Birthers Say They’re Confident Trump Still Believes Obama Was Born in Kenya

GOP Nominee’s Racist Supporters Seem Undeterred — If Not Emboldened — By His Statement Friday

Birthers who back Donald Trump say his declaration Friday that President Barack Obama was born in the US was a shrewd political move, but they’re convinced the GOP nominee still believes the commander-in-chief hails from Kenya. 

“Obama’s a communist. His mother and father were communists. For sure he was born in Kenya,” Pedro Almeyda, who attended Trump’s rally in Miami on Friday night, told Politico. “I guess Trump had to say he wasn’t, for politics. But remember, it was Trump who asked for Obama’s birth certificate. He knows.”

Another birther who attended the rally, Fermin Vazquez, said of Trump: “He knows the truth, but he’s got to follow the rules to get elected.” 

On Friday morning, Trump falsely accused Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton of starting the birther controversy, but declined to apologize for building his campaign around the racist lie. 

Washington Post columnist Greg Sargent writes that Trump’s statement was merely intended to shift attention away from the issue as the election approaches. 

“Obviously, the whole point of claiming Trump forced this issue to a conclusion is to allow him to put this behind him — to improve his appeal among white swing voters — while avoiding accountability for the act of feeding the conspiracy in the first place, and while continuing to wink at the “deplorables” in his base by signaling that their birtherism is not just perfectly acceptable, but admirable,” Sargent wrote. “He’s still one of them. Trump may do something like this again today.” 

Indeed, leaders in the birther movement seemed unfazed by Trump’s statement. 

Orly Taitz, the Soviet-born attorney who’s known as “the birther queen” for her role in Obama eligibility lawsuits, is urging people to “keep the eye on the prize,” adding that “the next attorney general who is not Obama’s lackey should investigate this issue and file criminal charges and the whole nation should see the evidence and it should be properly prosecuted,” according to US News. 

And Michael Zullo, who’s heading up an investigation into Obama’s birth certificate on behalf of wingnut Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, said his probe will continue.