Fox Goes Birther
March 28, 2011 10:50 am ET by Melody Johnson
Today on Fox & Friends, eccentric billionaire Donald Trump appeared to recite his intensely disturbing birther theories, as the Fox & Friends co-hosts on the curvy couch sat idly by. It wasn't exactly the first time the blatant birther crowd has been chosen to speak up about their theories on Fox News; indeed, over the past week, Fox News has relentlessly hyped Trump's recent embrace of birther conspiracy theories, with Sean Hannity going so far as to spend a week defending birthers and apparently attempting to legitimize the movement.
From the show:
DONALD TRUMP: They asked John McCain for his birth certificate. They've asked others for their birth certificate. They asked Bush for his birth certificate, by the way. I just found out over the weekend. And they would ask me for my birth certificate and by the way, it's sitting on the top of my desk. They give you a certificate of live birth, which anybody can get, just walk into the hospital, and you get a certificate of live birth. It's not even signed by people. Now, this guy either has a birth certificate or he doesn't. And I didn't think this was such a big deal, but I will tell you, it's turning out to be a very big deal because people now are calling me from all over saying, please don't give up on this issue. If you weren't born in this country, you cannot be president.
CARLSON: Do you think he was born in this country?
TRUMP: I am really concerned. And I will tell you, when this all started a week ago, I assumed, hey, look, you have no doctors that remember. You have no nurses - this is the President of the United States - that remember. That ad that was placed in the Houston paper, that was placed in the paper days after he was born. So he could have come into the country, and they did it for social reasons they put it in! They did it for whatever reason. There are a lot of reasons you could have put an ad in. But he could have been born outside of this country. Why can't he produce a birth certificate and by the way, there is one story that his family doesn't even know what hospital he was born in!DOOCY: Yeah, I've heard that as well. Donald, before you go, what about the mainstream media counts of this dust up over the last week, where they're trying to paint you as you know the mayor of crazy town for bringing this up?
TRUMP: Well you know, it's amazing. I start off every time I talk about the birthers, I start off by saying, and it's very interesting, I was a great student at the best college in the country. You know? I want to let people know. I'm a smart guy. Because what they do to the birthers, and I don't even like the term, the birthers. I think it's unfair to them. These are people that want to see a birth certificate. They want to know that the president was born here!
CARLSON: But--But, why would you go down this path, Donald? A lot of people were asking that last week as well. Why would you decide to do this if, in fact, you decide to run for president?TRUMP: Because if you're not born in the United States, you cannot be president. And, there is a real question. And if this birth certificate exists, you know what I get a kick out of? The Governor of Hawaii says, "I remember when he was born 50 years ago." I doubt it. I think this guy should be investigated. I doubt it. He remembers when Obama was born? Give me a break! He's just trying to do something for his party. The fact is, if you're not born in the United States, you cannot be president. He is having a hard time -- he spent millions of dollars trying to get away from this issue, millions of dollars in legal fees trying to get away from this issue. And I'll tell you what, I brought it up just routinely and all of a sudden, a lot of facts are emerging, and I'm starting to wonder myself whether or not he was born in this country.
KILMEADE: So it's not going away in your mind. Donald Trump, who we all know was born in this country, all you have to do is read the side of his building.
DOOCY: Which one?
KILMEADE: I know! Many of--Donald, "celebrity apprentice" going well. Thank you for joining us. We look forward to this every Monday.
As seen in the transcript, Trump makes claims more outlandish than ever before, and none of the Fox & Friends co-hosts bother to correct or challenge him. They merely sit quietly as Trump goes on and on about how "unfair" the term birther is. "These are people that want to see a birth certificate," Trump exclaimed. "They want to know that the president was born here!"
Not surprisingly, Trump's claims are easily debunked. First, his suggestion that Obama hasn't produced a birth certificate or certificate of live birth, as he said, is patently false. Obama's campaign made public a copy of Obama's certificate of live birth, which was published on the Internet by numerous media outlets. Many experts, including a team from FactCheck.org, reviewed the document in person and determined it was authentic. On July 27, 2009, Dr. Chiyome Fukino, director of the Hawaii State Department of Health, certified that she had personally seen Obama's birth certificate in the original records maintained by the Hawaii government. In fact, it was this "certificate of live birth" that had the birthers all in a tizzy; they've been demanding for years that Obama release his "long-form" birth certificate, since they deem the certificate of live birth to be insufficient proof. So, Trump can't even get his birther talking points straight.
