WASHINGTON (AP) — Responding to critics' relentless claims, President Barack Obama on Wednesday produced a detailed Hawaii birth certificate in an extraordinary attempt to bury the issue of where he was born and confirm his legitimacy to hold office. He declared, "We do not have time for this kind of silliness."
By going on national TV from the White House, Obama
portrayed himself as a voice of reason amid a loud, lingering debate on his
birth status. Though his personal attention to the issue elevated it as never
before, Obama said to Republican detractors and the media, it is time to move
on to bigger issues.
Citing huge budget decisions in Washington, Obama
said, "I am confident that the American people and America's political
leaders can come together in a bipartisan way and solve these problems. We
always have. But we're not going to be able to do it if we are
distracted."
Obama spoke shortly after the White House released
a copy of the long form of his birth certificate, which contains more extensive
data than a version released earlier.
The certificate says Obama was born to an American
mother and Kenyan father, in Hawaii, which makes him eligible to hold the
office of president. Obama released a standard short form before he was elected
in 2008 but requested copies of his original birth certificate from Hawaii
officials this week in hopes of quieting the lingering controversy.
White House officials have said the issue was
settled long ago. But so-called "birthers" opposed to Obama have kept
it alive. Potential Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump recently
began questioning why Obama hadn't ensured the long form was released.
From New Hampshire, Trump took credit for getting
Obama to act.
"He should have done it a long time ago. I am
really honored to play such a big role in hopefully, hopefully getting rid of
this issue," Trump said.
Polls show large numbers of Republicans have
continued to doubt Obama is a natural born citizen eligible to be president.
Trump, the bombastic real estate mogul, has seized on the issue as he weighs a
GOP candidacy.
While Obama and White House officials avoided
mentioning Trump by name, officials said they released the birth certificate
partially because the issue had moved beyond fringe discussion, and Obama
criticized a media culture that had not let the story go.
"This issue has been going on for two, two and
a half years now. I think it started during the campaign," Obama said.
"I have watched with bemusement, I've been puzzled at the degree at which
this thing just kept on going."
"We're not going to be able to solve our
problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers," the
president said.
He did not take any questions and did not say why
the document had not been released earlier.
Many Republican leaders have sought to distance
themselves from the "birther" theory as a discredited notion not
worthy of national public debate.
In a statement after Obama spoke, Republican
National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called the issue a distraction — and
yet blamed Obama for playing campaign politics by addressing it.
"The president ought to spend his time getting
serious about repairing our economy," Priebus said. "Unfortunately
his campaign politics and talk about birth certificates is distracting him from
our number one priority — our economy."
The newly released certificate is signed by the
delivery doctor, Obama's mother and the local registrar. His mother, then 18,
signed her name (Stanley) Ann Dunham Obama.
The form says Barack Hussein Obama II was born at
7:24 p.m. on Aug. 4, 1961, at Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital,
within the city limits of Honolulu.
There's no mention of religion. It says his father,
Barack Hussein Obama, age 25, was African and born in Kenya and his mother was Caucasian
and born in Wichita, Kan. Obama's mother and the doctor signed the certificate
on Aug. 7 and 8.
Hawaii's registrar certified the new photocopy of
the document provided to the White House on April 25, 2011.
The White House also released a letter from the
president on April 22 requesting two certified copies of his original
certificate of live birth. Also released was a letter from Loretta Fuddy,
Hawaii's director of health, approving the request.
The president's personal counsel, Judith Corley, traveled
to Hawaii to pick up the documents and carried them back to Washington on a
plane. The documents arrived at the White House around 5 p.m. Tuesday.
AP White House Correspondent Ben Feller contributed
to this story.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
