Hannity Goes All-In On Obama Birth Certificate: ‘What’s Wrong With Asking?’
A coalition of peculiar media forces apparently led by Donald Trump appear to be working to make President Barack Obama‘s birth certificate a major 2012 campaign issue, and all signs point to Sean Hannity hopping on the bandwagon. After dedicating a significant amount of time on his radio show earlier this week to the matter, he brought it up once again on TV in the context of Trump’s potential 2012 bid, calling the entire ordeal ‘odd.’
The discussion began on his “Great American Panel,” where Republican strategist Dee Dee Benkie was urging viewers not to completely dismiss Trump as a viable presidential candidate. This allowed Hannity to bring up the birth certificate, which Trump had been demanding to see, and Hannity noted merely asking the question had helped Trump’s poll numbers: “he’s now in a tie for 5th place, two points behind Sarah Palin.” Panelist Ron Daniels scoffed at the idea that being anywhere near Palin on the polls was a good thing, and dismissed the idea that Trump even wanted to be President. “It’s a publicity stunt,” he concluded.
But Hannity was far more interested in pursuing President Obama’s birthplace struggles, wondering aloud yet again why the President has yet to produce a long-form birth certificate. He took his now-typical line of attack, noting that Dick Cheney had to prove his residency and that President Chester A. Arthur had one attorney after him proclaiming he was born in either Ireland or Canada. That said, Hannity clarified that he personally had no questions as to whether the President was American, but he did not consider himself a worthy arbiter of that.
Legal analyst Peter Johnson agreed that “there is a way to put this to bed”– showing a birth certificate that would be adequate to those who believe the conspiracy– and that the White House has not produced said certificate raised questions. Daniels objected, noting correctly that the White House in fact has published President Obama’s birth certificate several times, but the copy presented was not sufficient. To that, Hannity concluded the discussion articulating what many exposed to the birther debate regularly lament: “let’s get out of this. This is stupid.”
The segment via Fox News below:
