “birther” notion that he was born outside of the United States.
The certificate confirms that Obama was indeed born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4, 1961. The President had previously released a shorter, legally-binding “certificate of live birth” but opponents and conspiracy-theorists continued to doubt the document’s legitacy despite bi-partisian confirmation of its authenticity.
The president had repeatedly made light of the “birther” claims, but after recent claims of an “investigation” by high profile businessman and reality TV star Donald Trump, Obama decided to silence his critics.
“We do not have time for this kind of silliness,” Obama told reporters at the White House. “I’ve been puzzled at the degree to which this (story) just kept on going.”
“Normally I would not comment on something like this,” the president said. But the country has “some enormous challenges out there” and that it will not be able to effectively meet “if we’re distracted.”
“We’re not going to be able to (meet those challenges) if we spend time vilifying each other,” he stressed. “We’re not going to be able to do it if we just make stuff up and pretend that facts are not facts. We’re not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers.”
According to a CNN poll, more than 75% of Americans believe Obama was born in the U.S. However, more than 40% of Republicans believe he was born outside the country.
Information from CNN.com was used in this report
