JOHN SAPOCHETTI (CO-HOST): At some point can we expect Donald Trump to just admit that President Obama was born in Hawaii and move on from that issue?
ROGER STONE: Well, he’s always had suspicions about this and to him it has never added up. I would add, though, that it hasn’t really been a focus point of this presidential campaign. These are issues that the elites trashed him for four years ago. Most of this, of course, is a certified distraction from Hillary’s health problems. I mean, all of a sudden David Duke is back in the news cycle. All of a sudden birtherism is back in the news cycle. I think what this is really about is panic by the Democrats who see Trump pulling ahead in Ohio, pulling ahead in Pennsylvania, pulling ahead in Florida, pulling ahead in Nevada, pulling ahead in Iowa. Incredible polls. Some of these are CNN polls, for goodness sake.
ALEX REIMER: But if it is a distraction, Roger, then why doesn’t Donald just come out and say Obama was born in the United States and end the distraction? Why does he keep it going?
STONE: Well I must tell you, I assumed that that was what they were doing when I saw the comments of Rudy Giuliani and Ben Carson and I really thought this was a one day half story. But the thing about Trump, of course, is that he will never be pressured into doing something that he does not want to do. This is what I think makes him a great negotiator. He is tough. He’s got real concerns here. I think the bottom line is he doesn’t know. He’s not sure. That’s not the same as “I’m certain the president was born either in Hawaii” or “I’m certain that he was not.”
REIMER: What more does he need to see, though?
STONE: Obama’s actions in this matter kind of I think lead him to that conclusion.
REIMER: Obama did release his birth certificate, though, so what more does Donald Trump need to see, you think?
STONE: Well there are many people who are far more knowledgeable than I am about the internet and about the computerized graphics who have a belief that the document that was produced is not real. I don’t know. I’m not an expert on this. I also don’t really care in the sense that Obama’s presidency is essentially over. We’re not running against Barack Obama, at least not directly. Trump is running against four more years of Obama perhaps but Hillary Clinton is [his] opponent and this is a media-fostered distraction.
