Outside the Beltway

Romney: The President Was Born in the United States

Mitt Romney forcefully said Tuesday night that he believes President Barack Obama was born in America and that “the citizenship test has been passed.”

James Joyner
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Mitt Romney is doing his best to carve out the “sane Republican” niche for 2012.

Politico (“Mitt Romney to birthers: Barack Obama was born here. Period.“):

Mitt Romney forcefully said Tuesday night that he believes President Barack Obama was born in America and that “the citizenship test has been passed.”

“I think the citizenship test has been passed. I believe the president was born in the United States. There are real reasons to get this guy out of office,” Romney told CNBC’s Larry Kudlow the day after he formally announced that he’s exploring a run for the White House. “The man needs to be taken out of office but his citizenship isn’t the reason why.”

Kudlow asked Romney about the issue because Donald Trump — the billionaire real estate mogul — has been all over TV questioning whether Obama was really born in in the United States and is therefore constitutionally allowed to hold the nation’s highest office. Trump’s claims have driven the “birther” issue back into the national spotlight — and a recent Fox News poll found that 24 percent of voters believe Obama wasn’t born in the United States, while 10 percent aren’t sure.

The Birther cause is not only stupid and outrageous, it’s a political loser. While I don’t know with any certainly who the Republican nominee will be, I’m quite confident he’ll be on the sane side on this issue at least.

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16 responses to “Romney: The President Was Born in the United States”

  1. Tano Avatar
    Tano

    He really doesn’t get it.
    The role of a Republican leader is to articulate the Republican worldview, not to play “reporter”, looking at silly things like facts. This amounts to a lame attempt at appeasing “reality”, with the only practical effect being a weakening in the war on Obama.
    And this guy wants to be the nominee???

  2. Moosebreath Avatar
    Moosebreath

    Yet another reason why Romney will implode between now and Iowa (as if his support for the basis of Obama’s health care reform and his flip-flops on social issues weren’t enough).

    He’s making a claim to gain the support of every thinking voter in the Republican primary, but as Adlai Stevenson noted with regard to the general electorate, that’s not enough — he needs a majority.

  3. tom p Avatar
    tom p

    Mitt Romney is doing his best to carve out the “sane Republican” niche for 2012.

    A party of one….

    (sorry, that was too easy)

  4. Jay Tea Avatar
    Jay Tea

    It’s pathetic that Romney is taking time to address a matter that shouldn’t get even this much attention.

    I’d much rather hear him explain how well RomneyCare is working out in Massachusetts, and explain how it’s really not one of the models for ObamaCare, and hear him rationalizing his championing RomneyCare while opposing ObamaCare.

    Romney had a defense ready: he could have said that, considering the Democrats holding over 85% of the Mass. legislature, some kind of health care was coming; he did the best he could by fighting against the most disastrous aspects and winning the least atrocious program he could. But to take up the program as a major accomplishment of his that he is genuinely proud of… sorry, I like a lot about him, but that’s a deal-breaker for me. Cabinet Secretary (Commerce, Labor, or Treasury), maybe, but no, not president.

    J.

  5. mantis Avatar
    mantis

    I’d much rather hear him explain how well RomneyCare is working out in Massachusetts, and explain how it’s really not one of the models for ObamaCare,

    Jay would much rather hear lies. A model Republican!

  6. mantis Avatar
    mantis

    It’s pathetic that Romney is taking time to address a matter that shouldn’t get even this much attention.

    He was asked a question in an interview, and the reason for that is a large chunk of the Republican Party, including several candidates or probably candidates, have repeatedly focused on the issue. You’ve made it clear you think it’s a Democratic conspiracy, but the reality is the right has been pushing this for years, and the birther ranks are only growing as a result. If you want to whine, don’t whine about Romney. It’s not his fault. It’s the rest of you idiots.

  7. Jay Tea Avatar
    Jay Tea

    mantis, those lies would be at least entertaining.

    That factor is a huge part of what little appeal you have…

    J.

  8. Jay Tea Avatar
    Jay Tea

    mantis, thanks so much for making my points for me. It really helps me be lazy.

    In the wide-ranging interview with Kudlow — Romney’s first TV appearance and press interview since announcing his exploratory committee — the former Masachusetts governor stood up for his record on health care, taxes and other issues.

    A “wide-ranging interview,” and what is Politico’s lead?

    Four sentences. And that’s all you want to talk about.

    Case freakin’ closed. You just shot your own foot off.

    That looks messy. Let me pour some isopropyl alcohol on it to sterilize it, maybe some salt too.

    J.

  9. mantis Avatar
    mantis

    A “wide-ranging interview,” and what is Politico’s lead?

    Let’s see what you said, dipshit.

    It’s pathetic that Romney is taking time to address a matter that shouldn’t get even this much attention.

    You blamed Romney. I pointed out it’s not Romney’s fault he’s asked a question in an interview. You then pretend you were blaming Politico. Full of shit as always.

    Four sentences. And that’s all you want to talk about.

    Case freakin’ closed. You just shot your own foot off.

    What the hell are you talking about? It’s my fault now that Politico asked Romney a question, Romney answered it, and James wrote a post about it?

    Are you getting dumber? Is that possible?

  10. wr Avatar
    wr

    Jay Tea — So Kudlow, a hard right commentator asks about the birth certificate and Politico, a right leaning news organization, prints the answer. And your point is that Democrats are pushing this? Is there anyone in the world who isn’t in on this conspiracy?

  11. mantis Avatar
    mantis

    Correcting my comment: CNBC asked Romney a question and Politico reported it.

  12. Jay Tea Avatar
    Jay Tea

    Politico, “right-leaning?” They’ve been swerving left for some time now.

    And yeah, you keep on making my point for me — you get Chris Matthews-still leg quivers when the birthers get brought up, don’t you?

    Confession’s good for the soul…

    J.

  13. Herb Avatar
    Herb

    Good for him, but interesting he puts it in terms of what he believes and what he thinks. It’s almost as if it’s a matter of opinion rather than verifiable fact…

  14. Stan Avatar
    Stan

    Jay Tea, there’s a Republican party in Massachusetts. It recently helped elect Scott Brown to the Senate after Ted Kennedy died. It does not call for the end of the health insurance system passed when Romney was governor. Scott Brown supported the program then and he still supports it. It’s highly popular with the public, see

    http://tinyurl.com/69xjqgw

    So my question is, if it’s so awful, why doesn’t the Massachusetts Republican party oppose it? If it’s so awful, why does Scott Brown support it? And what the hell do you know about it?

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