About-Face: Conservative Media Start Downplaying Their Birther Credentials

From Media Matters

In the wake of President Obama's release of his long-form birth certificate, which further debunks the claims of those who have been saying Obama was not born in Hawaii, some in the conservative media are now trying to pretend they never questioned Obama's citizenship in the first place.

Right-Wing Media Distance Themselves From Birther Conspiracies They Promoted

Limbaugh Now Claims: "I Warned People This Is A Dead End." Citing emails he had received from listeners telling him "not to be fooled by the White House" following the release of Obama's long-form birth certificate, Limbaugh stated that birther conspiracies are "fun" but that he is "not going to be distracted" by the claims. He said:

LIMBAUGH: It's fun. I make no apology or excuse for enjoying the show this morning that this was. Yeah, while we're gonna have our fun with it, we are not going to be distracted. Because as I have warned, I -- you know, you ought to replay sound bite 2. When we come back from the break, I will, 'cause back on April 7th, I warned people this is a dead end -- dead-end street to start driving down or walking down. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 4/28/11]

Hannity: "This Was Never A Defining Issue For Me, But I Found It Odd." Discussing Obama's release of his long-form birth certificate on the April 27 edition of his show, Sean Hannity tried to downplay his role in promoting the birther myth, saying: "We've got this big issue involving the birth certificate and I was never -- this was never a defining issue for me, but I found it odd. All the president had to do was what he did today: release it, move on, and we're out of the way." [Fox News, Hannity,4/27/11]

Fox News Tries To Distance Itself From Its Promotion Of Birther Conspiracy. Fox News' website Fox Nation pointed to a recent study by Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism in trying to downplay Fox News' role in promoting the birther conspiracy. The post republished part of the study finding that, among the three cable networks, Fox devoted the "least" amount of coverage to the birther claims and boasted of Fox's apparent low amount of coverage to the birther issue during the week of April 11-17. But while the study included Fox evening shows Special Report, The O'Reilly Factor, and Hannity, it did not include other Fox News opinion shows that also contributed air time to the controversy, includingFox & Friends and On the Record with Greta Van Susteren. The study also did not examine Fox Nation itself. [Fox Nation, 4/28/11] 

• NewsBusters Also Highlighted Pew Research To Absolve Fox Of Pushing Birther Conspiracy. NewsBusters' Lachlan Markey wrote: "Unfortunately, simply by giving a megaphone to Donald Trump -- the personality who undergirded much of the birther coverage of late -- news networks implicitly gave voice to the conspiracy theory. Simply ignoring the theory is generally the best way to combat it, and Fox led the field in that regard (on cable news, anyway)." [NewsBusters,4/29/11]

In Fact, Limbaugh And Fox News Have Repeatedly Promoted The Birther Myth

Limbaugh Has Constantly Stoked The Flames Of The Birther Movement. While Limbaugh is now stressing his prior statement that the issue was a "dead end," Limbaugh has consistently engaged in promoting the birther myth:

• Limbaugh made the false claim that Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie "can't find" Obama's birth certificate. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 4/4/11]

• Limbaugh also recently said, "We've got somebody about whom there are legitimate citizenship questions here, serving as president." [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show,4/11/11]

• Limbaugh said to a birther that he "would love nothing more than for this guy to be proven a fraud," adding, "that would be fun." [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 4/7/11]

• Limbaugh speculated that, in October 2008, when Obama made a quick trip to Hawaii to visit his ailing grandmother, he might actually be there to deal with "this birth certificate business." Obama's grandmother subsequently passed away two days before the election. [Premiere Radio Networks,The Rush Limbaugh Show, 10/23/08]

• Limbaugh has also attacked the press for not asking Obama "why won't you show the birth certificate." [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 4/26/11]

• Limbaugh has repeatedly touted Donald Trump's birther theories. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 3/28/11]

Hannity Spent Weeks Demanding Obama Release Long-Form Birth Certificate. Despite his claim that the birther myth "was never a defining issue for me," Hannity repeatedly used his show to demand that Obama release his long-form birth certificate (all the while maintaining that it wasn't his "main issue" and professing a desire to "move on"):

• On March 24, Hannity asked: "What's the deal? Produce the birth certificate, it's over, done with." During the segment, he also said that Obama "did talk in his book about how he went and prayers and he went to a Muslim school, and he did talk about all this. And he studied the Quran, and prayers at sunset were some of the most beautiful things he saw in life. So he spent a lot of years of his youth in Indonesia ... And show the birth certificate." [Fox News, Hannity, 3/24/11]

