Obama: ‘I’ve Got Better Stuff To Do’ Than Talk About Birthers

The President releases his birth certificate to quiet the rumors. But don't expect them to go away any time soon.

By Shani O. Hilton Apr 27, 2011

After nearly three years of controversy, President Barack Obama attempted to shut down birtherism once and for all by releasing his long-form birth certificate this morning. Perhaps it’s just us, but it wasn’t a big surprise to read that the president was born in Kapiolani Hospital in Hawaii to Barack Hussein Obama and Stanley Ann Dunham.

Donald Trump  — the fake presidential candidate who refuses to announce his candidacy because he has "the most successful television show on NBC" — called a press conference where he patted himself on the back for pressing the issue. He also asked for the president to release his college transcripts, because he "read" that Obama was a "terrible student" and wants to know how he got into Columbia and then Harvard.

Trump’s presser was cut off when Obama held his own conference, where he sounded by turns amused and annoyed with the controversy and the press. He chided media outlets for reporting birtherism, saying he’s "watched with bemusement" as the rumors continued to swirl, adding "Normally, I wouldn’t comment on things like this."

Even though he admitted the birth certificate is unlikely to quell the most determined of birthers (a prediction which has already turned out to be correct), Obama used the conference to draw attention to more important issues: "We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We’ve got better stuff to do. I’ve got better stuff to do."

This might actually turn out to be a home run for Obama, since, after three years, news outlets like CNN are finally willing to definitively state that he was born in the U.S. If right wingers continue to press the issue, the GOP may have to answer for the unwillingness of its supporters to accept the facts.