Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Friday falsely accused his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton of starting the so-called birther movement ― and claimed that it was he who ended the controversy by getting President Barack Obama to release his birth certificate.
That’s a lie. Even after Obama released his long-form birth certificate in 2011, Trump continued to question whether the president was born in the U.S.
The issue has been central to Trump’s rise as a politician and has served as a racist dog whistle to attack Obama.
Here are a few of the times Trump raised doubts about Obama’s birthplace ― in some instances, even when the real estate mogul was a candidate for president of the United States.
When CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked about Obama’s birthplace in January, Trump replied, “Who knows about Obama?”
Trump also said, “I don’t discuss the birther thing anymore,” when CNBC’s John Harwood asked him about the president’s birthplace.
In 2014, Trump invited hackers to see if Obama was lying about his birthplace.
In 2012, Trump said he had credible information that Obama applied for college as a foreign student.
The same year, he said Republicans shouldn’t apologize for being birthers.
Trump also tweeted and retweeted several conspiracy theorists who suggested Obama’s birth certificate wasn’t real.
Sounds like a man who put an end to birtherism indeed.
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularlyincitespolitical violence and is a