Oh, brother. The conspiracy-mongering that Barack Obama is secretly a Kenyan citizen who has hidden his real birth certificate has now found its way into the utterances of a United States Senator: Richard Shelby, Republican of Alabama.
“Well his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven’t seen any birth certificate,” Shelby said on Saturday, in response to a constituent’s question at a public event. “You have to be born in America to be president.”
Click here for FactCheck.org’s debunking of this whole business.
Late Update: Shelby’s spokesman has responded to the story, telling Ben Smith that it’s a “distortion.” The spokesman says Shelby mentioned the birth certificate as a “throwaway line” in explaining the qualifications for office, and that Shelby “doesn’t have any doubt” of Obama’s eligibility.
