Topic: Birthers

CBS News reporter Ed O'Keefe characterizes the questioning of Kamala Harris's eligibility as a "racist theory" stoked by the Trump campaign. The segment deconstructs the CBS report, noting that clips of Harris "brushing off" questions were actually unrelated footage of her signing campaign documents. The hosts argue that the media is conflating legal questions about birthright citizenship with racial attacks to protect the Biden-Harris ticket.

President Trump faced media backlash after retweeting a video referencing the "Clinton Body Count" following Jeffrey Epstein's death. Major news outlets, including NPR and CNN, have used the incident to label Trump a "conspiracy theorist in chief," citing his past claims regarding birtherism, Ted Cruz's father, and voter fraud. Critics argue that the President's use of his platform to spread unverified theories undermines democratic norms.

A controversy erupted after Donald Trump Jr. retweeted a claim that Kamala Harris is not an "American Black" due to her Jamaican and Indian heritage. The discussion explores the "American Descendants of Slavery" (ADOS) movement's perspective on lineage and how the media labels these critiques as "birtherism."

Donald Trump Jr. briefly retweeted a post questioning Kamala Harris's identity as an "American Black," leading to accusations of "Birtherism 2.0" from media figures like Joy Reid. The hosts discuss the tension between Harris's heritage and the expectations of the American descendants of slavery.

Jared Kushner's interview with Axios is reviewed, specifically his refusal to label "birtherism" as racist. The hosts criticize Kushner's media performance and suggest he should have deflected the question by pointing to the 2008 Hillary Clinton campaign's alleged role in the controversy.

Barack Obama's recent visit to Kenya was met with mixed reactions from locals who felt he did not do enough for the country during his presidency. During a speech, Obama referred to himself as the "first sitting American president to come from Kenya," a statement the hosts find "head-scratching" given his official birth record in Hawaii.

A producer in Finland shares an English test given to a 12-year-old student that includes questions about Barack Obama's childhood. The test lists "lived in Kenya" as a potential answer, and the student correctly (according to the meme) chose it. The hosts discuss how "birther" narratives have become entrenched in international educational materials.

Senator Jeff Flake appears on CBS This Morning to discuss his op-ed and his decision not to seek re-election, citing the "debasement" of American politics. During the interview, host Charlie Rose attempts to get Flake to label his fellow Republicans as "complicit" in the President's actions, a framing Flake partially resists while maintaining that the coarsening of dialogue is a systemic problem.

Ira Glass of "This American Life" delivered a speech at an NPR event regarding the "limited power of fact-based reporting." Glass used the birther controversy to illustrate how voters ignore media refutations. The hosts criticize Glass for failing to acknowledge that the birther rumor originated within the 2008 Hillary Clinton campaign, calling his narrative "phony."

The hosts mock a CNN analyst who mistakenly referred to the TPP as the "Trans-Pacific Pipeline" while condescendingly discussing John Kasich and Donald Trump's stance on the birther issue.

Donald Trump held a press conference at his new hotel in the Old Post Office building in Washington, D.C., where he stated that President Barack Obama was born in the United States. Media critics accused Trump of using the event as a "bait and switch" to promote his new luxury hotel to the press corps.

Rachel Maddow characterized Donald Trump's birther reversal as a "collapse" and a "disastrous" event, noting that the stage drapes fell over as he exited. MSNBC reporters emphasized that Trump spent years promoting the conspiracy theory and attempted to blame the origins of the movement on Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign.

CNN's Jake Tapper claimed the media was "rickrolled" by Donald Trump, who spent the majority of his press conference featuring military veterans before making a brief statement on birtherism. Tapper disputed Trump's claim that Hillary Clinton started the birther movement and that Trump was the one who ended it.

Lester Holt and Hallie Jackson of NBC News reported on Donald Trump's admission regarding President Obama's birthplace, framing it as a cynical attempt to gain support from white college-educated voters. The coverage included clips of Obama joking about the moon landing and emphasized the "racist" nature of the birther conspiracy.

The hosts examine the origins of the birther movement, arguing that while it may have started earlier, it was popularized by Hillary Clinton supporters and "PUMAs" during the 2008 Democratic primary. They discuss the role of Clinton advisor Sidney Blumenthal in allegedly encouraging reporters to investigate Obama's background.

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski of "Morning Joe" state that the birther movement and rumors about Barack Obama's religion were originally spread by the Clinton team in 2008. Historian John Heilmann confirms that the Clinton campaign was responsible for passing around photos and rumors during the primary.

Former Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle admits that a volunteer coordinator in Iowa was fired in late 2007 for forwarding an email that promoted birther conspiracy theories. The hosts use this admission to counter media claims that the Clinton campaign had no connection to the movement's origins.

A CNN report identifies Linda Starr, a Hillary Clinton supporter from Texas, as the amateur researcher who brought the first birther-related lawsuit to lawyer Philip Berg. The report acknowledges the theory's "tributaries" in the Democratic primary before it was later adopted and mainstreamed by conservative figures like Lou Dobbs and Donald Trump.

Pastor Darrell Scott argues on CNN that questioning a candidate's citizenship is a political maneuver rather than a racist one, noting that Trump used similar tactics against Ted Cruz. Scott claims Democrats are playing on the emotions of black Americans because they fear Trump is making inroads with the community.

A Republican strategist on CNN reminded viewers that the "birther" rumors regarding Barack Obama's heritage originated within the Hillary Clinton campaign during the 2008 Democratic primary. The CNN anchor appeared flummoxed by the claim, despite historical documentation of internal Clinton campaign emails discussing Obama's background. The segment highlights how political origins are often forgotten or rewritten by the media over time.