Roy Blunt: Birtherism “A Legitimate Question,” Obama Has Produced “No Health Records, No Birth Certificate”

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Maybe the House Republicans aren’t done with Birtherism, after all. In fact, we now have Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), a former House GOP Whip who is now the party’s likely nominee in the top-tier 2010 Missouri Senate race, saying it’s a legitimate question.

Mike Stark from Fire Dog Lake has done another canvass of Capitol Hill Republicans, asking them point-blank if they believe President Obama is a natural-born citizen. He got three answers in the affirmative, from Reps. Pete King (R-NY), Mike Pence (R-IN) and Tom McClintock (R-CA). From others, it ranged from refusals to comment — which is frankly not a bad standard practice when a stranger is in your face with a camera — to Blunt’s open skepticism:

“What I don’t know is why the president can’t produce a birth certificate,” said Blunt. “I don’t know anybody else that can’t produce one. And I think that that’s a legitimate question — no health records, no birth certificate.” Blunt was unaware that Obama already has produced a certificate from Hawaii, which Chris Matthews has waved around on TV.

Also, Stark didn’t realize the first time around that he’d gotten a member of the leadership, House GOP Vice-Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), saying she wanted to see documents. This time, she said nothing, while her staffer ran interference.

Interestingly, both Blunt and McMorris Rodgers voted for the resolution that recognized Hawaii as Obama’s birthplace.

Late Update: Ryan Hobart, the communications director of the Missouri Democratic Party, gives us this comment: “This just shows how out of touch with reality Congressman Blunt is.Too much time in Washington has affected his ability to steer clear of even the most fringe conspiracy theorists. It’s time for him to go.”

Latest DC
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: