In his first major interview after launching his presidential exploratory campaign, Mitt Romney stated in unambiguous terms that he is not a birther.
In a lengthy interview on CNBC, Larry Kudlow asked Romney about potential rival candidate Donald Trump’s recent activism for the birthers.
“Now, he [Trump] has made a fetish, really, an obsession over questioning President Obama’s citizenship and the birth certificate from Hawaii,” said Kudlow. “Let me ask you on that subject, first of all, do you agree with Trump that Obama should be questioned on this? Do you feel that Mr. Obama has passed all the citizenship tests?”
“I think the citizenship test has been passed. I believe the president was born in the United States,” Romney said.
“And there are real reasons to get this guy out of office. And the number one reason is he doesn’t understand how the economy works and how to create jobs in the private sector. You got 20 million people who are suffering as a result of that, in part. He also has made extraordinary mistakes internationally, globally. The man needs to be taken out of office, but his citizenship isn’t the reason why.”
Interestingly, Romney’s late father, Michigan Gov. George Romney, was born on a Mormon settlement in Mexico — and later ran for president of the United States in 1968.
The key moment comes at the 13:45 moment below:
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