Washington – President Obama told Oprah Winfrey today that he was driven to release his long-form birth certificate so that the nation could move on and focus on a “serious conversation” about solving its problems.
Obama, joined by his wife, discussed the issue at Winfrey’s Chicago studios hours after he took to the White House briefing room to chide the “sideshows and carnival barkers” propagating conspiracies about his roots.
Winfrey asked Obama why he waited so long to release the full documentation.
“When it first came up, were you thinking, I hope I was born here?” Winfrey asked, according to a transcript provided by her production company.
“Can I just say I was there, so I knew,” Obama said. “I knew I had been born. I remembered it.”
“Of course you did,” Winfrey said.
The interview with the Obamas will air May 2 on one of Winfrey’s final shows in a quarter-century run.
Winfrey famously lent her credibility and celebrity status to Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign with her endorsement during the Democratic primaries. She joined him at campaign rallies that drew supporters by the thousands.
Obama told her that he sought a “special dispensation” from the state of Hawaii to release the full record after the ongoing debate over his birthplace — fed in recent weeks by Donald Trump — overshadowed the deficit debate.
“I said to my team, look, even though this is not usually what the state of Hawaii does. Even though the Republican governor of Hawaii, the Democratic governors of Hawaii, all the various officials had confirmed that I was born here, let’s ask them for a special dispensation where they will go ahead and provide us with the original to see if we can put this to rest,” he said.
“We are living in a very serious time. And America has huge potential and opportunity to seize the 21st century. We’re only gonna get there, though, if we have a serious conversation about the things that matter to people,” he said.
{LA Times/Matzav.com Newscenter}
what will the birthers have to talk about next? i am sure they will come up with some stupid thing to try to keep him from getting reelected
Next the birthers will insist Obama’s mother was really born in Kenya.
The fact is, he was acting suspicious.And,it is a legitimate question to ask why it took him so long.and why he spent around 2 million to hide it. Possibly he did the whole thing to make a fool out of the republican party.
The official press release from the Hawaii Department of Health:
http://hawaii.gov/gov/newsroom/press-releases/hawaii-health-department-grants-president-obamas-request-for-certified-copies-of-long-form-birth-certificate
Special dispensation? Like he couldn’t have gotten a copy of his own birth certificate?
Name,
Many states, including Hawaii and my own birth state of Pennsylvania, no longer issue copies of the original birth certificates. Basically, it is much cheaper to generate them on a computer than to do photocopying. I can not get a copy of my own original long form birth certificate — if one still exists at all.
Charlie. This man’s the PRESIDENT! He could have gotten anyone to give him a copy.
#7 Anonymous,
You clearly have never worked in Washington. Things don’t work the way you think. The President isn’t a dictator.
A man is only as good as his word…….Based on his campaign promises, this Obama guy is isn’t worth much!
Can I just say I was there, so I knew, Obama said. I knew I had been born. I remembered it.
He remembered his birth?!?! What!? Are you kidding me?!
Can I just say that that’s the biggest load of garbage I’ve ever heard.
Did anyone hear an answer to the question why did he wait until now and not release it months ago??
#10 is 100% correct. No one is able to remember where he was born!
I wonder if the reason he took so long, had anything to do with his employer George Soros?
Maybe George Soros ( aka BHO’s employer ) told him to not show it all this time, until now.
If he would be a great president nobody would care where he was born.
Aside from the obvious question as to why
Obama waited so long, it would also be reasonable to ask why he spent over one million
dollars in litigation fees fighting to block release of the certificate in court.
But—as many citizens have already pointed out—there are enough reasons
why an enlightened electorate should not
vote for that fellow in 2012.