Hillary Clinton said Tuesday she’s “appalled” that Donald Trump won’t apologize to President Obama and the country for pushing the false rumor that Mr. Obama might not have been born in the United States.
“I’m appalled that Donald Trump will not apologize to the president and to the country for spending years questioning his citizenship and attempting to delegitimize him,” Mrs. Clinton said on “The Steve Harvey Morning Show.”
“And President Obama and Michelle Obama — they kept their heads high,” she said. “Like Michelle says, when they go low, we go high, and we got to stay high. We’ve got to stay focused.”
On Friday, Mr. Trump took credit for ending the “birther” controversy and blamed Mrs. Clinton and her 2008 presidential campaign for starting the rumors.
“President Barack Obama was born in the United States — period,” Mr. Trump said.
Fact-checkers have concluded there’s no evidence that Mrs. Clinton herself played a role in fomenting the rumor. Patti Solis Doyle, who managed Mrs. Clinton’s 2008 campaign, acknowledged Friday on CNN that they did fire a volunteer coordinator who forwarded an email that promoted the birther conspiracy.
“The campaign, nor Hillary, did not start the birther movement — period. End of story,” Ms. Solis Doyle said. “Hillary made the decision immediately to let that person go. We let that person go.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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