• On March 23, Hannity asked, "What do you think about this birth certificate issue? I mean, it has not been my main issue, but it kind of does get a little odd here after a while. Can't they just produce it and we move on?" [Fox News, Hannity, 3/23/11]

• On March 25, Hannity stated, "Donald Trump brought up the issue of the birth certificate, and it's getting huge buzz around the country," and later asked, "Why can't they just release the birth certificate, you know, and just move on?" [Fox News, Hannity, 3/25/11]

• Later on the March 25 show, Hannity stated: "Do I think he was [born in America]? Yes. Do I think this is odd that they won't produce the birth certificate? It's beginning to get odd to me." Hannity later stated that it's "not true" that Obama has shown his birth certificate. [Fox News, Hannity,3/25/11]

• On April 5, Hannity said that Obama was born in the United States but demanded that he "show the stupid birth certificate and move on." [Fox News, Hannity, 4/5/11]

Fox Promotes Birther Myth In At Least 52 Segments. A Media Matters review of Fox News' opinion programs found that over a recent two-month period, the network devoted nearly two hours and 20 minutes to the birther issue, and in the vast majority of the cases, the hosts either espoused birther conspiracies or did not challenge or correct false claims about Obama's birth that aired on their shows. [Media Matters, 4/27/11]

Fox Nation Has Repeatedly Hyped Trump's Birtherism. Fox Nation repeatedly promoted Donald Trump's birther claims, including Trump's claim he had investigators in Hawaii who could not believe what they were finding and his claim that Obama may be a Muslim. [Media Matters, 4/7/11]

Other Fox News Figures Embraced Aspects Of Birther Conspiracy. Aside from Hannity, following Donald Trump's lead, other Fox News figures -- including Sarah Palin, Steve Doocy, Bill O'Reilly, Dick Morris, and Monica Crowley -- have embraced or promoted aspects of the birther conspiracy theory by falsely claiming that Obama has not produced his birth certificate, by hosting birthers to hype their discredited theories unchallenged, and/or by calling on Obama to release the long-form birth certificate. [Media Matters, 4/20/11]

Right-Wing Media Hype Conspiracies About Obama's Long-Form Birth Certificate

From Media Matters:

Right-wing media have responded to the release of President Obama's original Hawaii birth certificate by embracing conspiracy theories that the document is fake or has been altered.

Right-Wing Media Hype Conspiracy Theories About Obama's Original Birth Certificate

Bolling: "[G]reen Border" On Birth Certificate "Had To Be Photoshopped In." On the April 27 edition of Fox Business' Follow the Money, host Eric Bolling displayed an enlarged version of Obama's birth certificate and stated that a "green border" on the document "had to be Photoshopped in." His guest, Pam Geller, responded by stating, in part, "Well, this whole border is suspect." From Follow the Money:

BOLLING: I need to know this. You see this fold. This has clearly been photocopied from a book. You see that? It kind of folds back to, like, almost like a binding of a book. And then for some reason, there's a green border around it that had to be Photoshopped in. Trying to figure out why they would do that.

GELLER: Well, this whole border is suspect. I mean, if you're taking a scan of something, it would, to your point, it would be white. Why is this the color of the same --

BOLLING: Note this - note this, you guys, April 25, 2011 -- two days ago -- is when this was requested from the state registrar, Alvin Onaka. So we'll keep our eye on it. We'll keep digging. Hey, listen. It may or may not be, but certainly opens up the can of worms that there are at least questions for it.

OK, Pam. Hang on. Let me bring in the rest of our all-star panel. On the left, we have Fox News contributor Tamara Holder; on the right, Dr. Ablow rejoins us, along with Fox News contributor Monica Crowley.

I'm looking at you over there, Tamara. I'm looking at you smirking a little bit. What's wrong? I mean, at least it's certainly -- you have to ask the question, has this been Photoshopped? [Fox Business, Follow the Money, 4/27/11]

Bolling, Geller Conspiracy-Monger About Doctor Who Gave Birth To Obama. From Follow the Money:

BOLLING: Very quickly, Pamela, this doctor right here, the guy who signed it four days after the birth. He passed away, but his wife today, TMZ had his wife saying I had no idea.

