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#conspiracy-theory

2 incidents

Updated September 16, 2016 Civil Rights
Major Abuse of Power

Birtherism: Five-Year Campaign Claiming Obama Was Not Born in the United States

Trump began promoting birtherism on television in 2011, claiming Obama was 'born in Kenya' and demanding proof of U.S. birth. When Obama released his birth certificate in April 2011, Trump claimed credit. He continued to make or amplify birther claims through 2012, 2013, 2014, and as late as August 2016. The birther movement was not factually novel — it was a conspiracy theory that had circulated in fringe circles — but Trump elevated it to mainstream political discourse. Scholars and civil rights groups documented that the theory's premise was inseparable from the claim that a Black man with the name Barack Hussein Obama could not legitimately be an American president.

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4
birtherismracismObamapre-presidencyconspiracy-theory
Updated September 16, 2016 Civil Rights
Major Abuse of Power

The Birther Campaign: Trump's Racist Attack on Obama's Legitimacy

Trump spent five years as the most high-profile national birther — making repeated media appearances questioning Obama's birth certificate, demanding documents, and insisting Hawaii was hiding something. Obama released his long-form birth certificate in April 2011 specifically in response to Trump's media campaign. Trump continued the campaign for years afterward. In September 2016, he held a press conference in which he acknowledged Obama was born in the United States — and falsely blamed Hillary Clinton for starting the theory.

Sources
5
birtherObamaracismpre-presidencycivil-rights