Rudy Giuliani: Donald Trump now believes Obama was born in U.S.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Thursday that Donald Trump now believes that President Obama was born in the United States.
In an interview on MSNBC, host Chris Matthews said that Trump’s running mate Mike Pence says Mr. Obama was born in the U.S. and asked if Giuliani could confirm or agree with that assessment.
“I confirm that, and Donald Trump now confirms that,” said Giuliani, a Trump surrogate.
Asked when Trump came around to holding that belief, Giuliani said, “He did two years ago -- two years ago -- three years ago.”
Then Giuliani incorrectly claimed that Hillary Clinton accused Mr. Obama during the 2008 presidential primary race that he was foreign-born.
Asked if Trump believes he would succeed a legitimate president, Giuliani said, “Donald Trump believes now that he was born in the United States.”
Giuliani’s claim, however, that Trump changed his mind about the president’s citizenship as far back as three years ago is false. As recently as February 2015, Trump questioned whether Mr. Obama was born in the U.S. during a question-and-answer session at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
Meanwhile, Pence told reporters earlier this week, “I believe Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. I accept his birthplace.”
Another Trump surrogate, Ben Carson, said in an interview on CNN Tuesday that it would be smart for Trump for apologize for the “birther” comments he made about President Obama during the 2012 presidential campaign.
