Wayne Allyn Root insists that he’s not a birther, but he sure sounds like one in his April 20 Newsmax column, declaring that Donald Trump “has brilliantly brought up an issue that millions of Americans are pondering.”
Root begins his venture into birtherism with a lie, asserting that “Main Street Americans are rightfully concerned to learn that it is impossible to get a passport in America without a long-form birth certificate, yet we’ve allowed a man to become president without the same document.” In fact, as FactCheck.org points out, the birth certificate Obama has provided satisfies legal requirements for proving citizenship and obtaining a passport.
After more denial that he’s a birther — “Asking Obama to prove his background does not make you extreme, or crazy, or a lunatic. It does not even make you a ‘birther'” — Root sounds even more like one:
Do I personally believe Obama was born in a foreign country? I have no idea. I am not a birther, but I do believe there might be something damaging hidden in his college if not his birth records.
Why do I think that? Because Obama behaves suspiciously. Because he hires armies of lawyers to keep his records sealed. I also believe all Americans have a right to ask the question of the man who commands our army and our economy.
Ironically, the more Obama refuses to produce the proof, and the more millions of dollars he spends on legal maneuvering to hide that proof, the more concerned Americans become. Obama is the one stoking the fire, not Trump.
Why exactly is Obama not destroying Trump’s political career by producing the birth certificate? It is so easy and simple — show it and the circus ends instantly. Trump’s gamble would turn into the biggest losing bet in modern political history.
Like birthers often do, Root exaggerates again; as we’ve noted, the idea that Obama “hires armies of lawyers to keep his records sealed” is highly misleading.