The US President has rounded on Republicans expressing doubts over whether he was born in America saying it will backfire on them at election time.
The President counters claims he was not born in America at an event in Chicago
Barack Obama
said most people knew he was born in Hawaii and were more concerned
about rocketing fuel prices and rising unemployment than his birth
certificate, in an interview with ABC News.
The question of the President's place of birth was thought to have
been settled long ago after state officials confirmed he was born in
Hawaii.
The matter was taken so seriously at the time that his Hawaiian birth certificate was made public.
But billionaire businessman Donald Trump, and possible Republican presidential candidate, breathed new life into the conspiracy theories by raising the issue of Mr Obama's birth place again.
Trump has breathed new life into birther conspiracy theorys
Conspiracists known as 'Birthers'
have long claimed that the President was actually born in Kenya and is
not eligible to stand as President of the United States.
But at a fundraiser in Chicago, Mr Obama's hometown, the US leader
seemed unruffled by the Republican jibes and joked to an appreciative
crowd about the birth issue.
When talking about his deep connection with Chicago the President
said: "I wasn't born here (long pause)...just want to be clear... I was
born in Hawaii".
The latest rumours over Mr Obama's birth place come as the state of Arizona
approved a proposal for presidential candidates to prove they are US
citizens before their names can appear on the state ballot.
Similar legislature is now being considered by 13 other states.
Lebanon County state representatives Mauree Gingrich and RoseMarie
Swanger are cosponsoring a bill that would require candidates for
president and vice president to provide proof of American citizenship to
qualify for a spot on the state ballot.
The bill amends the current law, which applies that standard only to state and municipal candidates.
In announcing the bill Wednesday, primary sponsor Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a Republican from Butler County, said he introduced the measure because he doubts President Barack Obama was born in the United States.
"As a veteran and an elected official who takes an oath of office, just like every past and future President of the United States, to uphold and defend the Constitutional rights of the citizens I represent, it is beyond perplexing and greatly troubling that a political candidate can ascend to the highest levels of government without providing sufficient documentation verifying his or her place of birth or American citizenship," Metcalfe said in a news release.
Gingrich does not include herself among the so-called birthers and says she accepts the documents proving Obama's citizenship. Swanger, however, finds it questionable that Obama produced a certification of live birth versus a birth certificate.
Doubts of Obama's citizenship were a hot topic during the 2008 presidential election. They have resurfaced recently as real estate mogul and could-be presidential candidate Donald Trump has made the rounds on
the national media espousing the belief that Obama was not born in the U.S.
Adding fuel to the "birther" argument is Hawaii's law prohibiting
disclosure of birth certificates and other vital records unless the
requestor has a "direct and tangible interest in the record."
Instead, the state issued a certificate of live birth to verify Obama's citizenship, which many have refused to accept.
Gingrich, a Republican, said she believes Metcalfe's legislation stands on its own merits because it is consistent with the existing standards applied to all state candidates, from school board to governor.
"Personally, I have enough confidence that adequate information was in place before he (Obama) was accepted as a candidate," she said. "This (bill) is just a common-sense effort that puts that kind of information on the public record earlier."
Swanger, also a Republican, said the bill is just "common sense" that the highest ranking officials need to provide the same documentation as the rest of the citizens.
"My thoughts are there are many instances in which we as citizens need to prove that we are citizens.Why wouldn't the highest official in land do the same thing?" she said. "We do have controversy about Obama. A lot of people think there's nothing to it. I want to see an official birth certificate, like what I have to supply."
Asked if she considered herself a "birther," Swanger said, "I don't care what you call me, I just want to see a real birth certificate."
The bill amends the current law, which applies that standard only to state and municipal candidates.
In announcing the bill Wednesday, primary sponsor Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a Republican from Butler County, said he introduced the measure because he doubts President Barack Obama was born in the United States.
"As a veteran and an elected official who takes an oath of office, just like every past and future President of the United States, to uphold and defend the Constitutional rights of the citizens I represent, it is beyond perplexing and greatly troubling that a political candidate can ascend to the highest levels of government without providing sufficient documentation verifying his or her place of birth or American citizenship," Metcalfe said in a news release.
Gingrich does not include herself among the so-called birthers and says she accepts the documents proving Obama's citizenship. Swanger, however, finds it questionable that Obama produced a certification of live birth versus a birth certificate.
Doubts of Obama's citizenship were a hot topic during the 2008 presidential election. They have resurfaced recently as real estate mogul and could-be presidential candidate Donald Trump has made the rounds on
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Instead, the state issued a certificate of live birth to verify Obama's citizenship, which many have refused to accept.
Gingrich, a Republican, said she believes Metcalfe's legislation stands on its own merits because it is consistent with the existing standards applied to all state candidates, from school board to governor.
"Personally, I have enough confidence that adequate information was in place before he (Obama) was accepted as a candidate," she said. "This (bill) is just a common-sense effort that puts that kind of information on the public record earlier."
Swanger, also a Republican, said the bill is just "common sense" that the highest ranking officials need to provide the same documentation as the rest of the citizens.
"My thoughts are there are many instances in which we as citizens need to prove that we are citizens.Why wouldn't the highest official in land do the same thing?" she said. "We do have controversy about Obama. A lot of people think there's nothing to it. I want to see an official birth certificate, like what I have to supply."
Asked if she considered herself a "birther," Swanger said, "I don't care what you call me, I just want to see a real birth certificate."
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