She didn't know about it. His son said I had no idea. It came as a complete shock to him as well. If you gave birth to the president of the United States, don't you think your family would know about it?

GELLER: Maybe he doesn't know about it, either. I mean, I think it's very telling that for three years he didn't release it. There's a big question there. We have to say why -- why didn't he release it after three years? [Fox Business, Follow the Money, 4/27/11]

Geller: "This Is Actually Not A Birth Certificate." Also on Follow the Money, Geller claimed that the document the White House released on April 27 is "a certification of a live birth. This is actually not a birth certificate." From Follow the Money:

BOLLING: Pamela, were any of these notation on here - I don't know if our camera can get it in too close --- you can see some of these numbers that are clearly written in handwriting on the side. We don't know what they are. Trying to figure out a zero, a two there, an X up over here, a one up here. Were they on the short form?

GELLER: Look, this is a certification of live birth. When I left the hospital, I left with a birth certificate. I'm sorry, I didn't bring with it me, but it looked very much like Donald Trump's. It's a little piece of paper, you've got the nurse -- you know what I'm talking about? Certificate - you know, birth certificate. This is a certification of a live birth. This is actually not a birth certificate. [Fox Business, Follow the Money, 4/27/11]

Geller Promotes "Layering" Conspiracy Theory, Asks, "[W]hy Release Such An Obvious Forgery?" In an April 27 blog post, Geller promoted a conspiracy theory claiming that Obama's birth certificate "has been cobbled together" in Photoshop. Geller wrote, "And so the question is, why release such an obvious forgery?" From Geller's post, titled, "Layering: Obama's New COLB raises more questions than it answers":

Today, Obama released another copy of his COLB (certification of live birth) -- more here. It looks like another exhaustive digital forensic examination is in order.

And so the question is, why release such an obvious forgery?

Over at Free Republic:

I thought there was something wrong with my computer when I tried to import the .gov's PDF file into Photoshop. But now that I see what you got when you put it in Word, it's the same thing that Photoshop does to it when I import it! It's DEFINITELY a Layered image that has been cobbled together!

Now, why would only the signatures (and just a partial of Stanley Ann Dunham's) come up? It certainly looks as if someone took Obama's Birth Certificate and then cut&pasted it together! [Atlas Shrugs, 4/27/11]

Drudge Promotes Article On Conspiracy Theorist Alex Jones' Site Claiming Birth Certificate Is A "Forgery." On April 28, under the headline, "Is it real?" the Drudge Report linked to a story on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' website that claimed the birth certificate released by the White House is a "forgery." From the Drudge Report:

[Drudge Report, 4/28/11; InfoWars.com, 4/28/11]

Hoft Pushes Conspiracy Theory From "Photoshop Expert" That Birth Certificate Is "Such An Obvious Fake." In an April 27 Gateway Pundit post, Jim Hoft touted a conspiracy theory from "Photoshop expert and author of more than 17 books on computer graphics Mara Z." declaring Obama's birth certificate "such an obvious fake." [Gateway Pundit, 4/27/11]

Conservative NRO "Dismissed" "Layering" Conspiracy Theory

NRO: "We Looked Into" PDF Layers Theory And "Dismissed It." In an April 27 post on the conservative National Review Online, Nathan Goulding wrote about the "layer" theory -- which was advanced by Geller and Hoft -- and wrote:

We have received several e-mails today calling into question the validity of the PDF that the White House released, namely that there are embedded layers in the document. There are now several other people on the case. We looked into it and dismissed it.

The PDF is composed of multiple images. That's correct. Using a photo editor or PDF viewer of your choice, you can extract this image data, view it, hide it, etc. But these layers, as they're being called, aren't layers in the traditional photo-editing sense of the word. They are, quite literally, pieces of image data that have been positioned in a PDF container. They appear as text but also contain glyphs, dots, lines, boxes, squiggles, and random garbage. They're not combined or merged in any way. Quite simply, they look like they were created programmatically, not by a human.

