Sarah Palin Gets On The Birther Bandwagon Then Gets Off (Update)

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by Colby Hall | 7:25 am, December 4th, 2009

» 8 comments

palin_baby In an interview with conservative talk radio host Rusty Humphries yesterday, Sarah Palin was asked if she would get behind the “Birther” controversy and her response is sure to raise some eyebrows. When asked if she “would make the birth certificate an issue if (she) ran?” Palin called the conspiracy theory a “fair question.” She also compared it to the “weird conspiracy theory freaky thing that people talk about, that Trig isn’t my real son.” Update – Palin clarified her position via her Facebook page.

The birth certificate controversy centers around Barack Obama‘s legitimacy as President because he hasn’t proved he was born in the U.S. Though this theory has been debunked by numerous sources, Palin appears to believe it to be a legitimate issue. And while she never claimed that she would raise the issue, she made clear that she wouldn’t have to, because the public already is.

Palin also placed the birth certificate conspiracy theory in the same category as voting records, calling it “fair game” and adding that “the McCain-Palin campaign, didn’t do a good enough job in that area.” During last year’s election the McCain’s campaign claimed to have lookedinto the birth certificate question and, like every other serious examination, dismissed it.

Transcript from the conversation:

Humphries: Sarah Palin here on the Rusty Humphries show. One of the questions that Jason asks, “would you make the birth certificate an issue if you ran?”

Palin: I think the public, rightfully, is still making it an issue. I don’t have a problem with that. I don’t know if I would have to bother to make it an issue, because I think enough members of the electorate still want answers.

Humphries: Do you think it’s a fair question to be looking at?

Palin: I think it’s a fair question, just like I think past associations, past voting records, all of that is fair game. You know, I gotta tell you, too, I think our campaign, the McCain-Palin campaign, didn’t do a good enough job in that area. We didn’t call out Obama and some of his associates on their records and what their beliefs were, and perhaps what their future plans were, and I don’t think that was fair to voters, to not have done our jobs as candidates and as a campaign to bring to light a lot of things that now we’re seeing made manifest in the administration.

Humphries: I mean, truly, if your past is fair game and your kids are fair game, certainly Obama’s past should be. I mean, we want to treat men and women equally, right?

Palin: Hey, you know, that’s a great point. That weird conspiracy theory freaky thing that people talk about, that Trig isn’t my real son, a lot of people say, “Well, you need to produce his birth certificate, you need to prove that he’s your kid,” which we have done, but yeah, so maybe we should reverse that and use the same type of thinking on the other one.

Update – Last night, Palin clarified her position via her Facebook page:

Voters have every right to ask candidates for information if they so choose. I’ve pointed out that it was seemingly fair game during the 2008 election for many on the left to badger my doctor and lawyer for proof that Trig is in fact my child. Conspiracy-minded reporters and voters had a right to ask… which they have repeatedly. But at no point – not during the campaign, and not during recent interviews – have I asked the president to produce his birth certificate or suggested that he was not born in the United States.

barack obama, Bir, Birth Certificate, Birthers, Obama's Birth Certificate, Palin on Birthers, Rusty Humphries, Sarah Palin, the Birthers

TfT

Colby: To be fair you should update this with Sarah’s response, dontcha think? Afterall, she posted this last night and it is relevant to your article:

Voters have every right to ask candidates for information if they so choose. I’ve pointed out that it was seemingly fair game during the 2008 election for many on the left to badger my doctor and lawyer for proof that Trig is in fact my child. Conspiracy-minded reporters and voters had a right to ask… which they have repeatedly. But at no point – not during the campaign, and not during recent interviews – have I asked the president to produce his birth certificate or suggested that he was not born in the United States.

- Sarah Palin
timzank

“Sarah Palin Gets On The Birther Bandwagon Then Gets Off (Update)” That is a really disingenuous headline, even for this site.
JunkJunk

The headline is misleading. It’s obvious by Sarah’s “update” that she is still firmly on the birther bandwagon.

Can someone tell me where Democratic LEADERS have questioned the authenticity of Trig’s parentage? Yet Sarah from Wassilly says it’s okay to question Obama’s legitimacy as an American?

BS.
TfT

Sarah was never on the birther wagon….but she IS ON the BOYCOTT COPENHAGEN wagon in light of the revelations that global warming is nothing but a fraud. She has a post on that on her facebook page as well. A much more important and newsworthy subject than the birther garbage.
http://www.swissarmyjew.com Keeva

@JunkJunk: Dem LEADERS never asked Palin about that, and Republican LEADERS have never joined in the Birther nonsense. Also note that both Obama and McCain derided these tactics during the campaign. So in direct response to your fairly loaded question, LEADERS actually have tried to shut this down.

Palin’s answer is one that acknowledges the rights of people to ask questions, no matter how goofy. I am no fan of her, but I do respect that she recognizes the rights of the people. Much more so than the so-called media.

That said, the media on both sides kept these 2 stupid questions alive with the illusion that LEADERS were asking. The truth – both stupid made-up controversies have been perpetuated by a media that prefers salacious and juicy to factual and honest. And the media treats both as “guilty until proven otherwise,” which is just wrong.

@Colby: Pull your head out of the gossip toilet and let these nonsense non-issues go. And skip the “just reporting what was said” nonsense. You CHOSE too write about this stupid interview. Nobody made you. National security was not at stake. You picked this to write about just to get a byline on a seemingly sensational (although not at all really) story.
http://trickletown.vox.com/ Trickletown

How about reserving some ire for the talk radio host who asked the question? If Palin sees fit to pander to this part of the base, don’t whine when she steps in a steamy pile of lunacy.
Facebook User

Colby Hall apparently isn’t that bright. The “debunking” page he links to has no original reporting but simply relies on other sources, and those other sources have lied and misled about the basic facts of this and other matters.

For instance, FactCheck took HI’s October 2008 statement to mean that BHO was born there, when that’s not what they said. HI’s October 2008 statement was ambiguous, but FactCheck took it to be proof and then misled people for around nine months.

To help you see that, remember that HI had to issue a second statement in July of this year clarifying their first statement. If – as FactCheck claimed – the first statement was clear, then HI wouldn’t have had to release a clarification.

When you examine the actual facts of this matter and look at original statements, you’ll see just how badly the “debunkers” have misled you. That doesn’t mean that he wasn’t born there. It just means that those various “debunkers” have lied and misled you. (That distinction is difficult to understand for some, but I’m sure the readers of this site will understand it).
naughtymonkey

If it’s a birth certificate that needs to be shown–inquiring folks like myself would like to see the date of birth on Trig Palin’s birth certificate.