After Donald Trump declined to say whether he believes President Obama was born in the United States, Fox News’ Megyn Kelly on Thursday night quizzed campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson on Trump’s refusal to denounce his birtherism.
“Why for the love of God won’t he just say that Barack Obama was born in the United States?” Kelly asked Pierson.
In response, Pierson told Kelly that Trump is not a “robotic politician” and that he will not “let the media determine what he talks about and when.”
“He will respond when he feels like it,” she said, adding that while Trump has tried to focus on policy, “we keep hearing these diversionary tactics by the Clinton campaign and the media, which is just CNN.”
Kelly asked about Trump’s birtherism again, noting that members of Trump’s campaign have said that the Republican nominee believes Obama was born in the U.S.
“Why wouldn’t he say it?” Kelly asked.
“Well, simply because he does not talk about that anymore,” Pierson replied, adding that it’s not relevant because Obama is not on the ballot.
“That’s not gonna fly,” Kelly hit back, but Pierson continued to argue that Trump’s birtherism is not relevant.
“It’s not completely irrelevant,” Kelly then told Pierson. “You have a lot of people in this country, in particular African Americans, who feel that that position was a racist position meant to delegitimize the president.”
Kelly asked why Trump refuses to denounce his birtherism himself despite statements from his campaign. In response, Pierson began to say that Trump is now polling better with black voters.
“That’s a dodge,” Kelly then told Pierson repeatedly.
“Mr. Trump has said he’s not going to talk about it. I have given you the answer,” Pierson said in response. “The media’s not going to force Mr. Trump to say anything he’s not ready to say.”
“The media didn’t force him to come out and take a position being a birther, but he did,” Kelly replied. “And now we’re following up because he wants to be commander in chief.”
Watch the clip over at Fox News.
