Hillary Clinton’s team said Donald Trump was “disgraceful” for accusing the Democratic nominee of being the first to question whether President Obama was really born in the United States.
“Trump’s actions today were disgraceful. After five years of pushing a racist conspiracy theory into the mainstream, it was appalling to watch Trump appoint himself the judge of whether the President of the United States is American,” Hillary for America campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement.
“This sickening display shows more than ever why Donald Trump is totally unfit be president,” Mook said.
Trump’s campaign event Friday morning, which was billed originally as a press event to address the GOP nominee’s previous fascination with the president’s birthplace, focused mostly on the opening of the Trump International Hotel in the nation’s capital. The campaign event also featured speeches from several veterans.
It wasn’t until the very end, after the Republican candidate had already promoted his new hotel, that Trump actually addressed the birther issue.
“Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it,” he told reporters.
Trump was touting theories about Obama being born in Kenya as recently as 2014.
“President Obama was born in the United States. Period,” Trump said, ending the press event. The GOP nominee took no questions from reporters.