What's plausible is that somewhere along the way -- from the scanning device to the PDF-creation software, both of which can perform OCR (optical character recognition) -- these partial/pseudo-text images were created and saved. What's not plausible is that the government spent all this time manufacturing Obama's birth certificate only to commit the laughably rookie mistake of exporting the layers from Photoshop, or whatever photo editing software they are meant to have used. It's likely that whoever scanned the birth certificate in Hawaii forgot to turn off the OCR setting on the scanner. Let's leave it at that. [NRO, 4/27/11]

In Addition, Doctor Listed On Obama's Birth Certificate Died Years Before Obama Became Famous

Right-Wing Claims That Family Of Obama's Birth Doc Should Have Known He Delivered Obama Undermined By Fact That Doctor Died In 2003. Contrary to Bolling's suggestion that it was odd that the family of Obama's birth doctor didn't know that he had delivered the president, the doctor in question died in 2003, when Obama was a little-known state senator from Illinois. [Media Matters,4/28/11]

Shepard Smith: "Fox News Can Confirm That The President Of The United States Is A Citizen Of the United States, Period"

Fox News Goes Full Birther

From Media Matters:

Following Donald Trump's lead, Fox News figures have recently embraced or promoted aspects of the birther conspiracy theory by falsely claiming that President Obama has not produced his birth certificate, or by hosting birthers to hype their discredited theories unchallenged

.Hannity Leads The Fox News Birther Charge

Palin Embraces Trump's Birtherism: "More Power To Him"

Fox News Figures Embrace Hannity And Palin's Birtherism

Fox Uncritically Hosts Birthers, Promotes Birther Conspiracy Theories

Obama Has Released His Birth Certificate; Did Not Spend $2 Million Preventing Its Release

Hannity Leads The Fox News Birther Charge

Hannity: "Produce The Birth Certificate, It's Over And Done With." On the March 24 edition of Fox News' Hanntity, host Sean Hannity asked: "What's the deal? Produce the birth certificate, it's over and done with." He later again demanded that Obama "[s]how the birth certificate" and asked, "Why won't they release the birth certificate?" From the March 24 edition of Hannity:

HANNITY: First of all. What's the deal? Produce the birth certificate, it's over, done with. Chris Matthews wants it.

[...]

McGUIRK (Imus in the Morning Executive Producer): Show the birth certificate--

HANNITY: Show the birth certificate.

McGUIRK: Get it over with.

 HANNITY: Get it over with.

HELDMAN: Wait, what does Indonesia have to do with being born in the United States? How is that material to whether or not he was born in the United States? What is the logic?

HANNITY: Why won't they release the birth certificate?

HELDMAN: What is the logic? What's the connection?

HANNITY: Why don't they just release it and get it over with? And, we don't have to talk about it -

HELDMAN: Because it's insulting.

EHRLICH: In fact, I'm tired of talking about it now.

HANNITY: So the only reason they don't release it is because it insults him. [Fox News,Hannity, 3/24/11]

Hannity On Obama's Birth Certificate: "Can't They Just Produce It, And We Move On?" On the March 23 edition of his show, Hannity asked, "What do you think about this birth certificate issue? I mean, it has not been my main issue, but it kind of does get a little odd here after a while. Can't they just produce it and we move on?" [Fox News, Hannity, 3/23/11]

Hannity Asked, "Why Can't They Just Release The Birth Certificate?" On the March 25 edition of his show, Hannity stated, "Donald Trump brought up the issue of the birth certificate, and it's getting huge buzz around the country," and later asked, "Why can't they just release the birth certificate, you know, and just move on?" [Fox News, Hannity, 3/25/11]

Hannity Said It's "Not True" That Obama Has Shown His Birth Certificate. Later on the March 25 edition of his show, Hannity stated: "Do I think he was [born in America]? Yes. Do I think this is odd that they won't produce the birth certificate? It's beginning to get odd to me." Hannity later stated that it's "not true" that Obama has shown his birth certificate. [Fox News, Hannity, 3/25/11]

Hannity Says Obama Was Born In The U.S. But Demands That He "Show The Stupid Birth Certificate." On the April 5 edition of his show, Hannity said that Obama was born in the United States but demanded that he "show the stupid birth certificate and move on." [Fox News, Hannity, 4/5/11]

Hannity Claimed The "Strongest Case" For Obama Being A Citizen Is Printed Birth Announcement. On the April 14 edition of his show, Hannity stated that the "strongest case" for Obama being born in Hawaii was "the announcement that was in one of the newspapers eight days after" he was born. [Fox News, Hannity, 4/14/11]

Hannity Defends Birthers: "Why Are They Crucified And Beaten Up And Smeared And Besmirched?" Interviewing WorldNetDaily editor and CEO Joseph Farah on the March 24 edition of his radio show, Hannity said that Farah has "been beaten up so badly in the press" for pursuing the birther issue and that birthers have been "crucified and beaten up and smeared and besmirched":

