#EndorseThis: Giuliani Eviscerated By Chris Matthews On Birther Claims
According to former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, Republican nominee Donald Trump has accepted that President Obama was born in the United States. Giuliani claims Trump established this belief several years ago — a claim that POLITICO could not substantiate.
Giuliani appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews on MSNBC Thursday and was asked about Trump’s birther claims. In response, he said “Donald Trump believes now that (Obama) was born in the United States.”
“I confirm that,” Giuliani said. “And Donald Trump now confirms that.”
This portion of the interview was purely false, as Trump has never confirmed that he believes Obama was born in the States. In fact, all he recently said to Bill O’Reilly on the topic was that he doesn’t “talk about it anymore.” Matthews pushed back at Giuliani on this point, and as he did, Giuliani attempted to shift the focus of the interview, claiming Hillary Clinton’s campaign originally brought up the birther issue.
“Where did they do that?” Matthews asked.
After some back and forth, Giuliani softened on his rhetoric: “I believe (Trump) picked up on what Hillary Clinton’s campaign said. He pushed Obama. Obama finally produced the birth certificate and it showed he was born in Hawaii. Therefore he’s an American citizen.”
The claim that Hillary Clinton’s camp first brought up birtherism has been fact checked before and found to be false.
Matthews pressed Giuliani on whether he had any specific conversations with Trump about the issue and whether he could speak for Trump. Giuliani’s response was, “As per Donald Trump — he has told me that he is proud of the fact that he finally got Obama to produce his birth certificate.”
Earlier in the interview, Matthews noted that Trump had not even accepted the birth certificate as the final word on Obama’s legitimacy.
After Giuliani began laughing, Matthews chided him again: “I don’t think this is funny. I think when you accuse the president of the United States of being someone who snuck in the country and assumed an identity, because that’s what Trump has been doing for years now.”
Watch the full video below:
Photo and video via MSNBC/Media Matters Of America
