WASHINGTON: After five years as the chief promoter of a lie about Barack Obama’s birthplace, Donald Trump abruptly reversed course Friday and acknowledged the fact that the president was born in America. He then immediately peddled another false conspiracy.
“President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period,” Trump declared, enunciating each word in a brief statement at the end of a campaign appearance. “Now we all want to get back to making America strong and great again.”
But as the GOP presidential nominee sought to put that false conspiracy theory to rest, he stoked another, claiming that the “birther movement” was begun by his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. There is no evidence that that is true.
“Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it,” Trump said.
While the question of Obama’s birthplace was pushed by some bloggers who backed Clinton’s primary campaign against him eight years ago, Clinton has long denounced it as a “racist lie.”
“Trump has spent years peddling a racist conspiracy aimed at undermining the first African-American president,” Clinton tweeted after his Friday event.
Indeed, it is clear Trump’s foes will try to keep the criticism of his actions alive. African-American members of Congress held a news conference near Washington’s convention center to denounce him immediately after his appearance.
Trump’s allegation on Clinton starting the controversy is the latest example of his tendency to repeat statements that are patently false. However, that did not affect his ability to beat more than a dozen challengers in the GOP primaries or dissuade his supporters.
His statement on Friday, in a sprawling ballroom at his new Washington hotel, lasted only a few seconds following a lengthy campaign event featuring military officers and award winners who have endorsed him. That turned the appearance into a de facto commercial for his campaign, as the major cable TV networks aired the full event live in anticipation of comments Trump had hyped hours before.
“I’m going to be making a major statement on this whole thing and what Hillary did,” he told the Fox Business Network. “We have to keep the suspense going, OK?”
For years, Trump has been the most prominent proponent of the “birther” idea. He used the issue to build his political profile and define his status as an “outsider” willing to challenge conventions.
Friday marked the first time he said in no uncertain terms he was mistaken. As late as Wednesday, he refused to acknowledge Obama was born in Hawaii.
“I’ll answer that question at the right time,” Trump said. “I just don’t want to answer it yet.”
Trump’s reversal comes as he works to win over African-American voters — many of whom have been turned off by his attempt to delegitimize the nation’s first black president.