WATCH: RNC Chair, Trump Campaign Manager Double Down On Clinton Birther Lie
Priebus, Conway Repeat GOP Nominee’s Thoroughly Debunked Allegation
Both Reince Priebus, chair of the Republican National Committee, and Kellyanne Conway, manager of Donald Trump’s campaign, doubled down Sunday morning on the GOP nominee’s false claim from Friday — in which he blamed Democrat Hillary Clinton for starting the birther movement.Â
Since Trump’s statement, the allegation that Clinton was somehow responsible for questions about President Barack Obama’s natural-born citizenship has been repeatedly and thoroughly debunked. On the contrary, Trump himself has been a driving force behind the racist birther movement, which formed the genesis of his presidential campaign.Â
But that did little to deter Priebus during an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” where he claimed that “everyone around her [Clinton] was involved” in starting the birther movement.Â
“I think it was something that got started in the 2008 presidential campaign — who’s fault it was, Hillary Clinton herself, her supporters, her interns, her staffers — clearly it was something that was circulating in 2008,” Priebus said. “By the preponderence of evidence before us, Hillary Clinton or her campaign were definitely involved in this issue, so we can’t keep saying it’s not true. It’s ridiculous … It’s not fiction. It’s the truth.”Â
Conway, meanwhile, told NBC’s “Meet The Press” that, “Associates of the Clinton campaign started this birtherism question in 2007.”
“We were reminding people where this started,†Conway added. “It was used as a smear against Sen. Obama by Clinton campaign associates — and by the way, not a bunch of summer interns who just got it all wrong and were a little bit too ambitious.â€Â
Watch it above.Â
I didn’t have enough characters to mention that this is, of course, a massive falsehood. https://t.co/UZkSais18m
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) September 18, 2016
In this bit, @reince literally says birtherism is the fault of Clinton, her staffers, interns and supporters. Wow. pic.twitter.com/KwWQhBUPyd
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) September 18, 2016
Absolute garbage. I’m amazed to watch them all double, triple down on this slander, https://t.co/BthKDSa3OM
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 18, 2016
Reince, next week:
“It is just *disgusting* that Hillary Clinton said of John McCain that she ‘likes people who weren’t captured.'”
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 18, 2016
This is a good reminder that it’s not just Trump – the head of the RNC is a liar too https://t.co/jmduUSiPoH
— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) September 18, 2016
Kellyanne Conway 2 weeks from now:
“People don’t realize this, but it’s actually Donald Trump who would be the first woman president.”
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 18, 2016
What is she smoking?!
Lady-Trump @KellyannePolls is a Sociopath.
Every credible fact checker debunked this lie. https://t.co/RizWoi2V1T— Lexa (@BeautyofDamon) September 18, 2016
if Clinton surrogates went on Sunday shows and insisted Clinton never voted to authorize Iraq War, you think that MIGHT be a huge deal?
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) September 18, 2016
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