Further proof of this can be seen in his absurd suggestion that the Obamas planted a birth announcement in a "Houston paper...days after he was born," conveniently giving Obama's parents plenty of time to sneak him back into the country. In fact, the Obamas placed their birth announcement in a Honolulu newspaper, not a Houston paper, and, seriously? Why would it be strange that the announcement appeared "days after he was born?" Does Trump have no idea how newspapers work? Did he expect the president's mother to write a birth announcement in advance of actually giving birth, accurately predicting the day she would have her first child, then demanding that the paper publish the announcement on that very day? Take a look at the other birth announcements published on that day's paper--all of the newly announced births took place on dates ranging from July 30 to August 6. Did all of those people, too, have their child out of the country, only to stealthily smuggle their babies back into the U.S. to then publish birth announcements in the local paper, "for social reasons?"
Trump's rant also included the idea that the president "spent millions of dollars trying to get away from this issue, millions of dollars in legal fees trying to get away from this issue." Although it has been reported that the president has spent nearly $1.7 million in legal fees since 2007, nowhere does it say that the fees have been allotted to citizenship or birth certificate related matters. Like most of Fox News, Trump has his facts wrong.
Previously, Fox hyped Trump's birtherism, and prime-time host Sean Hannity has relentlessly promoted birther conspiracies over the past week, falsely stating that it's "not true" that Obama has shown his birth certificate in addition to holding a week-long campaign promoting the idea that the president is not a legal citizen of the United States.
The question remains - how long will this parade of Fox birther conspiracy march on? Brian Kilmeade seems to have put it best: "We look forward to this every Monday."
Why do you enjoy being a racist so much?
I'd been waiting for this argument to spring up. Thank you for explaining it all. Beck, Limbaugh, Fox News, and Breitbart are all attacking the people which with they disagree because there isn't a logical argument in their brains.
I'm sure you're late for your latest cross-burning boulderhippy. You'll likely be joining leftistloon there.
Yeah about 60 years. You can't possibly believe large groups of grown men still do this crap. You nee to come to the present and debate the problems we have today instead of junk that happened before our president was born (wherever that was).
Are you REALLY stupid enough to believe that Mr. Obama's history has not been extensively investigated by federal authorities?
Personally, based upon your comments here, I'm guessing it's just your raging racism and bigotry.
Racist birther is racist.
Answer your own question... if credible state officials and non partisan fact checkers all agree on the validity of the birth certtificate,why is it not acceptable by some that cling to what they want to believe.Are they just stubborn,partisan,ignorant,bigoted,racist or what?
I have never seen McCain's ,Palin's,Trump's,Bush's,Bachman's or Hannity's.The one I have seen is Obama's.I Think they all are natural born American citizens.Why can't those that have seen the Birth Certificate and heard from Hawaiian officials let it go? If they can't ,one reason may very well be racism.Why is it the only one in demand .Have they seen everyone else's? Have they even asked to see any of the others?Some demanded to see Bush's military records,he never showed them-A little controversy that was short-lived.Dan Rather was fired for a font irregularity in the documents he was given to show the special treatment Bush was given in Texas,but none of the facts were challenged.No one cared very much about that mystery -should that Pres have been given a dishonorable discharge for going AWOL as others would?!!
Is there a double standard going on with Pres Obama?
And as to intellectual laziness, Melody Johnson makes no case that Fox has gone birther other than the fact they let Trump speak on it's show and airs his opinions, something for which The View just did the same thing.
Are you a 'birther' if you have someone on your show like a Donald Trump and you let him ask questions with going all Whoopi Goldberg on him? Does that define birtherism to liberals.
Does that make Fox News racist for not giving the same researched facts in reply to him that Melody Johnson just did to supposedly debunk Trump?
They have supported this story, instead of shooting it down for the lie it is. That makes them birthers.
As for Trump, he is a publicity hound. I doubt if he cares if Pres Obama was born in the U.S.
How did Fox 'go birther' here, jarossiter?
Explain to me what she didn't bother to do if you would, please.
By not denouncing the lie, they imply it is truth.
That makes them birthers.
Barbara Walters?
Left-wing bloggers and news media love to flog this story for all it's worth because they think it's a winner and it generates traffic. Does that make them birthers, too. They treat it as a legitimate news story.
You're not making yourself very clear in your accusations, nerzog. Maybe you should go work for MMFA, too. Or do you already?
No they don't, They treat it like the lunacy it is.
They may hightlight the story, but how else do you show it for the stupidity it is, without talking about it.
MMFA is paying her to write this, and you show up here faithfully every. single. day. to provide cover for the kids they hire to write opinion articles with definitive statements in their headers.
Explain to me how what she wrote is true based on what she wrote.
1. Scroll to the top of this page.
2. Read.
3. Comprehend what you're reading.
4. Get back to us.
Now, you can challenge these facts if you wish, but it does relate to the headline, which is what you were asking for, right?
I just googled the author's name because I was so stunned not only by the lack of professionalism in this article, but the mere fact that MMFA hires kids to write this stuff. This statement is on her LinkedIn page:
Possessed of boundless creativity in writing, thinking and persuading.
