Birthers get lonelier
Congress—and powerful conservatives everywhere—try to quiet questions about President Obama's birth certificate.
Take that, "birthers," said Eric Kleefeld in Talking Points Memo. The House of Representatives has just passed a bill recognizing the 50th anniversary of Hawaii's statehood and noting the state as President Obama's birthplace. The 378–0 vote was a "none-too-subtle jab at the birthers"—who claim Obama wasn't really born in the U.S. and therefore isn't eligible to be president. And the real insult came when Rep. Bill Posey, sponsor of the "infamous Birther Bill," and other Republican sympathizers cast their votes for the language recognizing Obama as a natural-born citizen.
It's true that "a few misguided souls among the Right" have indulged this birther "foolishness," said National Review in an editorial, but "the birth-certificate business is not a uniquely conservative phenomenon." The claim that Obama was born in Kenya appears to have originated with a pro–Hillary Clinton blog during the presidential primaries. "Barack Obama may prefer European-style socialized health care," but "he was born in the USA."
Sympathetic House Republicans and the National Review aren't the only conservative forces abandoning the nutty birthers, said Alex Koppelman in Salon. Fox News' Bill O'Reilly has slammed birthers (watch), and even the infamous right-wing pundit Ann Coulter has withheld her support (watch). When even "some of the conservative movement's most notorious and recognizable media personalities" are denouncing these loonies, it must be getting pretty lonely aboard "the birther crazy train."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
The week's best photos
In Pictures An Olympic training session, a cleaning crustacean and more
By Anahi Valenzuela, The Week US Published
-
The pros and cons of buying a fixer-upper
The Explainer Does it make sense to buy a home in need of a little TLC?
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
The origin and evolution of the Kamala Harris coconut meme
The Explainer You think it just fell out of a coconut tree?
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court rejects challenge to CFPB
Speed Read The court rejected a conservative-backed challenge to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published