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Americans Want To Know: Where Was Donald Trump Born?
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 27, 2011
Modified Apr 27, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 27, 2011
Modified Apr 27, 2011
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Now that he's successfully gotten President Obama to talk about his birth certificate, and taken all the credit for forcing the nonsensical conversation no less, we can all turn our attention to an equally important question: where in tarnation is Donald Trump's birth certificate???
Well, it's right here. But, a new Gallup/USA Today poll finds that nevertheless, not everyone is convinced he was born here. Just 43 percent of Americans definitely believe he was born in the US, while 20 percent believe that he was probably born here, and 7 percent believe he definitely or probably was born in another country. Another 30 percent say they just don't have enough facts yet to make a judgement. Those numbers are surprisingly similar to President Obama's when people were asked the same question about him...before this morning, we hope.
But do those voters really not believe Trump was born in Queens, or is it more a commentary on the absurdity of this whole pre-election process? Nate Silver of the Five Thirty Eight blog thinks that voters reactions to these kinds of "issues" will tell whether they can accept him as a real candidate or not:
At least some fraction of the people who tell pollsters that Mr. Obama was foreign-born are probably kidding around, just as they are when the same question is asked of Mr. Trump. I’d imagine that you could substitute virtually any name in the place of Mr. Trump or Mr. Obama — Bill Clinton, or Ronald Reagan, or Oprah Winfrey, or Dwight D. Eisenhower, or Mark Zuckerberg, or Sarah Palin — and find that at least a few Americans reported themselves to be “birthers.”
...
Some voters who don’t have any particular doubts about Mr. Obama’s birthplace might nevertheless appreciate that Mr. Trump is “in on the joke” by raising questions about it. The question that will determine whether Mr. Trump can remain a viable candidate is whether those voters are laughing with Mr. Trump or laughing at him.
Well, even if you are in on the joke, don't start counting those chickens just yet Trump—according to that latest poll, fifty percent of Americans, including 31 percent of Republicans, say Trump would make a “poor” or “terrible” president. And 63 percent of Americans, including 46 percent of Republicans, say they definitely will not vote for Trump for president. Trump may be "very proud" of himself for getting Obama to show his birth certificate, but in most people's eyes, he is still just "a buffoon with bathroom fixtures of gold."
Tagged
birth certificate
birthers
donald trump
election 2012
president obama
queens
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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