Watch Megyn Kelly battle a Trump spokesperson about birtherism in this extraordinarily tense interview

(Image credit: Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Fortune/Time Inc)

published 16 September 2016

Megyn Kelly wasn't about to let Donald Trump's spokeswoman Katrina Pierson evade questions about birtherism during a Thursday night interview on The Kelly File. "Why for the love of God won't he just say that Barack Obama was born in the United States?" Kelly asked Pierson.

Pierson initially tried to answer the question by claiming Trump is not "some robotic politician" who will allow the media to "determine what he talks about and when," which is why he's dodged talking about his campaign's announcement that he now believes Obama was born in the U.S. "Barack Obama is not on the ballot, and not even relevant to this election cycle," Pierson said.

But Kelly wasn't ready to back down just yet. "Katrina, no, that's not gonna fly," Kelly said. "Does he believe it or not? It's not completely irrelevant. You have a lot of people — in particular African-Americans — who feel that that position was a racist position meant to delegitimize the president."

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Pierson responded by pointing out Trump is "pushing on 30 percent African-American support" in a South Carolina poll, prompting Kelly to push back once again. "That's a dodge," Kelly said.

Watch the entirety of the heated discussion, below. Becca Stanek

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