HANNITY: All right. Now, Joseph, you've done the most work of anybody that I know here on the issue, and we heard Donald Trump -- if you ask the question, "All right, well, why not just show us the certificate?" "Ah, you're a birther! You're a birther, that's what you are." It's not been my number-one issue, but I've been following it, and I've been saying, why are all these people that just ask to see it, why are they crucified and beaten up and smeared and besmirched the way they are? [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 3/24/11]

Hannity Wondered Why Trump's Birtherism Is "So Toxic," Asks Panel For Their Birth Certificates. On the April 18 edition of Hannity, during a discussion about Trump's birther claims, Hannity asked why it's "so toxic to bring up" the birth certificate issue. He then asked his panelists for their birth certificates. [Fox News, Hannity, 4/18/11]

Hannity Provided Birther Platform For Trump In Interview. During the April 15 edition of his show, Hannity aired an interview in which he provided a platform for Trump's birther theories, including asking Trump what his investigators in Hawaii have found regarding Obama's birth. [Fox News, Hannity, 4/15/11]

Hannity Promotes Trump: His "Popularity" Is Due To Taking On "Controversial Issues," Is A "Lesson" For Republicans. On the April 15 edition of his show, Hannity claimed that Trump's "popularity" provides "a lesson, here, for Republican candidates: Fight, fight -- take on controversial issues, don't back down, and battle." [Fox News, Hannity, 4/15/11]

Hannity Jumped Aboard "Trump 2012" -- Birtherism And All. During the April 15 edition of his show, Hannity helped to promote Trump's birther claims, later airing a graphic promoting a "Trump 2012" presidential run. [Fox News, Hannity, 4/15/11]

Palin Embraces Trump's Birtherism: "More Power To Him"

Palin On Trump Allegedly Sending Researchers To Hawaii To Investigate Obama's Birth: "More Power To Him." On the April 9 edition of Fox News' Justice with Judge Jeanine, Fox News contributor Sarah Palin said of Trump's claim that he sent researchers to Hawaii to investigate Obama's birth certificate: "More power to him." Palin later stated, "I think that [Obama] was born in Hawaii, because there was the birth announcement put in the newspaper, but obviously, if there's something there that the president doesn't want people to see on that birth certificate, that he [seems to] be going to great lengths to make sure that it isn't shown, and that's kind of perplexing for a lot of people." FromJustice with Judge Jeanine:

JEANINE PIRRO (host): All right, Governor. Donald Trump, who is considering a run for the presidency, says that he's got investigators in Hawaii looking for President Obama's birth certificate. What do you make of that?

PALIN: Well, I appreciate that the Donald wants to spend his resources in getting to the bottom of something that so interests him and many Americans. You know, more power to him. He's not just throwing stones and - from the sidelines. He's digging in there; he's paying for researchers to find out why President Obama would have spent $2 million to not show his birth certificate. So, you know, more power to him. [Fox News, Justice with Judge Jeanine,4/9/11]

Palin Declared Trump Is "Being Really Treated Unfairly" By Media Over Birth Certificate Issue.From the April 19 broadcast of Fox News' Hannity:

PALIN: First, I do have respect for Donald Trump and for his candidness. I think people are craving that today in the world of political speak that we're coming out of the White House and the confusing messages that come from so many of our politicos, we appreciate that Donald Trump is so candid. Donald Trump is the one being really treated unfairly, I'd say though in the press when they're hammering him about the one issue he brought up and not been shy about and that's the birth certificate. He's merely answering reporters' questions about his views on the birth certificate and then reporters turn that around, saying, "That's all he's got. He's running on a birth certificate issue," when that's not the case. Donald Trump is running on the issue bottom line that President Obama is so far over his head he has gotten us on the road to bankruptcy and insolvency and a less secure nation. And Trump and so many of us want to do something about that. [Fox News, Hannity, 4/19/11]

Fox News Figures Embrace Hannity And Palin's Birtherism

DOOCY

Doocy: "He Could End It Simply, Just Show [The Birth Certificate] To Us." During an interview with Trump on the April 18 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocy responded to Trump's claim that Obama "has not given a birth certificate" by saying, "He could end it simply, just show it to us, and it'd be over." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 4/18/11]

