Sen. Richard Shelby Doubts Obama’s Citizenship

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Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:49 pm

Call it the rumor that won’t die, at a public meeting in Cullman County, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) talked about Obama’s citizenship. When asked if Obama was a citizen, Shelby said that he hadn’t seen Obama’s birth certificate. Shelby now joins Alan Keyes in this week’s Obama isn’t a citizen club.

According to the Cullman Times when Shelby was asked about the Obama citizenship rumor he said, “Well his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven’t seen any birth certificate. You have to be born in America to be president.” Notice how Shelby nuanced his answer to both cast doubt on Obama, but also give himself a way out. He never came out and said that Obama isn’t a citizen, but he fueled the rumors by saying that he hasn’t seen a birth certificate. If Shelby wants to see a copy of Obama’s birth certificate, he can go Factcheck.org . It is right there for everyone to read and review.

Since when has it become common practice for presidential candidates to have to prove their citizenship to senators like Richard Shelby? Did Shelby ask to see Bill Clinton’s birth certificate, or George W. Bush’s? If Obama was white, these rumors about his citizenship would not exist. Barack Obama is black and spent part of his childhood overseas, so of course, he isn’t a citizen of the United States. Does anyone really believe that a non-citizen would be allowed to run for president, much less take office?

For all of the knuckleheads out there like Alan Keyes and Richard Shelby, let me explain something. If Obama was not a citizen, he would not have even been allowed to be on the state primary ballots. A candidate’s citizenship is reviewed both at the state and federal level. Obama’s citizenship has been reviewed numerous times, and each time it is obvious that his Hawaii birth certificate is real. Even before Obama ran for president, do you think that he would have ever gotten top secret clearance if he wasn’t a citizen?

One can disagree with and criticize President Obama for his positions on the issues, but if Republicans think that they are going to defeat Obama in 2012 by keeping these rumors alive, they are badly mistaken. Statements like Shelby’s make the Republican Party sound mentally challenged. They may play well in dark red states like Alabama, but to much of America, his comments are just bizarre. I guess keeping the Obama rumors alive is much easier than actually coming up with new ideas and positions that voters would support. It is garbage like the comments of Keyes and Shelby that is keeping the GOP down.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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