I'd say that was a fairly bold claim after reading this article, wouldn't you. I suppose you could make the case that her there does exist a heavy dose of creativity in her thinking and writing, but I'm not so sure about her effectiveness in the persuasion department.
Is this what MMFA is going after these days, creativity in writing, thinking and persuasion?
And you guys just sit idly by and nod your heads?
Yoi.
It's really quite simple once you get the hang of it. I've got faith in you.
A closed mind will do that.
But you just keep moving those goal posts. You've gone from calling facts opinion to critising what the writer says about herself.
Saying silence means agreement like you did is the epitome of closed-mindedness. It's bigotry, too, because not saying anything means you can assign whatever your biased opinion of someone was to their silence, which is wrong.
If fox brings birthers on,or does multiple shows about how birthers have not been disproven, without laying out the facts, then Fox has gone birther.
It is quite simple.
I'm sure that you have to make sure your bedsheet is washed for the next meeting with all your like-minded friends, so I won't take up any more of your time making you read this.
--Charles Krauthammer
Truer words were never spoken.
It's an easy accusation to make for a liberal regarding any criticism of Obama.
The accusation was made, so I'd like to hear you or anyone make a case that Trump is a racist, and is only motivated by race is asking these questions he's asking.
Either make the case or admit it's just a hunch that came to mind with no effort on your part for why you feel it's true.
And it's not just ANY criticism of Obama that makes you a racist. That's moving the goal posts, just like the nutjobs seem to always have to do to make an argument.
That's what it is, hoosier. Any questions?
Again, I ask, do you or don't you think questioning Obama's birth certificate is valid, and what reasons would one have for doing so? I myself cannot see any validity to this line of thinking.
He has posted it. That's where your racist birtherhood is exposed. I guess we could call people like you who really think he was born in the US but just want to see something that has already been shown a "soft birther".
For the last time:
OBAMA.
HAS.
POSTED.
HIS.
BIRTH.
CERTIFICATE.
ON.
THE.
INTERNET.
It's very similar to the "Hillary-murdered-Vince-Foster" bullsh*t. No matter how many investigators concluded that Foster committed suicide, a certain number of Trogldytes refuse to accept it. Quite often the myth is more exciting than reality.
Of course, the same people reject out of hand that Darth Cheney may have jazzed up the Iraq WMD intelligence reports. No, that could never happen!
Of course, we don't need to. The COLB shows us that he was born in the USA. It proves his citizenship.
It's this distinction without a difference that Fox News is running with now.
Because racist birthers like hoosiers and BH can't tolerate the black man in the White House.
Why are these state authorities attacked in such an ethical way by people that have no basis to discount their information.If the state of New York gives the same endorsement of Trump's birth are they to be disbelieved and attacked like Hawaii has been attacked and mocked.If NY records are not treated with the same derisive attitude,what is the reason?Obama vs.Trump..what's different?
BTW, I'd find a better source of quotes than that PNAC neo-conservative Krauthammer. You are aware that neo-conservatism is NOT conservatism, right?
Weak.
Make the case that Trump is a racist for asking these questions.
Explain how anyone who is wondering why Obama doesn't supply his birth certificate and thinks he has something to hide is a racist for being curious about it.
While you're at it, please do what Melody Johnson failed to do and back the claim she made in the title to this dreck of a blog entry for which Media Matters sees fit to pay her for and, curiously enough, has the means and the motives to do so.
Yeah, I agree that it sucks being called a racist, probably a lot more than it sucks to be called a "liberal soundrel," but until I see you actually post something overtly racist, you won't get that accusation from me. The other posters here should defend their own accusations because I'm not going to do it for them, and you're mistaken if you think I am.
I'm going to assume from your reply here that you don't believe that.
But that's exactly the case Melody Johnson made, that Fox's silence to Trump's questions implied assent, therefore they were birthers, too.
Yet no one here questions her assertions.
Why is that, other than intellectual dishonesty?
Why is that, other than intellectual dishonesty?"
Hold on. We agree that fox news is birther central, so why would we argue otherwise?
I'm not here to defend or explain everything posted here, be it by MMfA or in the comment forum.
But I'm guessing my silence is tantamount to assent?
That's the case Melody Johnson is making against Fox, no?
Is this what MMFA's new mission statement about focusing on sabotaging Fox News is all about, silence is assent, therefore one's silence is de facto proof of birtherism and racism?
Is that not what's going on here?
Paying newbie college kids with razor-thin resumes and no hope of meaningful full-time employment to write such bs assertions, and you guys who post here every day show up and act like there's nothing wrong with it?
What the Fukushima, pete?
That's the case Melody Johnson is making against Fox, no?
There ya have it folks, the false equivalence of a major media network being compared to a poster on a blog.
Since I don't have any information regarding MMfA's hiring and employment practices, I'm not really sure how I should act. Maybe I should recuse myself from participating until I've seen all the dirt you've got on them.