Doocy: Birth Certificate Produced By Obama's Campaign "Is Not The Exact Birth Certificate."After airing Trump's birther claims from an appearance on ABC's The View, Doocy stated during the March 24 edition of Fox & Friends that the Obama campaign "did produce - before the election - something called a certificate of live birth, which is not the exact birth certificate, but something that the state says indicates that he was born there." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/24/11]

O'REILLY

"Bor[ed]" Of Birth Certificate Issue, O'Reilly Calls For Obama To "Put This Whole Thing To Bed." On the April 8 edition of his Fox News show, Bill O'Reilly said that the birth certificate issue is "getting boring" and that Obama should "put this whole thing to bed." [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor,4/8/11]

PIRRO

Pirro: Obama "Is Refusing To Show His Birth Certificate." On the April 9 edition of Justice with Judge Jeanine, host Jeanine Pirro said to Palin, "What do you think of the fact that the president is refusing to show his birth certificate?" From Justice with Judge Jeanine:

PIRRO: What do you think of the fact that the president is refusing to show his birth certificate. And I've heard that number before -- $2 million that he's spending to not have to show the birth certificate. There's a difference between a birth certificate, apparently, and a certificate of live birth. But what do you think? Is that relevant? [Fox News, Justice with Judge Jeanine, 4/9/11]

MORRIS

Fox's Morris Reportedly Said Trump's Birther Claims Are "Within The Foul Lines." In an April 3 article about Trump, the New York Post reported that Fox News contributor Dick Morris said that Trump's recent "birther talk" is "within the foul lines," while "everyone else who spoke with The Post [sic] thinks it's a major tactical mistake." [New York Post, 4/3/11]

CROWLEY

Crowley: Myths About Obama Persist Because His Policies Are "Seriously Antithetical To American Values." On the April 12 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, Fox News contributor Monica Crowley stated that Trump is "gaining traction" with the birth certificate issue because Obama has "adopted some policies that are seriously antithetical to American values: European-style socialized medicine, massive nanny state, big deficits, big government, big taxes. These are the things that rub the majority of the American people the wrong way. And it feeds into all of these things ... that he really isn't, quote, one of us." [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 4/12/11]

Fox Uncritically Hosts Birthers, Promotes Birther Conspiracy Theories

Cashill On Kilmeade's Fox Radio Show: "Where's The Birth Certificate?" During the March 18 broadcast of his Fox News Radio program, host Brian Kilmeade gave more than 16 minutes of airtime to Obama conspiracy theorist Jack Cashill. During the interview, Cashill said that a reporter should ask Obama, "Where's the birth certificate?" [Fox News Radio, Kilmeade and Friends, 3/18/11]

Trump Told Unquestioning Fox & Friends Hosts, "I'm Starting To Wonder ... Whether Or Not [Obama] Was Born In This Country." On March 28, Fox & Friends hosted Trump, who stated, "I'm starting to wonder myself whether or not he was born in this country." [Fox News, Fox & Friends,3/28/11]

Ratcheting Up Birtherism, Fox Hosted Trump To Call Birthers "Great Americans." During the March 28 edition of Fox News' On the Record, Greta Van Susteren hosted Trump, who advanced his birther conspiracy theories. Van Susteren pointed out that Obama has a passport and one would need to submit a copy of their birth certificate in order to obtain a passport. Trump did not address this point, instead referring to birthers as "great Americans." [Fox News, On The Record, 3/28/11]

Fox Nation Promoted Corsi's Upcoming Birther Book. On March 28, Fox Nation posted a video promoting a new book by discredited author and birther Jerome Corsi about Obama's birth certificate. [Fox Nation, 3/28/11] 

Fox Nation Provided Platform For Trump Birtherism. A March 29 Fox Nation post promoted Trump releasing his "official" birth certificate. [Fox Nation, 3/29/11]

Fox Nation Again Celebrated Trump's Birther Claims By Saying He "Thump[ed] MSNBC Hosts On Obama's Birth Certificate." An April 1 Fox Nation headline read, "Trump Thumps MSNBC Hosts on Obama's Birth Certificate." Fox Nation linked to a video of Trump's appearance on MSNBC, in which Trump said, "I feel that there is certainly a chance [Obama] was not born in this country."  [Fox Nation,4/1/11]

After Hosting Trump Birther Theories, Fox & Friends Increases Promotion  Of Trump's WeeklyFox & Friends Appearances. Following Trump's then-newly announced birther theories, Fox News began to increase their promotion of Trump's regular weekly segment on Fox & Friends. [Media Matters,4/3/11]

