President Obama has finally released his fabled long-form birth certificate, a document that has long been sought after by the President’s most energetic critics.
Dan Pfeiffer, communications director for the White House, said the President decided to release this document “in response to mounting questions about the President’s birth.” No one has been mounting those questions with greater enthusiasm than Donald Trump, who has made concealment of the birth certificate a cornerstone of his assault on President Obama’s character and qualifications.
President Obama took the extraordinary step of calling a press conference to accompany the release of the birth certificate – something he waited a week to do after launching a military attack on Libya. At the conference, he said he has watched the birth certificate debate “with amusement” and has been “puzzled by the degree to which this thing just kept on going.” He added that America would not be able to “solve its problems if we are distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers.”
With a smile, the President said he expects that “no matter what we put out, this issue will not be put to rest.” He then quickly departed the press conference without taking any questions.
As for Trump, he is claiming victory, saying “I am very proud of myself. I am really proud, I am really honored. I’m taking great credit.” He also expressed relief that he would no longer be pestered about the birth certificate during media interviews, and can now move on to discussing the really important issues during his nascent presidential campaign.
Trump wondered why Obama did not release his long-form birth certificate “a long time ago.” He said he wants to “look at it” himself, and that “we have to see ‘is it real?’ Is it proper? What’s on it?”
These and many other questions can be answered by clicking this link to view a PDF scan of the birth certificate. The document bears the name of “Barack Hussein Obama II” and states he was born on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Update: changed the Birth Certificate link to a better one from CNN.