With regard to "no hope of meaningful full-time employment," I'm at a loss as to what makes that different from a typical internship, which "newbie college kids" enter into all the time with the understanding that there is no guarantee of a permanent position.
If you believe that we live in a post racial America you are either: delusional, an idiot, or a lier.
Which is it?
--Charles Krauthammer
A real bastion of nonpartisanship and truth,if there ever was one.
/snark
It's not racist to you because you believe blacks are inferior and only acceptable if they do the bidding of rich white men (see Clarence Thomas, Thomas Sowell, and Walter Williams). Otherwise, they gotta shut up -- especially if they expect equality or, heaven forbid, one of them seeks higher office. Then that person has gotta be illegitimate.
Whine all you want, but if there's racism, I'm calling a spade a spade. If you can't take the truth, too bad.
At least till November 5th 2012.
The hospital sent birth notices to the paper. When you had a baby back then, unless you checked the "do not send info to the newspaper" box on forms that parents filled out, all births were reported in the newspaper after hospitals collected the data. Every week or two, there'd be a list in the paper of recent births at local hospitals.
The idea that the parents could somehow get the ad into the newspaper is both a ludicrous conspiracy theory and it's impossible too!
We can continue to tolerate this blatant racism and refrain from calling it what it is or we can endure this for as long as President Obama is in office.
It just shows me how much harder it is and how much stronger you need to be if you're an ethnic minority in America.
Wonder where they got that idea? And the nutjobs continually wonder why we're concerned about the lies from Fox/hate radio.
I mean, never mind the fact that religious law is already constitutionally prohibited from becoming a part of America's law anywhere and in any case. Of course, such fear is to be expected by people who are forever trying to get Biblical law into our courts (sans the modern day extreme and controversial parts, of course).
So, what is the GOP message regarding Muslims? You have one fool bashing them and another embracing them. Things would be much easier if they both would follow the Constitution. Problem solved.
Just an observation from someone who didn't support Obama.
Obama may be flawed, but the Republicans are downright odious.
Since I see you are seriously brainwashed let me tell you what THIS liberals thinks. Us liberals are not very groupthink people so I speak only for myself. I do NOT see he has broken nearly every campaign promise he made. I think he tried to keep his promises and fell short a couple of times. He is actually exactly what he said he would be. That is pretty centrist. He is doing pretty much what I heard him say he was going to do so I am not really disappointed. He never CLAIMED to be someone that would try to usher in a new era of progressivism. He kept saying he wanted to be bipartisan that he wanted to get past the old arguments. I was pretty sure that would be a very bad strategy. I wanted someone who went in willing to FIGHT from day one but my choices didnt include Dennis Kucinich. It was him or McCain/Palin. I am certainly NOT disappointed that we got Obama over THAT iceberg.
You can keep regurgitating the nonsense you were told to think about Obama or wake up and try to deal with factual reality. The choice is yours
Chester A. Arthur
Most official references list Arthur as having been born in Fairfield in Franklin County, Vermont on October 5, 1829. However, some time in the 1870s Arthur changed it to 1830 to make himself seem a year younger.[2]:5[5] His father had initially migrated to Dunham, Lower Canada, where he and his wife at one point owned a farm about 15 miles (24 km) north of the U.S. border.[2]:4 There has long been speculation that the future president was actually born in Canada and that the family moved to Fairfield later. If Arthur had been born in Canada, some believe that he would not have been a natural-born citizen (interpreting the law to mean that to be a natural-born citizen one must be born on U.S. territory) and would thus have been constitutionally ineligible to serve as vice president or president. During the 1880 U.S. presidential election a New York attorney, Arthur P. Hinman, was hired to explore rumors of Arthur's foreign birth. Hinman alleged that Arthur was born in Ireland and did not come to the United States until he was fourteen years old. When that story failed to take root Hinman came forth with a new story that Arthur was born in Canada. This claim also fell on deaf ears.[2]:202–203 In any case, Arthur's father was not naturalized until some years after his birth, resulting in Arthur having dual citizenship
It has happened before.
PRESIDENT CHESTER A. ARTHUR STATE HISTORIC SITE...
As Trump said, "Give me a break!"
Lies from Fox News and Talk Radio are commonplace. Sometimes, though, even respected mainstream outlets intentionally lie to their viewers. To see a debunking of a lie that appeared on the NYT, AP, WP, and ABC read my analysis of their coverage of the story of Raymond Davis.
FactCheck.org did not send any "experts" to look at Obama's birth certificate and they did not determine its "authenticity." They send over a couple of staffers who determined that it was a real physical document that had a raised seal and a rubber stamp on the back. Then they took pictures.
Far more important for determining its authenticity is the Obama FAQ page on the Hawaii Department of Health web site, that says he was born in Hawaii.