Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories

"Birtherism" redirects here. For similar challenges against other people, see Natural-born-citizen clause (United States) § Eligibility challenges.

A 2010 billboard displayed in South Gate, California, questioning the validity of Barack Obama's birth certificate and by extension his eligibility to serve as President of the U.S. The billboard was part of an advertising campaign by WorldNetDaily, whose web address appears on the billboard's bottom right corner.

During Barack Obama's campaign for president in 2008, throughout his presidency and afterwards, there was extensive news coverage of Obama's religious preference, birthplace, and of the individuals questioning his religious belief and citizenship – efforts eventually known as the "birther movement",[1] or birtherism,[2] names by which it is widely referred to across media.[3] The movement falsely asserted Obama was ineligible to be President of the United States because he was not a natural-born citizen of the United States as required by Article Two of the Constitution. Studies have found these birther conspiracy theories to be most firmly held by Republicans strong in both political knowledge and racial resentment.[4][5]

Theories alleged that Obama's published birth certificate was a forgery – that his actual birthplace was not Hawaii but Kenya. Other theories alleged that Obama became a citizen of Indonesia in childhood, thereby losing his U.S. citizenship. Still others claimed that Obama was not a natural-born U.S. citizen because he was born a dual citizen (British and American). A number of political commentators have characterized these various claims as a racist reaction to Obama's status as the first African-American president of the United States.[6]

These claims were promoted by fringe theorists (pejoratively referred to as "birthers"), including businessman and television personality Donald Trump, who would later succeed Obama as president. Some theorists sought court rulings to declare Obama ineligible to take office, or to grant access to various documents which they claimed would support such ineligibility; none of these efforts succeeded. Some political opponents, especially in the Republican Party, expressed skepticism about Obama's citizenship or were unwilling to acknowledge it; others proposed legislation that would require presidential candidates to provide proof of eligibility.[7]

Theories have persisted despite Obama's pre-election release of his official Hawaiian birth certificate in 2008,[8] confirmation by the Hawaii Department of Health based on the original documents,[9] the April 2011 release of a certified copy of Obama's original Certificate of Live Birth (or long-form birth certificate), and contemporaneous birth announcements published in Hawaii newspapers.[10] Polls conducted in 2010 (before the April 2011 release) suggested that at least 25% of adult Americans said that they doubted Obama's U.S. birth,[11][12] and a May 2011 Gallup poll found that the percentage had fallen to 13% of American adults (23% of Republicans).[13] The fall was attributed to Obama's release of the long form in April 2011.[14][15][16]

  1. ^ Jardina, Ashley; Traugott, Michael (2019). "The Genesis of the Birther Rumor: Partisanship, Racial Attitudes, and Political Knowledge". Journal of Race, Ethnicity and Politics. 4 (1): 60–80. doi:10.1017/rep.2018.25.
  2. ^ Howard, Adam (August 11, 2016). "Trump's Conspiracy Theories Aren't Far Outside GOP Mainstream". NBC News. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  3. ^
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Crary-New burst was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "'Birthers' claim Gibbs lied when he said Obama's birth certificate is posted on the Internet". PolitiFact. July 28, 2009. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Reyes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Donald, You're Fired!". FactCheck.org. April 9, 2011. Archived from the original on August 12, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015. There also were public announcements of Obama's birth published in Hawaii newspapers shortly after his birth in 1961
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference HarrisPoll201003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference birtherday was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Morales, Lymari (May 13, 2011). "Obama's Birth Certificate Convinces Some, but Not All, Skeptics". Gallup. Archived from the original on November 9, 2011.
  14. ^ Welch, Susan et al. Understanding American Government Archived July 17, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, p. 26 (Cengage Learning, 2013).
  15. ^ Keller, Bill. "A Theory of Conspiracy Theories" Archived September 14, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times Magazine (June 3, 2011).
  16. ^ Cohen, Jon. "Poll: Number of 'birthers' plummets" Archived September 13, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, The Washington Post (May 5, 2011).