Fox Nation Continues To Promote Trump Birtherism: "Investigators ... Cannot Believe What They're Finding." An April 7 Fox Nation headline stated, "Trump: I have Investigators in Hawaii... 'They Cannot Believe What They're Finding.' " [Fox Nation, 4/7/11]

Van Susteren Gave Trump Free Reign To Repeat Birther Theories. During the April 11 of her Fox News program, Van Susteren gave Trump the opportunity and airtime to push his birther conspiracies and discuss his efforts in Hawaii to look into Obama's citizenship. [Fox News, On the Record, 4/11/11]

Obama Has Released His Birth Certificate; Did Not Spend $2 Million Preventing Its Release

Obama Released Certificate June 2008. In June 2008, Obama's campaign made public a copy of Obama's certificate of live birth, which was published on the Internet by the campaign and numerous media outlets. Many experts, including a team from FactCheck.org, reviewed the document in person and determined it was authentic. From FactCheck:

FactCheck.org staffers have now seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate. We conclude that it meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship. Claims that the document lacks a raised seal or a signature are false. We have posted high-resolution photographs of the document as "supporting documents" to this article. Our conclusion: Obama was born in the U.S.A. just as he has always said. [FactCheck.org, 8/21/08]

Hawaii Health Dept. Official Certified That She Had Personally Seen Obama's Birth Certificate.As USA Today reported on July 28, 2009, Dr. Chiyome Fukino, director of the Hawaii State Department of Health, certified that she had personally seen Obama's birth certificate in the original records maintained by the Hawaii government. In a press release, Fukino stated:

"I, Dr. Chiyome Fukino, Director of the Hawaii State Department of Health, have seen the original vital records maintained on file by the Hawaii State Department of Health verifying Barack Hussein Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen. I have nothing further to add to this statement or my original statement issued in October 2008 over eight months ago." [USA Today, 7/28/09; Hawaii Department of Health press release,7/27/09]

Salon's Elliot Debunked Claims That Obama Spent $2 Million "To Not Show His Birth Certificate." Trump repeatedly claims that Obama spent $2 million dollars trying to prevent the release of his birth certificate. This claim appears to have originated from the conservative website WorldNetDaily and has been repeated by numerous right-wing media figures, such as Palin. However, Salon's Justin Elliot looked into the claim and reported:

While the $2 million figure has now been invoked thousands of times around the Web, it appears to have originated on WorldNetDaily, a right-wing news website that conducts original (and often unreliable) reporting on a variety of conspiracy theories.

[...]

Specifically, WND's Chelsea Schilling wrote a series of articles on the legal bills in 2009. See here, here and here. According to the WND articles, the Obama campaign paid $1.7 million in fees to the law firm Perkins Coie between October 2008 and October 2009.

Perkins Coie's Bob Bauer, who is now White House counsel, represented Obama in at least one birther lawsuit that WND has also written about. In 2009, Bauer fired off a brief letter to an attorney who brought a case questioning Obama's eligibility to be president. Bauer warned the attorney that the case was frivolous and asked him to stop pursuing it. (The case is called Hollister v. Soetoro -- with Soetoro referring to the name President Obama supposedly used as a child in Indonesia. It was recently appealed to the Supreme Court, which turned it down.)

The implication of the WND stories -- though not explicitly stated -- is that because Perkins Coie worked on a birther suit, and because the Obama campaign paid Perkins Coie $1.7 million, therefore the campaign paid $1.7 million fighting birther suits. That's an obvious logical fallacy.

Indeed, just last month Roll Call published a look at the Obama campaign's post-election legal spending -- now totaling $2.8 million, most of it to Perkins Coie. DNC National Press Secretary Hari Sevugan told the paper: "The campaign has incurred ordinary legal expenses related to the wind-down of its operations and other legal services which all campaigns incur and which are proportional to the unprecedented size of this campaign." Roll Call continued:

Legal costs for presidential campaigns can balloon following Election Day as these organizations face compliance issues and sometimes court cases stemming from the campaign season.

Sevugan said some legal fees were needed to defend the campaign against "unmeritorious" suits, including one challenging Obama's citizenship.

So, yes, it's clear that the Obama campaign has spent some money fighting so-called eligibility lawsuits. But the $2 million figure is baseless. [Salon.com, War Room, 4/11/11]