Stephanopoulos and Trump Led Obama to Release the Birth Certificate

Reuters
Elspeth Reeve 1,167 Views Apr 28, 2011

When Obama said he decided to release his long-form birth certificate because even though the country had been in the middle of a critical budget debate two weeks ago, his citizenship had become the "dominant news story." ABC News' Jake Tapper testily defended his press corps crew, pointing out that the birther controversy had only been the No. 4 story that week. But according to The Washington Post's Anne E. Kornblut, Obama had a specific reporter in mind: George Stephanopoulos.

Kornblut reports that after giving a major primetime address on the country's fiscal future, Obama sat down with the ABC News anchor on April 13 to talk about the budget. Instead, the president had to answer several questions about where he was born and also memorably announced he "doesn't have horns."  After watching Donald Trump get blanket coverage in the press for his birther-themed candidacy, and seeing House Speaker John Boehner get pulled into the debate, Obama had had enough. On April 19, he asked White House counsel Bob Bauer if it'd be possible to get Hawaii to release the long-form birth certificate.

The White House decided that once it acquired the document, it would have to be posted ASAP to avoid more conspiracy theories that they'd doctored it. Obama's outside counsel, Judy Corley, flew to Hawaii Monday, and returned Tuesday night with the birth certificate. It was posted Wednesday morning.

Here's some video of from the Stephanopoulos sit-down where Obama was asked about his birth certificate. See if you can spot the exact moment where Obama has had enough.

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