White House: Birthers Offering "Fictional Nonsense"

5182726Updated 3:16 p.m. ET

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs lashed out Monday at the so-called "birthers" who believe President Obama is not a legal U.S. citizen despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. (Hotsheet explained the Birther movement here.)

At his daily press briefing, Gibbs was asked if there was anything the White House could do to make the issue go away. "The God's honest truth is no," Gibbs responded.

"I mean, let's understand this," he said. "And I almost hate to indulge in such an august setting as the White House -- and I mean this in seriousness -- the White House briefing room discussing the made-up fictional nonsense of whether or not the president was born in this country."

Gibbs noted that he asked that the president's birth certificate be put on the Internet a year-and-a-half ago, a move that did not satisfy the birthers.

"If I had some DNA, it wouldn't assuage those who don't believe he was born here," he said. "But I have news for them and for all of us: The president was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the 50th state of the greatest country on the face of the Earth. He's a citizen."

"There are 10,000 more important issues for people in this country to discuss rather than whether or not the president is a citizen, when it's been proven ad nauseum," Gibbs added.

The press secretary was asked why the issue keeps coming up. Among those who have taken bither arguments seriously in recent weeks are CNN's Lou Dobbs, right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh and a group of Congressional Republicans, who sponsored a bill mandating that presidential candidates submit their birth certificates.

"Because for 15 dollars, you can get an Internet address and say whatever you want," Gibbs responded.